scarcely to notice the poor animal, soon began to stir a little, and turning his head in the direction of the goat, it at length fixed a deadly and malignant eye on the trembling victim, whose agony and terror seemed to increase; for, previous to the snake seizing its prey, it shook in every limb, but still continuing its unavailing show of attack, by butting at the serpent, who now became sufficiently animated to prepare for the banquet. The first operation was that of darting out his forked tongue, and at the same time rearing a little his head; then suddenly seizing the goat by the fore leg with his mouth, and throwing him down, he was enIcircled in an instant in his horrid folds. So quick, indeed, and so instantaneous was the act, that it was impossible for the eye to follow the rapid convolution of his elongated body. It was not a regular screw-like turn that was formed, but resembling rather a knot, one part of the body overlaying the other, as if to add weight to the muscular pressure, the more effectually to crush his object. During this time he continued to grasp with his mouth; though it appeared an unnessary precaution, that part of the animal he had first seized. The poor goat, in the mean time, continued its feeble and halfstifled cries for some minutes, but they soon became more and more faint, and at last it expired. 'The snake, however, retained it a considerable time in its grasp, after it was apparently motion less. He then began slowly and cautiously to unfold himself, till the goat fell dead from his monstrous embrace, when he began to prepare himself for the feast. Placing his mouth in the front of the dead animal, he commenced by lubricating with his saliva that part of the goat; and then taking his muzzle into his mouth, which had, and indeed always has, the appearance of a raw lacerated wound, he sucked it in, as far as the horns would allow. These protuberances opposed some little difficulty-not so much from their extent, as from their points; however, they also in a very short time disappeared, that is to say, externally; but their progress was still to be traced very distinctly on the outside, threatening every moment to protrude through the skin. The victim had now descended as far as the shoulders; and it was an astonishing sight to observe the extraordinary action of the snake's muscles when stretched to such an unatural extent-an extent which must have. utterly destroyed all muscular power in an animal, that was not like itself endowed with very peculiar faculties of expansion and action at the same time. When his head and neck had no other appearance than that of a serpent's skin stuffed almost to bursting, still the working of the muscles was evident; and his power of suction, as it is generally, but erroneously called, unabated: it was, in fact, the effect of a contractile muscular power, assisted by two rows of strong hooked teeth. With all this he must be so formed as to be able to suspend, for a time, his respiration; for it is impossible to conceive that the process of breathing could be carried on while the mouth and throat were so completely stuffed and expanded by the body of the goat, and the lungs themselves (admitting the trachea to be ever so hard) compressed as they must have been, by its passage downwards. "The whole operation of completely gorging the goat occupied about two hours and twenty minutes; at the end of which time, the tumefaction was confined to the middle part of the body, or stomach, the superior parts, which had been so much distended, having resumed their natural dimensions. He now coiled himself up again, and lay quietly in his usual torpid state for about three weeks or a month, when his last meal appearing to be completely digested and dissolved, he was presented with another goat, (not alive we hope,) which he devoured with equal facility." THE PIGEON SHOOTER'S GLEE. Fill the crystal goblet up. In her bounty, here's a bumber, No blank days can ever.vex us, SAGACITY OF A GREYHOUND AND POINTER. A gentleman in the county of Sterling kept a greyhound and a pointer, and being fond of coursing, the pointer was accustomed to find the hares, and the greyhound to catch them. When the season was over, it was found that the dogs were in the habit of going out by themselves, and killing the hares for their own amusement. To prevent this, a large iron ring was fastened to the pointer's neck, by a leather collar, and hung down, so as to prevent the dog from running or jumping over dykes, &c. The animals, however, continued to stroll out to the fields together; and one day the gentleman, suspecting all was not right, resolved to watch them, and to his surprise, found that the moment they were unobserved, the greyhound took up the iron ring in his mouth, and carrying it, they set off to the hills, aud began to search for hares as usual. They were followed, and it was observed that, whenever the pointer scented the hare, the ring was dropped, and the greyhound stood ready to pounce upon poor puss the moment the other drove her from her form, but that he uniformly returned to assist his companion when he had accomplished his object. A DOG STUNG TO DEATH BY BEES. In October, 1818, Mr. M'Laurin, brewer, Newtonstewart, removed a very fine watch-dog from his usual kennel to a situation in the garden, with a view of protecting his fruits from the attempts of juvenile depredators. Unfortu nately, however, the poor dog was chained very near a bee's scape, the enraged and multitudinous population of which, not relishing the presence of |