20 
HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 
one day to witness the performance. When it came to 
the point, our excursion ended merely in a visit to the gar¬ 
dens, as Mr. Thompson was not willing longer to undergo 
the risk. 
“This Thompson was an unusual character; he had had 
few opportunities for education, but he was a keen, natural 
observer of the habits of animals, and he had made a close 
study of the habits of snakes in the wild state. His interest in 
the snakes that he had under his care had resulted in his ob¬ 
serving closely their habits in confinement, and Professor Cope, 
who often visited the gardens, enjoyed discussing with him the 
ways of his pets. Thompson was an artist. He had taught him¬ 
self to work in oil colors, and some of his canvases were quite 
creditable.” 
Another brief extract from Dr. Michael’s “Scientific Notes” 
gives fuller details of her experiment in trying to overcome 
the natural feminine antipathy to snakes, and shows how zeal¬ 
ous she was to help along the cause of science. Dr. S. Weir 
Mitchell, the distinguished neurologist and poet, was at this 
time engaged in analyzing the venom of poisonous reptiles, and 
his discoveries of the deadly alkaloids were exciting much 
interest in the learned world. She says: — 
“Thompson’s arrangements for snake-feeding were some¬ 
what more primitive possibly than those used in the Mitchell 
laboratory, but they were quite as effective. A stout piece of 
leather nailed on to the end of a wooden stick and, with a loop 
for the strap to pass through, made a solid noose to hold the 
snake’s throat securely. Two persons were required to carry 
out the feeding. The snakes in the cage were disturbed by 
touching them with a stick, and as the head was raised the 
noose was quickly slipped over and drawn sufficiently tight to 
allow the snake to be pulled out of the cage to the opening. A 
small porcelain dish, like the evaporating dishes used in the 
chemical laboratories, was forced between the snake’s jaws. 
The enraged reptile bit the edge of the dish savagely, and the 
poison from a sack above the fangs would then flow through 
a hole in the fang into the dish. This not only proved a safe¬ 
guard for those engaged in the feeding, but also served to use 
