-18 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vou. XXXII. 
tion of about two months the snake commenced to feed on 
mice, and before another month passed by she swallowed 
pieces of raw beef and fish with avidity. I continued to feed 
her at the point of a little stick fairly regularly every two or 
three days. About four months from the day I caught her I 
noticed an increase in her size, but, of course, I could hardly 
credit my surmise at first. On August 17, however, she pro- 
duced nine young ones. She killed one by lying on it, but the 
other eight were lively, in markings the same as the mother, 
but more distinct, and the ground colors much more reddish 
and brighter. To test their poisonous qualities I permitted 
one of them to bite me on the following day, but outside of 
the peculiar penetrating sensation attendant upon all venomous 
snake bites, and not unlike a bee sting, I did not feel other 
results. The young snakes measured exactly six and three- 
eighths inches in length, and in their thickest diameter four- 
fifths of an inch. The mother and five of her babies are now 
in the collection of Tulane University, all having died the 
following winter. 
The winter of 1893-94 proved quite severe up to the end of 
February, 1894, and reptiles did not appear until then; but 
when I came to Avery’s Island, on the last day of March, Mr. 
E. McIlhenny had collected for me a number of snakes, among 
them a full-grown ground-rattler (Sistrurus miliarius). 
As soon as I reached New Orleans again, a few days later, 
I prepared a suitable cage for that snake. The first mouse I 
offered was killed and swallowed with the greatest promptitude. 
The deportment of this little rattler was not at all vicious, and 
after a short while would pay but little attention to what was 
going on in and about the cage; she even showed no signs of 
irritability if I accidently touched her with my hand while 
removing her water pan or cleaning out the cage. But I never 
succeeded in getting her to eat anything except mice. Toward 
the middle of July I noticed a gradual increase in her size, 
especially in the posterior portions, and on August 12 she 
gave birth to six little ones. They were born during the night, 
and I found each one of them curled up in the manner of the 
old one in different places in the cage. The newcomers were 
