f *95 ) 
the Breech of his Gun, and fet it upon four or five of 
them, and after they had bit it, and left feveral Drops, 
of their Poyfon, he with his Hand wiped it off with- 
out any Harm. 
Our People have feveral Remedies for the Sting of a 
Rattlefnake ^ among others, that which is much made 
ufe of, is a Root they call Blood-root, I fuppofe fo na- 
med, from the Colour of the Root, and the Juice, which 
is red like Blood. It grows in great Abundance in our 
Woods 5 they bruife the Root, and bind it above the 
Place that is bit, to prevent the Poifon’s going farther, 
at the fame Time fcarifying the Place affected ^ fome 
of the Root is alfo boiled, and the Perfon poifoned drinks 
the Water. 
They are generally from three to five Feet long, and 
do not commonly exceed twenty Rattles ^ and yet I have 
it attefted by a Man of Credit, that he killed a Rattle- 
fnake, fome Years fince, that had between feventy and 
eighty Rattles, with a fprinkling of grey Hairs, like 
Bridles, over his Body ^ he was full five Foot and an 
half long, and as big as the Calf of a Man’s Leg. 
They fhed, or throw off their Skins every Year, 
fometime in the Month of June, and turn it infide out 
when they throw it off. It has alfo been obferved, that 
the Skin covers not only the Body, but the Head and 
Eyes. 
They generally den among the Rocks in great Num- 
bers together •, the Time of their retiring is about the ^ 
middle of September, and they don’t come abroad till 
the middle of May, when our Hunters watch them, as 
they come out a funning, and kill them by hundreds. 
% 
Roxhury, New-England, 
O6iob.2$> 1722. 
A a a 2 
Raul Dudley, 
V. Some 
