217 
CANKER IN GRASS SNAKES. 
ELLEN GALLWEY. 
The cause of canker is still unknown, but it appears to be 
brought about by the lack of something in captivity which a 
snake is able to obtain in its wild state, for no one has ever 
caught a wild specimen suffering from this usually fatal 
Fig. 1. DORSAL VIEW OF THE HEAD OF THE GRASS SNAKE (x4). 
shewing the upper jaw greatly swollen due to canker. 
disease. Tomasini does not consider the disease infectious, 
and lays its cause to a lack of moisture in the snake’s hiding 
place, but Ditmars 1 believes it to be brought about by an 
enervated condition of the snake, robbing the blood of its 
germicidal qualities — and this during a period of a disordered 
stomach. As the mouth of a snake that is not feeding becomes 
l Ditmars, Raymond L., ‘ Reptiles of the World,’ ]^£w York, 1930. 
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1933 Oct. 1 
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