A Tattooed Snake

The sailors of the gulf of Mexico and the equatorial regions of the Atlantic oceau amuse themselves and also turn an occasional honest penny by capturing both large and small snakes of the variety known as the lemon boa and covering their bodies with tattooed letters and designs. One of these living manuscripts was recently exhibited at Egyptian hall, London, which had the whole of the third chapter of Genesis and some pieces froin Punch tattooed upon his back in indelible letters of various eolors. Thousauds of these tattooed snakes are annually disposed of at Rio de Janeiro. The liuyois generally kill these snakes and either skin them or preserve the eutire reptile in alcohol. Such specimens are highly prized by both European and North American collectors of curiosities.-