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^ C1VES SOME FACTS ABOUT HOOP SNAKE EXPERT SAYS THEY HAVE NO "STING" IN TAIL'S END. i Spine Ends in Point. t Assistant Curator American Museum Natural History Writes of Reptiles. g| The correspondence below has been W sent to The State by B. F. Taylor, of ' Savannah, formerly of Columbia: I enclose some correspondence i about "hoop snakes." Possibly, you would like to publish this and get into the controversy between the Greenville paper and his friend at ; Spartanburg. Yours very truly, B. F. Taylor. Savannah, Ga., October 10, 1921. | Writes to Museum. Museum of Natural History, New I York City. Gentlemen: I inclose clipping from The State, of Columbia, South Carolina, September 25, 1921. , * I would be glad to know if there is any basis for the persistent reports of the existence of horn or hoop snakes. Yours very truly, B. F. Taylor. 312 Bay Street, East Savannah, Ga., September 29, 1921. Tells of Snakes. Mr. B. F. Taylor, Savannah, Ga. Dear Sir: In reply to your inquiry of September 29, regarding horn and hoop snakes, with the* clipping inclosed, I am glad to be able to give you some information. ' During several collecting trips in the southern states, I personally collected three specimens of one of the kinds of snakes known as a "horn snake/' <"stingin' snake," or "hoop snake." These were identified without hesitation by the natives as the tV.;;<? ranntod tn havp a oimrvu iTiiivu to i vj^/uwu w ... . w ? poisonous sting, in -the end of the tail; but examination showed that while there was a short horny spine, or terminal scale which ends in a sharp point there was no "sting" which could be * withdrawn or extended. When taken in the hand, these snakes wrap (themselves around it, and often "feel" with the end of the tail, apparently for a purchase, as they are burrowing snakes. They v certainly make no deliberate attempt -* ? to "Sling" or eveu SCraii'ii wim tiio , tail spine. A group of burrowing tropical snakes, very different from the snake we are discussing, has the same habit of "feeling" for a purchase" with its tail. We have a number of specimens of the two . American snakes (Farancia and . Abastor), of which these stories are told, in the collections of this mu' seum. They have no protyusible "sting." It is barely possible that a person entirely ignorant of anatomy might mistake the terminal tail vertebra in the crushed tail of one of these snakes for a sting. , ~ It is not difficult in any locality in the southern states (my^own experience was in Louisiana and North Carolina) to collect "eye witness" accounts of the sudden deaths of dogs, etc., from the sting of the horn snakes, and even an occasional person will vouch for the "hoop" story, exactly as in the clipping you enclosed. Some of these eye-witnesses are simply telling "snake stories" which are n.ot unlike "nsn stones. Others are entirely confident of their observation. A correspondent of ours writes as follows: "It had just been hilled, but had enough vitality for tail movements. It was carefully carried on a fire poker to the porch for good light. The poker was pressed on the tail, which set up a lively oscillation, and the observer distinctly saw a sting, protruded and withdrawn 'in a flash,' but saw no repetition of the exposure. A dissection showed the tail vertebrae descending in a diminendo to the fine 'sting.' This shows that we are very likely to see what we expect to see, when snakes are involved; and I the average person is prone to accept I first impressions, and any extrava-| & gant statement about snakes with-j B < out any inclination to verify, or dis|B prove them." ^B This explains, better than anything |B else I have seen, -the witness of BH "honorable and veracious persons" to ^^B impossible observations. mm Very truly yours, Karl P. Schmidt, ^^B Assistant Curator, American Museum BH^A of Natural History, 77th Street and ^^ Voir Vrvrlr O P? 11 dX X ai a, uoc, it A Vi -ww H|B tober 4, 1921. As to Horned Snakes. H^H^Vo the Editor of Woods and Waters: I wMi to assure "C. F. P." that my ^^^^^ktory about the horned suake that I nHBet with when I was a boy, which I I^^^^^Raotributed to this column some time ^H^^Hgo, was not meant to be ironical or E^^SHo refute his story about a horned ^^^^Vsnake that he saw when he was a fit Js- . . "DAMP" CEDAR LOG FOUND. New Shipping Container for Liquo Washed Up By Storm. Tampa. Fla., Oct. 29.?Flotsam am jetsam from the tropical hurrican yesterday revealed to prying pro-hibi tion officers a unique method o smuggling forbidden drink into thi country from Cuba and Mexico. Two giant cedar logs, each abou thirty inches in "diameter, neatl; sawed apart from end to end, eacl half hollowed out nicely in six place to receive a five gallon demijohn o demon rum, were found, where th< waves had tossed 'em up into tin streets of the Palmetto beach section among other perfectly good rourn and unsawed-logs which had beei , torn loose from rafts at local ciga: box factories. Practically Undatable. "My wife," pridefuliy said a citizei of the Ozarks, in ihe crossroads store "splits the kindling every morninj of the world, packs in the stovewood builds the fire, milks three cows, get; ! six kids ready for school, sews, mend ! and bakes and then has the housi all tidied up before it comes time t< | put the dinner to cooking. And l'< j just sorter like :o know who can bea I her." "Well?p'tu!'' returned a bystand er, "as she's prob'Iv tollable imtscu lar and I hain't been right well my | self since way ljng last spring, am she hain t my w V nc way whii | mebby I could beat her, I'm yur t< | say that I hafn't got the slightest id j of?p'tu- - rying it." - ? - ?^ '-.ate Some Day. % A recent movie onedv showed oi the screen a bevy of shapely birl3 d?'s robing for a plunge in the "old sw>;a ming-pool." They had just taken ol their shoes, hats, coats and were be ginning on?a passing freight trail dashed across the screen and obscur ed the view. When it Imd passed, th< girls were frolicking in the water. An old rairoader sat through rh< show again and again. At length ai usher tapped him on the shoulder. "Aren't you ever going home?" hi asked. "Oh, I'll wait awhile," was th'.? ans wer. "One of these times that train' going to be late." He Succeeded. It was a very bad day, and th< salesman who wanted the twelve twenty train got through the gate a just twelve-twenty-one. The ensuing handicap was watched with absorber interest from both the train and th< station platform. At its conclusioi the breathless and perspiring knighi of. the road weakly took the bacl trail and a vacant-faced "redcap' came out to relieve him of his grip. - '"Mister," he inquired, "was yoi tryin' to ketch dat Chicago train?" "Mo mv ?nn " renlied the Datiem man. "No, I was merely chasing ii out of the yard." Not Trying. Two small boys went fishing an< while one of them was having goo( luck, the other didn't even get h bite The unlucky lad silently began t< make preparations for departure "Ah, wait a while," urged the other "You might be lucky if you keep a it." "There ain't no use," was the dis gusted reply, "my darned worm ain' tryin'." Each in Her Separate Way. If Cousin Annie doesn't like yoi she will tell us so, but if Cousin Min nie doesn't like you she will be rea nice to you and try to -talk you int< buying a hat that is becoming. \ boy. His story merely reminded mi of a good story. "C. F. P." evidentl; did not see the contribution of Mt I Ellis A. Williams -to Woods and Wa ters a few days after my contribu tion was published. Mr. William cited as authority for the existence o the ihorned snake Mr. Raymond L Ditmars, of the New York Zoologica Park, one of the most distinguishei herpetologiSts in America. The snak is known as the rainbow or mui snake. <"C. F. P.'s" recollection o what he saw is good. The snake ha no stinger in that horn-like substanc on the end of its tail and is no poisonous. It is evident, from wha "C. F. P." and other witnesses saj that it will fight. A coachwhip wil also "bristle up" and show fight i mating season. T have just received" letter from Mr. Ditmars in which h informs me that they frequently rc ceive specimens of this snake at th New York Geological Park. He als tells me that there Is more exaggerc tion about this snake than any othe southern specimen, due, in a larg measure, to the fear that most pec Die have of snakes of any sort. A. S. Salley, Jr. Columbia, S. C. YOUR MONEY BACK If It Pails to Help You. ' Z E M E E. I N E I For Eczema, itch, and skin diseases, i Sold by local druggists. 1 THEY ALL DEMAND IT s Bamberg, Like Every City and Town In the Union, Receives It. t P<v\nla with kidnev ills want to be * vvjf.v ?r y cured. When one suffers the tortures ! of an aching back, relief is eagerly s sought for. There are many reme^ dies today that relieve, but do not icurej. Doan's Kidney Pills have 0 brought lasting results to thousands. 3 Here is Bamberg evidence of their ? merit, 1 Mrs. Sallie Moody, 31 Main St., i says: "My back ached. 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