conception of the appearance and actions of the same creatures at night. The huge Boas and Pythons were chasing each other in every direction, whisking about the dens with the rapidity of lightning, sometimes clinging in huge coils round the branches, anon entwining each other in massive folds, then separating they would rush over and under the branches, hissing and lashing their tails in hideous sport. Ever and anon, thirsty with their exertions, they would approach the pans containing water and drink eagerly, lapping it with their forked tongues. As our eyes became accustomed to the darkness, we perceived objects better, and on the uppermost branch of the tree in the den of the biggest serpent, we perceived a pigeon quietly roosting, apparently indifferent alike to the turmoil which was going on around, and the vicinity of the monster whose meal it was soon to form. In the den of one of the smaller serpents was a little mouse, whose panting sides and fast-beating heart showed that it, at least, disliked its company. Misery is said to make us acquainted with strange bedfellows, but evil must be the star of that mouse or pigeon whose lot it is to be the comrade and prey of a serpent! A singular circumstance occurred not long since at the Gardens, showing that the mouse at times has the best of it. A litter of rattlesnakes was born in the Gardens,-curious little active things without rattles,-hiding under stones, or coiling together in complicated knots, with their clustering heads resembling Medusa's locks. It came to pass that a mouse was put into the cage for the breakfast of the mamma, but she not being hungry, took no notice. The poor mouse gradually became accustomed to its strange companions, and would appear to have been pressed by hunger, for it actually nibbled away great part of the jaw of one of the little rattlesnakes, so that it died!-perhaps the first instance of such a turning of the tables. An interesting fact was proved by this, namely, that these reptiles when young are quite defenceless, and do not acquire either the power of injuring others, or of using their rattles until their adolescence. During the time we were looking at these creatures, all sorts of odd noises were heard; a strange scratching against the glass would be audible; 'twas the Carnivorous Lizard endeavouring to inform us that it was a fast-day with him, entirely contrary to his inclination. A sharp hiss would startle us from another quarter, and we stept back involuntarily as the lantern revealed the inflated hood and threatening action of an angry cobra. Then a rattlesnake would take umbrage, and, sounding an alarm, would make a stroke against the glass, intended for our person. The fixed gaze too from the brilliant eyes of the huge Pythons, was more fascinating than pleasant, and the scene, taking it altogether, more exciting than agreeable. Each of the spectators involuntarily stooped to make sure that his trousers were well strapped down; and, as if our nerves were jesting, a strange sensation would every now and then be felt, resembling the twining of a small snake about the legs. Just before leaving the house, a great dor beetle which had flown in, attracted by the light, struck with some force against our right ear; startled indeed we were, for at the moment our impression was that it was some member of the Happy Family around us who had favoured us with a mark of his attention. In feeding the larger serpents, the Boas and Pythons, some care is necessary lest such an accident should occur as that which befell Mr. Cops, of the Lion Office in the Tower, some years ago. Mr. Cops was holding a fowl to the head of the largest of the five snakes which were then there kept; the snake was changing its skin, consequently, being nearly blind (for the skin of the eye is changed with the rest), it darted at the fowl but missed it, and seized the keeper by the left thumb, coiling round his arm and neck in a moment, and fixing itself by its tail to one of the posts of its cage, thus giving itself greater power. Mr. Cops, who was alone, did not lose his presence of mind, and immediately attempted to relieve himself from the powerful constriction by getting at the serpent's head; but the serpent had so knotted itself upon its own head, that Mr. Cops could not reach it, and had thrown himself upon the floor in order to grapple, with greater success, with his formidable opponent, when fortunately, two other keepers came in and rushed to the rescue. The struggle even then was severe, but at length they succeeded in breaking the teeth of the serpent, and relieving Mr. Cops from his perilous situation; two broken teeth were extracted from the thumb; the wounds soon healed, and no further inconvenience followed. Still more severe was the contest which took place between a negro herdsman, belonging to Mr. Abson, for many years Governor at Fort William, on the coast of Africa. This man was seized by a huge python whilst passing through a wood. The serpent fixed his fangs in his thigh, but in attempting to throw himself round his body, fortunately became entangled with a tree, and the man being thus preserved from a state of compression which would have instantly rendered him powerless, had presence of mind enough to cut with a large knife which he carried about with him, deep gashes in the neck and throat of his antagonist, thereby killing him, and disengaging himself from his frightful situation. He never afterwards, however, recovered the use of the limb, which had sustained considerable injury from the fangs and mere force of the jaws, and for many years limped about the fort, a living example of the prowess of these fearful serpents. The true Boas, it is to be observed, are restricted to America, the name Python being given to the large serpents of Africa and India. It is related by Pliny that the army of Regulus was alarmed by a huge serpent, one hundred and twenty-three feet in length. This account is doubtful; but there is a well-authenticated instance of the destruction of a snake above sixty-two feet long, whilst in the act of coiling itself round the body of a man. The snakes at the gardens will generally be found coiled and twined together in large clusters, probably for the sake of warmth. Dr. Carpenter knew an instance in which no less than thirteen hundred of our English harmless snakes were found in an old lime kiln! The battûe which ensued can better be imagined than described. The cobras, the puff-adders, and some of the other highly-venomous serpents are principally found in rocky and sandy places, and very dangerous they are. Mr. Gould, the eminent ornithologist, had a most narrow escape of his life when in the interior of Australia: there is a serpent found in those arid wastes, whose bite is fatal in an incredibly short time, and it springs at an object with great force. Mr. Gould was a little in advance of his party, when suddenly a native who was with him screamed out, "Oh! massa! dere big snake!" Mr. Gould started, and putting his foot in a hole, nearly fell to the ground. At that instant the snake made its spring, and had it not been for his stumble, would have struck him in the face; as it was, it passed over his head, and was shot before it could do any further mischief. It was a large snake, of the most venomous sort, and the natives gathered round the sportsman anxiously enquiring if it had bitten him? Finding it had not, all said they thought he was "good for dead," when they saw the reptile spring. There is no branch of knowledge, perhaps, in which prejudices adhere with so much tenacity, nor in which the general public are so little informed, as the organization and habits of serpents. This doubtless arises from the absence of these reptiles in any number from public or private menageries, so that but few opportunities have hitherto been afforded of gaining instruction in that branch of Natural History. In this respect the collection at the gardens will be very valuable, and will do much to explode errors and impart correct information. Nine out of ten persons do not know the ordinary harmless snake of this island from the poisonous adder, and the strangest ignorance yet exists respecting the structure of that class. Of this we had two striking examples whilst waiting in the reptile-house: a respectable-looking artisan, with a wife and three children, came in, and presently he began in an oracular tone to lionise his family. One of the rattlesnakes happened to vibrate his tongue, after the manner of his tribe, when the father exclaimed, "There! you see that! now if that snake were to touch anybody with that sting of his, he'd be dead in the twinkling of a hye!that sting is the most venomistist thing in natur!" Another group were watching the asps as they wriggled about, and one remarked, "I s'pose they be deadly poisonous?" A friend rejoined, "Lor' bless you, nothing so deadly as the blindworm. I've heard say that if a dog be stung by a blind worm, he'd be dead in no time." The tenacity of life of popular errors is perfectly wonderful; and, curious enough, the blunders of these worthy men were prevalent at the time of Shakspeare, and shared by him. A more harmless creature than the blindworm, or slowworm (as it is sometimes called), does not exist, although from time immemorial it has had the misfortune to possess an evil reputation. The great poet speaks of "Adder's fork and blindworm's sting." Hermia also says to Demetrius : “And hast thou killed him sleeping? Oh, brave touch. Could not a worm, an adder do so much? An adder did it; for with doubler tongue Than thine, thou serpent, never adder stung." The expression "sting," as applied to snakes, is altogether incorrect; the tongue has nothing to do with the infliction of injury. Serpents bite, and the difference between the harmless and venomous serpents generally is simply this; the mouths of the harmless snakes and the whole tribe of boas are provided with sharp teeth, but no fangs; their bite, therefore, is innocuous; the poisonous serpents on the other hand, have two poison-fangs attached to the upper jaw which lie flat upon the roof of the mouth when not in use, and are concealed by a fold of the skin. In each fang is a tube which opens near the point of the tooth by a fissure; when the creature is irritated the fangs are at once erected. The poison bag is placed beneath the muscles which act on the lower jaw, so that when the fangs are struck into the victim the poison is injected with much force to the very bottom of the wound. But how do Boa Constrictors swallow goats and antelopes, and other large animals whole? The process is very simple; the lower jaw is not united to the upper, but is hung to a long stalk-shaped bone, on which it is moveable, and this bone is only attached to the skull by ligaments, susceptible of extraordinary extension. The process by which these serpents take and swallow their prey has been so graphically described in the second volume of the "Zoological Journal," by that very able naturalist and graceful writer, W. J. Broderip, Esq., F.R.S., that we shall transcribe it, being able, from frequent ocular demonstration, to vouch for its correctness. A large buck rabbit was introduced into the cage of a Boa Constrictor of great size:"The snake was down and motionless in a moment. There he lay like a log without one symptom of life, save that which glared in the small bright eye twinkling in his depressed head. The rabbit appeared to take no notice of him, but presently began to walk about the cage. The snake suddenly, but almost imperceptibly, turned his head according to the rabbit's movements, as if to keep the object within the range of his eye. At length the rabbit, totally unconscious of his situation, approached the ambushed head. The snake dashed at him like lightning. There was a blow-a scream-and instantly the victim was locked in the coils of the serpent. This was done almost too rapidly for the eye to follow; at one instant the snake was motionless-the next he was one congeries of coils round his prey. He had seized the rabbit by the neck just under the ear, and was evidently exerting the strongest pressure round the thorax of the quadruped; thereby preventing the expansion of the chest, and at the same time depriving the anterior extremities of motion. The rabbit never cried after the first seizure; he lay with his hind legs stretched out, still breathing with difficulty, as could be seen by the motion of his flanks. Presently he made one desperate struggle with his hind legs; but the snake cautiously applied another coil with such dexterity as completely to manacle the lower extremities, and in about eight minutes the rabbit was quite dead. The snake then gradually and carefully uncoiled himself, and finding that his victim moved not, opened his mouth, let go his hold, and placed his head opposite the fore-part of the rabbit. The boa, generally, I have observed, begins with the head; but in this instance, the serpent having begun with the fore-legs was longer in gorging his prey than usual, and in consequence of the difficulty presented by the awkward position of the rabbit, the dilatation and secretion of lubricating mucus were excessive. The serpent first got the fore-legs into his mouth; he then coiled himself round the rabbit, and appeared to draw out the dead body through his folds; he then began to dilate his jaws, and holding the rabbit firmly in a coil, as a point of resistance, appeared to exercise at intervals the whole of his anterior muscles in protruding his stretched jaws and lubricated mouth and throat, at first against, and soon after gradually upon and over his prey. When the prey was completely engulphed the serpent lay for a few moments with his dislocated jaws still dropping with the mucus which had lubricated the parts, and at this time he looked quite sufficiently disgusting. He then stretched out his neck, and at the same moment the muscles seemed to push the prey further downwards. After a few efforts to replace the parts, the jaws appeared much the same as they did previous to the monstrous repast." In conclusion, we would offer a remark which visitors to the Gardens would do well to bear in mind; the glass which incloses the cages is incapable of being broken by any efforts of the serpents themselves, but we have seen many persons rapping on it with sticks and parasols to irritate those creatures. An accidental push from behind, or too sharp a blow, might break the glass, and the consequence, of the escape of half-a-dozen angry Puff-Adders, a leash of lively Rattlesnakes, or even a couple of active Boa Constrictors into a crowded room, might be exceedingly unpleasant. WHITE BAIT.* "INEST SUA GRATIA PARVIS." ASPICE quâ juxta Thamesim regalia surgant Securam præbens Anglia grata domum. Stat vicina domus, minus haud celebranda, Trafalgar, Hic pinguis Salmo, et boreali ex equore Rhombus, Attamen haud Salis est, frustra fluviique marisque Convivæ quiddam proprium notumque requirant, WESTMONASTERIENSIS. We have much pleasure in introducing the above verses to our readers. They are the production of one of Westminster's most gifted sons.-ED. |