( ) 
his Belly, and both of them Head foremofl'. When 
they charm, they make a hoarfe Noife with their 
IVlouths, and a loft Rattle with their Tails, the Eye at 
the fame time fixed on the Prey. 
Their general Food confifts of Toads, Frogs, Cric- 
kets, Grafshoppers, and other Infeds, but principally 
of Ground Mice , and the Rattlefnake again ferves for 
Food to Bears, and even our Hogs will eat them with- 
out Harm. 
They are viviparous, and bring forth generally about 
twelve, and in the Month of June, A Friend of mine 
in the Country, being defirous to difcover the Nature 
and Manner of the Generation of the Rattlefnake, gave 
me the following Account, vi^. About the middle of 
Maj, the Time when the Rattlefnakes firfi: come a- 
broad, he took and opened one of them, and in the 
Matrix found twelve fmall Globes, as big as a common 
Marble, in Colour like the Yolk ofanEgg^ in three 
or four Days more, he took and opened another, and 
then plainly perceived a white Speck in the Centre of 
the yellow Globe ^ in three or four Days more, he dif- 
feded a third, and difcovered the Head of a Snake ^ and 
in a few Days after that, three Quarters of a Snake was 
formed, and lying round in a Coil. In the latter End 
of June, he kill’d an old one, and took out perfed live 
Snakes of fix Inches long. In September, when the 
old ones take their Young in, and carry them to their 
Dens, they are not quite a Foot long. They couple 
in Aiigufl, and are then mofi: dangerous. 
I cannot fay, what other Serpents, or poyfonous Crea- 
tures, may do, but I am fatisfied the Rattlefnake does 
not trajed his Poyfon j and that unlefs the Skin be firfi: 
broke, or an Incifion made with his Teeth, his Venom 
can dp no Harm ; for my Friend alfured me, that he 
had made an Elxperiment of it in this manner: He took 
