44 



h'h'/'T/Lh'S AM) AMl'UllilASS 



ill wax truiii lite; tor cxaiiiplc in tlic star tortoise tlic orij^iual "shells" of 

 the sjM'ciiiieiis arc used, while the head, nock and legs are restored in wax. 

 The mounting not onl\- l)rinji;s out tlu' principal features of the species 

 exhii)ite(l, hut in many instances illustrates also some distinctive habit of 

 the animals; for instance the common newt, one of the salamanders, is 

 rei)resented l)v a series of five life-size casts showing the process of shed- 

 ding the skin; Pickering's hyla or the ''spring peeper "is shown with vocal 

 sacs inflated; the poisonous bushmaster is represented with its eggs, and 

 so on. 



The classification of these animals is shown in the cases along the 

 walls; the groui)s in the center of the hall represent various reptiles as they 

 ai)pear in tlieir natural haunts. They include the tuberculated iguana, 

 the water moccasin, the diamond-backed rattlesnake, the Texas rattle- 

 snake, the coi)perhead, the (lila monster, the pine snake, the box tortoise 

 and the common painted turtle. 



One of the most interesting of the grou]:)s is a jungle scene in India 

 showing a water monitor. 



wliirh is the 

 Cobra Group , . ,• >• 



largest oi liv- 

 ing lizards, the poisonous 

 Russell's viper and the 

 deadly spectacled cobra, 

 the last with hood distended 

 and poised ready to strike. 

 The cobra is said to be the 

 cause of a great majority 

 of the 20,000 deaths which 

 annually occur in India from 

 snake bite. Examine care- 

 fully the group of the cop- 

 perhead snake or ''red-eye,'' 



one of the two 



s ]) e c i e s o f 



\) o i s o n o u s 



snakes to be found in the vicinity of New York and also the group 

 contrasting th(^ harmh^ss water snake with the poisonous water moc- 

 casin of soutlun-n cy]^r(^ss swamps. Two groups are devoted to 

 rattlesnakes, which are easily recognized by the string of rattles at the 

 end of the tail, l)y means of which they give warning before they strike. 

 Ther(> are comi)aratively few sjieeies of poisonous snakes in the United 

 States, about sixteen in all. comiM'ising rattlesnakes, the moccasin, 

 copperhead and two kinds of coral snake. All other species are 

 harmless and in sj)ite of the almost universal prejudice against them are a 



Copperhead 

 Snake Group 



BULLFROG GROUP 



The bullfrog's tongue is fastened in front and the 

 free hinder end can bo thrown far out of the mouth to 

 capture insects. 



