Show philippine SEA SNAKES not only do various reptiles and other queer creatures abound in the forests and swamps of the philippines but ue athe surrounding ng water of these interesting islands teem with veritable sea serpents these strange creatures which pass their entire existence in the water iwa ter possess deadly fangs the are AL a great menace to the fishermen who are constantly exposed to their attacks technically speaking science has named the group they constitute the they differ from the ter snakes only in the possession of a flat paddle like tall these reptiles inhabit the tropical seas of the old world and occasionally attain a length of at eight feed feet dr rudolph weber professor processor of 0 drawing in princeton university iver Ive ralty sity observed large numbers of these creatures while on a steamer bound tor for sumatra dr weber was in charge of a scientific expedition and naturally took especial notice of them he says that when the vessel was some fifty miles off the coast of sea snakes could be seen swimming ft bout as far as the eye could reach they kept upon the surface and several distinct species were recognized among them during calm weather these reptiles may be seen sunning themselves upon the surface of the sea remaining motionless except for a slight undulation caused by the movement of the water when alarmed the agile reptiles dive like arrows leaving a train of bubbles behind them some species are extremely brilliant in coloration being bright yellow banded with black while others are tinted with delicate dedicate shades of green the food of sea snakes consists entirely of fishes frequently fishes armed with long sharp spines fall victims to their appetites among these are the and which are furnished with spines three and live five inches long but these do not embarrass the voracious reptile in the least the victim is first killed by the snakes polson poison after which it is swallowed head first the spines naturally pointing toward the tall tail of the victim and being relaxed in death are compressed against the body of the fish as de proceeds while in search of their prey sea snakes sometimes venture a short distance up the mouth of large rivers dr weber records an instance where he was fishing tn in one of the rivers on the east coast of sumatra he was using a drag net fiet and hat had i cornered a number of medium sized fish As the net was being brought in two large sea snakes suddenly made their appearance inside they showed no signs of uneasiness at capture but were hurriedly gobbling down the cornered fishes fla toes nor did they cease operations until the last fish had disappeared when the formidable creatures made their escape being air ir breathers the sea snakes lead 9 a similar existence to the whale scientists have expressed much interest as to how long they can remain under water prof RP whitfield of the american museum of natural history while dragging for corals corald saw a large sea snake lying motionless among some coral growths some eight feet below the surface it showed no signs of fear fe ar and remained in the gome some position for an hour the venom of these reptiles are even more deadly than that of the cobra the fangs are very short an ana consequently do not penetrate so deep as the fangs of most se ser pants rants but only a scratch from then is necessary to produce serious results owing to their great shyness accidents are very rare when cornered they snap and bite viciously retaining their hold upon a victim As their eyes are adapted only for use vi ui the water they strike blindly when brought into the air although living for days when removed from their native element many specimens hauled up in fisher mens nets have been sent to zoological gardens the london gardens even went so fax far as to build a special tank for their accommodation but these captured specimens either die en route or a short time after being kept in captivity seeking a dark corner of their tank they refuse all food and ultimately starve to death around the numer i ous volcanic islands of the malayan archipelago these reptiles are particularly numerous frequent eruptions occur among these islands which are hardly more than tham the body of the volcano during the time of an eruption the few people residing near by take to the water in their boats to escape the ashes and mud it Is generally a case came of jumping from the frying pan into the fire however at such times the sea becomes uncomfortably w warm from its alts close proximity to the burning barnin mountain and the sea snakes swim wildly about for forea escape cape they endeavor to climb over the gunwales gunzales gun wales of the hefti gees boats while they twine ejka bodies in great masses about the tac bojia ward cli chains ains when about to lay their begs them serpents approach tw the shore the eime are laid above high water mark ggs wa left to hatch by the heat of the many creatures prey upon the yub YOU reptiles and other large fishes walte the adults in spite of their death deal dea K ing fangs fall victims to see sea eagles J and large gulls after the great greak tv 1 photons which are common in the A and their vicinity many 01 these creatures may be found the beach where they have been cfaft ceat up during the storm and killed by tte violent pounding of the waves t the gigantic sea serpents so often observed by intemperate captains of sailing vessels have no relation to th these creatures one of the sea monster seen not long ago and described aa 88 mi der going the most remarkable of gyra i eions proved to be a dead anaconda anacon ft dM thrown overboard from a steamer new york times T |