either from the poisonous adulteration of liquors, or from some other cause not fully established, that form of insanity is much more common than among the tipplers of Europe) invariably imagine themselves beset by snakes. From this has arisen an expression in general use here. If it happens to be remarked that So-and-So is drinking very hard, some one will probably say—“O yes, he takes more than is good for him, I guess: but he hasn’t had snakes in his boots yet.” Marvellous tales are told, and apparently well authenticated, of the effect produced upon the mind by contact with serpents, and thence conveyed by some mysterious process to the body. We hear frequently of persons bitten by snakes having a perfect fac simile of the reptile instantaneously imprinted upon some portion of their bodies. The following instance of something like this is taken from the “New York Tribune,” of 27th August, 1859:—
Singular Death from Skinning a Rattlesnake.—Some weeks since, Mr. Staffer, of Sloatsburg, Rockland County, killed a large rattlesnake, which he carefully skinned. Some time afterward he accidentally cut his thumb with the knife he had used for this purpose, when his hand and arm began to swell. The family sent for a physician, who, not being informed of the facts of the case, prescribed for the swelling, and left. Mr. Staffer daily became worse, when the physician was again sent for, but found the unfortunate man beyond all medical aid. Before he died his body was covered with livid spots, resembling those on the snake he had killed.
In another paper, the name and date of which I forgot to note, I read of a man upon whose arm, after his death from the bite of a rattlesnake, a perfect representation of the reptile was found, winding spirally from the shoulder to the wrist. Daudin gives seven varieties of the rattlesnake, all furnished with the deadly venom which causes this serpent to be dreaded more than any other upon the continent of America. These snakes are distributed, locally, over most of the States of America and throughout Western Canada. I say locally, because they are found only in particular districts. In many parts of Canada, for instance, the rattlesnake is unknown, while in others it is so common as to be a nuisance to the inhabitants of new settlements.
Some thirty or forty years ago the country lying along the Niagara River used to be very much haunted by these forbidding reptiles, but the progress of civilisation, including the arrival of the omnivorous pig, has nearly rid the district of them. The pig is the great snake annihilator, devouring serpents of every manageable size with avidity, and seeming to enjoy immunity from the poison so fatal to other animals. A French gentleman, who has a large property in a newly settled district of Western Canada, told me some years ago, that he had just purchased a large herd of lean swine to send to his saw-mills there, for the purpose of exterminating the rattlesnakes, which were very numerous, and much dreaded by his workmen. Turpentine, externally applied, has been successfully used in this country for the treatment of snake bites; but it has been asserted, lately, that alcohol, taken inwardly, in doses large enough to produce total intoxication, is the only sure remedy. There can be no doubt, however, of the existence of an antidote in a plant known to woodsmen as the rattlesnake weed, which is always to be found growing in districts inhabited by these serpents. I had frequently been assured by Indians and other coureurs des bois, of the invariable success attending the application of this herb; and, about three years ago there was a letter published in a New York city paper from one John Andrews, residing somewhere in the north of the State, I think, fully corroborating such testimony. This authority states that the men who capture snakes for sale on the islands of Lake George, have such confidence in the remedy referred to, that they feel no concern at being bitten, but will even clamber about among the rocks in their stocking feet, so as to avoid slipping; and he gives three instances within his own knowledge, of men whose lives had been saved by it.
Rattlesnakes occasionally grow to a great size, although the varieties found in the more Northern States rarely attain a length of more than five feet. A singular and horrible encounter with a very large one took place in May, 1859, near the city of Peoria, in the State of Illinois. About six miles from Peoria, at a place called Prospect Hill, there stood at that time the ruins of a country hotel, near which were two brick cisterns, which had been partially covered over with boards for some time, while out of use. The proprietor of the place drove out there one day with his wife, for the purpose of putting the flower garden in summer trim, and, while engaged upon his work, he found that he wanted some bricks for edging the walks. He uncovered one of the cisterns, which was dry, and about six feet deep, jumped into it, and began to pick out some loose bricks from the wall and throw them to the top. While so employed, finding his work somewhat impeded by a piece of plank partially imbedded in the clay at the bottom of the cistern, he tore it up with some difficulty, and threw it out. At the same time he heard the spring of the rattle, and saw, to his horror, a large serpent coiled up in the hollow where the plank had lain. He had no weapon; the cistern was not more than five feet in diameter, and it would have been impossible for him to have scrambled out of it without exposing himself to be struck by the snake, the springs made at him by which he managed to parry with his heavy boots. Hearing his cries, his wife ran to the edge of the cistern, but was so overcome with fright as to be unable to render him any assistance. At last the man, seizing his opportunity between the lunges of the enraged reptile, made an effort to leap out of the cistern, in doing which a loose brick came away in his hand, with which missile he struck his assailant on the head and killed, or at least stunned it. Then, with the assistance of his wife, he climbed to the surface, when he fainted away from the excitement caused by the terrible conflict. The snake, which was taken dead from the cistern, proved to be seven feet long and had thirteen rattles.
Some of the locust and grasshopper tribes emit sounds so nearly resembling the rattle of the snake, that the unpractised wayfarer is fain to