REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 37 
life; for example, in the star tortoise the original “shells”’ of the specimens 
are used, while the head, neck and legs are restored in wax. ‘The mount- 
ing not only brings out the principal features of the species exhibited, but 
in many instances illustrates also some distinctive habit of the animals; 
for instance, the common newt, one of the salamanders, is represented by 
a series of five life-size casts showing the process of shedding the skin; 
Pickering’s hyla or the ‘‘spring peeper”’ is shown with vocal sacs inflated; 
and so on. 
The classification of these animals is shown in the upright cases; 
the groups in the center of the hall represent various reptiles as they 
appear in their natural haunts. They include the tuberculated iguana, 
the water moccasin, the diamond-backed rattlesnake, the Texas rattle- 
snake, the copperhead, the Gila monster, the pine snake, the box tortoise 
and the common painted turtle. 
One of the most interesting of the groups is a Jungle scene in India 
showing a water monitor, one of the largest of living 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 large proportion of the 20,000 
deaths which annually occur in India from snakebite. Examine care- 
fully the group of the copperhead snake or ‘‘red-eye,’’ one of the two 
species of poisonous snakes to be found in the vicinity 
Copperhead r mee oa ae 
Snake Group 0! New York, and also the group contrasting the harmless 
watersnake with the poisonous water moccasin of southern 
cypresss wamps. ‘Two groups are devoted to rattlesnakes, which are 
easily recognized by the string of rattles at the end of the tail, by means 
of which they give warning before they strike. There are comparatively 
few species of poisonous snakes in the United States—about sixteen in 
all—comprising rattlesnakes, the moccasin, copperhead and two kinds 
of coral snake. All other species are harmless and in spite of the 
almost universal prejudice against them are very useful allies of man, 
since they live chiefly on rats, mice and insects injurious to crops. 
Cobra Group 
Entering the darkened room nearby we find a group of unusual in- 
terest, showing the common bullfrog of North America. 
aeons This group is a study of the bullfrog undisturbed in its 
Group us group is a study of the bullfrog undisturbed in its 
typical haunt. It illustrates the changes from the tadpole 
to the adult frog and shows many of the activities of the frog—its molt- 
ing, swimming, breathing under water and in air, croaking, and “lying 
low” before an enemy; also its food habits in relation to small mammals, 
to birds, snakes, insects, snails, to small fish and turtles. 
Another group is the Great Salamander or Hellbender, best known in 
the creeks of western Pennsylvania. The group pictures them at 
