54 



NATUBAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



from the surface; it weighed 52 

 pounds 1 ounce, and was sold for 

 $12,500. 



The Leg of Mutton nugget was 

 found at Ballarat, January 31,1853, 

 at a depth of 65 feet; it weighed 

 134 pounds 11 ounces, and was 

 sold at the bank for $32,380. This 

 nugget was shaped like a leg of. 

 mutton, hence its name. 



No name nugget was. found at 

 Bakery Hill, Ballarat, March 6, 

 1855, near the surface; it weighed 

 47 pounds 7 ounces, and was sold 

 for $1 1,420. 



No name nugget was found in 

 Canadian Gully, Ballarat, January 

 22, 1853, near the surface; it weigh- 

 ed 84 pounds 3 ounces 15 penny- 

 weights, and was sold for $20,235. 



The Kohinoor nugget was found 

 at Ballarat, July 27, i860, at a 

 depth of 160 feet; it weighed 69 

 pounds and was sold for $16,686. 



The Sir Dominic Daly nugget 

 was found February 27, 1862; it 

 weighed 26 pounds, and was sold 

 for $6,240. 



No name nugget was found at 

 Ballarat, February 28, 1855; it 

 weighed 30 pounds 11 ounces 2 

 pennyweights, and was sold for $7, 

 395- 



No name nugget was found Au- 

 gust 1, 1879; it weighed 12 pounds, 

 and was worth $2,280. 



No name nugget was found at 

 Ballarat, February 3, 1853; it 

 weighed 30 pounds, and was sold 

 for $7,360. 



No name nugget was found in 

 Canadian Gully, January 20, 1853; 

 it weighed 93 pounds 1 ounce 11 

 pennyweights, and was sold for $22, 

 35°- 



No name nugget was found at 

 BakeryHill, March 6, 1 855 ;it weigh- 

 ed 40 pounds, and was worth $9, 600. 



The Nil Desperandum nugget 

 was found November 29, 1859; it 

 weighed 45 pounds, and was sold 

 for $10,800. 



The Oats & Delson nugget was 

 found at Donolly gold field in 

 1880, at the roots of a tree; it 

 weighed 189 pounds, and was sold 

 for $50,000. 



In addition to the above are the 

 Huron nugget, worth $20,000 and 

 the Empress nugget, worth $27, 

 661. A great number of smaller 

 nuggets, too numerous to mention, 

 have been found. 



Many large nuggets or lumps of 

 gold have been found in California 

 during the era of placer mining; 

 but Australia must claim the larg- 

 est. The California lumps are as 

 follows: 



A piece of gold and quartz was 

 found in Calaveras County, on Car- 



son Hill, on the mother lode; it was 

 valued at $42,000. 



The Downieville lump of quartz 

 and gold, of Sierra County, as stat- 

 ed by Louis Blanding, gave a value 

 of nearly $90,000; but it was not a 

 nugget. 



The mass of gold and quartz 

 found in the Bonanza mine, Sonora, 

 Tuolumne County, gave a value of 

 over $40,000. 



The Australian statistics are cor- 

 rect, I having obtained them from 

 government authority. — Argus, in 

 Alining and Scientific Press. 



Snakes. 



The heading of this article is one 

 to command the attention of all, and 

 it may safely be asserted, that of 

 the many readers of the Natural 

 Science News, few if any will pass 

 it by without, at least glancing over 

 the truths uttered below. It is al- 

 so a fact that nearly all will begin 

 the perusal of this veracious ac- 

 count firmly believing that it, like 

 many, many others, on the same sub- 

 jects a fabrication of untruths so 

 commonly appearing in print. Al- 

 low the writer to say in justice to 

 himself, that no oneis more skepti- 

 cal in regard to the many incredible 

 stories than he is at present. 



To those disbelieving the accur- 

 acy of the following statements the 

 writer would say, that disbelief is 

 only natural, and he expects noth- 

 ing better than expressions of in- 

 credulity from those who cannot 

 fathom Ophidian peculiarities, from 

 inability to investigate or from sheer 

 laziness. To that class of shiftless 

 observers and cronic prevaricators 

 who will shower calumny and con- 

 tempt, nothing need be said, ex- 

 cept, that truth will be told, and 

 not varied from one jot. 



In investigating in any depart- 

 ment of natural history it is best 

 not to allow one's good opinion of 

 any narrator to influence one in the 

 belief or disbelief of a yarn. Some 

 of the most ridiculous tales that I 

 have listened to, came from the lips 

 of friends in whom I would have 

 placed the utmost confidence in all 

 they asserted excepting snake 

 squibs. For years I have turned a 

 deaf ear to the truly marvelous 

 stories in circulation; and obser- 

 vations only of the most reliable 

 parties, those interested in scienti- 

 fic investigations, have been listen- 

 ed to. 



There is probably no subject 

 within the domain of zoology, 

 which is more fully written of, and 



unfortunately in afar from accurate 

 and reliable manner than the sub- 

 ject of reptiles as a whole, and 

 snakes in particular. There is some 

 reason for this, and yet it would be 

 difficult to ascribe it properly, and 

 to suit the majority of my readers 

 in defining the cause of this prefer- 

 ence. However, I feel safe in as-' 

 certing that one, and the chief 

 source, is from our universal lovd 

 of the marvelous. We understand 

 so little about snakes, they are al-1 

 most a mystery with many; they 

 are credited with peculiar powers 

 of charming, and almost invariably, 

 with either poison in fang, breath 

 or tail, that it is hardly to be won- 

 dered at that the ignorant are usu- 

 ally foolishly prejudiced against 

 the crawling creatures placed upon 

 the earth to form a part in nature's 

 economy. 



It should not be understood that 

 the word ignorant is here applied t 

 to the illiterate alone, as people well'? 

 informed on many matters pertain- 

 ing to books are grossly ignorant re- . 

 garding our lower animals. In ad- 

 dition to the natural aptitude with 

 which we all, as children, acquired, 

 those little likes and dislikes from 

 imitation of our elders, we are con- 

 stantly reading amazing yarns in 

 various papers and periodicals; 

 stories of such exaggeration, that 

 to an observer it really is a mystery 

 how level-headed editors can con- 

 sistently allow this class of fabulous 

 literature to continuously appear in 

 their columns. 



These constant,fabulous stories, 

 in addition to early training, are un- 

 doubtedly, fully accountable for 

 the extreme repugnance almost 

 universally felt by old and young. 

 Perhaps the general dread of all 

 snakes prevents a few deaths from 

 the bites of poisonous species. 



To those who study our legless 

 friends, however, the graceful crea- 

 tures are a constant source of 

 pleasure, and with the power of 

 discrimination, the poisonous spe- 

 cies are avoided and the innocuous 

 kinds handled and studied at will. 

 As a proof that the repugnance ex- 

 hibited toward reptiles is the result 

 of education and not instinctive I 

 may in another paper mention the 

 attachment existing between a snake 

 and its master, and the playful at- 

 titude evinced by my three year 

 old baby girl who with perfect free- 

 dom picked up and carried about 

 several small snakes which I had 

 in captivity. 



It is not generally acknowledged 

 that snakes are of any use on the 

 face of the earth and they are kill- 

 ed on every occasion that permits, 



