RATTLE SNAKE. 
holding the bruised leaves of Virginian dit- 
tany, or wild pennyroyal, fastened at the end 
of a cloven stick, to the nose of the animal ; 
who, by turning and wriggling, labours hard 
to avoid the scent, but is killed by it in less than 
half an hour. This is said to have been seen 
pra6lisedin 1657, and in the month of July, at 
which season of the year the animal is re- 
puted to be in the greatest vigour and most 
venomous. It is added, that the Rattle 
Snake never frequents those spots where this 
wild pennyroyal grows; and the do6lor re- 
marks, that the strong smell of the broad 
leaves of the Virginian dittany, which are very 
hot and biting on the tongue, may probably 
stop the passages of respiration, in these ani- 
mals, or ferment with their blood, so as to 
suffocate them. 
Bartram offers a much easier expedient, 
w^hich he has himself repeatedly tried. " A 
stick," he says, " no bigger than a man's 
thumb, is sufficient to kill the largest Rattle 
Snake at one stroke, either on the head or 
across the back.'* Nor, as he informs us, can 
