Show GUARD them PROBLEM FOR STUDENTS af af NATURAL HISTORY ii assertion that snakes ind and 7 fishes 1 s h es swallow their progeny affirmed and disputed by leading men of f science some cm e stances instances Jn observed one of the jr arost most ost singular discua alons in the field of natural history js that relating to the question do I 1 snakes swallow their young as a protection tec tion some ye years rs ago dr G brown goode of the ilie smithsonian institution ution collected a large amount of data on the subject and gave the testimony of 0 scores of observers to the effect that they had witnessed theace the act yet the question is in ill no wise settled and an english 0 journal at the present time is off offering erlus a prize to any one who will produce a snake witla with the young in its stomach or so arrange that a committee of nien men can observe the act the writer long ago ac kv 7 2 eji N iza A y ir i y you ft V view vi 4 av pw lc M y y cepter the sto story ry though never having observed the singular performance believing that it was not more remarkable than for a fish or many fishes fi to carry their thein young joung in their mouths or for the fish fier asfor to live in the intestinal canal of a se a cucumber or thew little ittle fis fishes hes attendant upon the portuguesa 12 suese gueso man of war to live among the death deal ing tentacles but not along upon this was tho the fact accepted but on the statement of a well known and el clixful 1 ful observer ver tho the late col nicholas pike at one time our consul at mauritius at my reque request zt col pike made the following v ta temen t chich settled the question conclusively at least to the satisfaction of the writer the first time this came under tinder my notice was in 1830 J tras iwas roaming over the fields when I 1 saw a good sized garter snake Eu sir talis alls very near with numerous young ones around her As I 1 approached her she placed her head flat on the ground opening her mouth and making a pecullar peculiar noise the little ones evidently understood for they all ran into her oesophagus i picked her up by the neck and put her in a ba bag 0 and took her home on examination I 1 found I 1 had about twenty snakes including the mother they were kept together in a box and when I 1 told the story to my friends they ridiculed me it was not long however before every person in the house was convinced of my assertions from witnessing the fact themselves 1 1 I met with a curious incident years ago while hunting snakes ln in the swamp at melrose melro se I 1 came across a male and female striped snake with numerous young ones tho the parents were near each other the family ing ng over and around them I 1 was going for them when on second d thought I 1 concluded to watch them they did not appear frightened but went on tamboling gamboling gam garri boling about for some time I 1 went a little nearer when both snakes turned toward me mail mak ag ing it A faint noise placed their heads flat on the ground and received the young as stated before it was a curious sight to see these lualter lu alteo not long iong born some of them lt foat or two away turn at the noise and laist instantly antly seek refuge I 1 am pertain it was waa a note of warning of danger I 1 caught both snakes and put hsai in separate hags the female unit haa ten young and the male had swallowed five this Is s the first instance of i any iby notice of a malo snake performing formin 0 this affectionate duty ditty for its boing I 1 placed the whole family in a L box where they lived peaceably ton for a long timey time I 1 could relate numerous nit instances I 1 have seen where 4 different species of snakes have thus protected their young 11 th that at certain fishes protect their young I 1 ing and eggs by taking them into 4 mouths has rong long been known urel f agassiz first brought the fact vo to the attention of science whon when ho he f found 0 und the little south american fish ac acara ara with its gill cavities pressed outward by the mass of young which viere vere held there arke all novel or bizarre statements even this was at first doubted but was easily demonstrated to the satis sath action of scientific lb n mon men tho the world ever in nearly every branch braach of tho the animal mal kingdom hing dorm there are found peculiar methods 0 oi of caring for young some are taken in the mouth others are ar 0 packed cached upon the back where they adhere ds as in certain frogs others are held in cells as in hi the surinam toad others find shelter la in a poarch of the female as the young of the kanga 00 oo or in the pouch of tho male mal as a in the case of the seahorse but the most remarkable liable instances are those where certain take the young into the mouths and hold thorn them until they are large enough to ta care for themselves Chem selves A most moat interesting instance of this is found birthe in the chromis of if the sea of biberias Tib erias il a large and finely formed fish at timm times before tho fact referred to was known it appeared to hold its gill covers so that its head seemed swollen leil arill ami e examination of a specimen developed UIG the singular fact that the mouth of the fish was lined with young packed in ill so closely that the mouth could not ue be shut giving ther the fish a very peculiar appearance the male of this fish takes tho the eggs as soon as the female deposit s them and holds them not only until the young appear apper but until the small fry can call protect themselves in south american rivers there is a fesh which attains a wel weight at of several hundred pounds which it is said sad protects its young by taking them in its mouth quito quite as aa sin singular u lar is the method of the seahorse orse referred ret erred to the male is provided a pouch in which it places the eggs where they remain until hatched when they are forced out by the fish in a specimen kept in ift an aquarium by tho the writer the seahorse iorge was surrounded by a cloud of the almost microscopic young boling which hovered about only visible in the strong sunlight many fishes adopt homes or places of oft refuge quite as remarkable as the the chro chromis chroni is thus thua ft a long slender P silvery fish enters the intestinal tes canal of a sea cucumber comes out and returns return s at leisure another fish lives in the interior of a sea anemone the little crab so often found in oyster stews at restaurants is an example of an animal which has forced itself upon another says a writer in the new nen york times the crab slipped into the open shell of tho the oyster when it was an infant ant and literally grew and fattened upon the iha oyster dying at it its case in fia the soft 5 T 4 folds of the defenseless mollusk IC illustrating lu Iti ones one of tho the remarkable phases of nature |