it is clearly impossible. The "stinging snake" myth apparently originated 

 more than 200 years ago and is ror-.orted to have been first published in an 

 old "report to the Lords Proprietors of. the Carolinas." John Clayton also 

 related this myth in a letter to the Royal focicty of London in I6B8. In 

 the first-mentioned report it is asterted that there lived in the- Carolinas 

 a snake the tail of which was a ppisom^d horn or spike. This account refers 

 to the horn snake ( Farancia abacu ra) , which is harmless^ This snake is 

 bluish black vdth a fev; red bars across the belly, and its tail tapers to a 

 fine point having the a.ppearan'cQ of a horn : or spike, but It is quite inca- 

 pable of piercing or stinging anything, , 



Another superstition concerns the glass, or joint, snake, v/hich is 

 really a legless llsard. It is often said that a stroke of a stick will 

 cause the body of this reptile to disjoint, the pieces y/riggling off in 

 every direction and coming together again if the head part is not captured 

 or destroyed. According to one version there is one particular section 

 that is endovi^ed with the pov;er to Control the movements of the other joints, 

 and if this is destroyed, the rcntile is deprived of its power to reassem- 

 ble again. The expla,nation of this curious belief lies in the ability of 

 this reptile to drop its tail, an adt that sometimes enables it to escape 

 while the still wriggling tail attracts the attention of the pursuer. Many 

 other lizards have the sar/ie power, and a "spike" or short and imperfect 

 tail grows in the place of the one lost. This curious reptile is rarely 

 seen, as it livqs under decaying vegetation and leaves, or burrows in the 

 soil, but is sometiint^s turned up by the plow. It has long been the subject 

 of discussion, but it is merely a harmless, legless lizrrd ( Ophisaurus; 

 yentralis), v/hich because of its food habits is of considoi^able value to 

 agriculture. 



Some snakes have been accused of sucking milk from co'ws. Anyone v^ho 

 has ever milked a cow knows that the suction re uired to obtain a flow of 

 milk is'much greater than could be exerted by any snake, Furthermore, a 

 .snake has two rows of sharp recurved teeth in the upper javir. If the mouth 

 of the "milk snake" were closed to permit suction, the teeth would sink 

 into the teat and the snake v/ould find itself fully occupied in efforts to 

 avoid injury by the cow. 



The spreading viper, or puffing adder ( Hcterodon contortrix ) , also 

 knavm in certain sections as the blov/ing adder, hissing viper, and sand 

 snake is one of the greatest bluffers among snak'-s. Fost of the names 

 given to it rofc^r to its habit of . spre tiding its head and neck -.nd hissing 

 in a threatening manner, These actions have given rise to various super- 

 stitions, one of which is that its. breath will kill a person as far away 

 as 20 feet. This- sanke is entirely harmless. It is not poisonous and 

 ■its tveth are too short to inflict a v/ound in case it did strike at a per- 

 son. One of the. peculiar habits of this snake is that of feigning death, 

 which it accomplishes by rolling over on its back. 'hen turned. over, it 

 immediately rc-sumes this absurd position. 



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