Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/329

* SNAKE-HEADED FISH. 277 SNARE-DRUM. SNAKE-HEADED FISH, or Serpext-Head. An East ludian lisli of the family Opluocephali- da?, relating to the climbing-fish (q.v.), and so called because of the long eel-like form and the flattened head, whieh is covered with large scales. SNAKE INDIANS. See Siiosho.m. SNAKE RIVER, also called Shoshone. A large tributary of the Columbia River, flowing through the Northwestern United States. It rises on the RocUy Mountain Divide in the south- ern part of the Yellowstone Park, and flows first southeast, turning gradually west and then northwest in a great curve through southern Idaho, then north on the boundary between Idaho and Oregon, and finally westward through the southeastern part of Washington, whore it joins the Columbia about 20 miles above the Oregon boundary (ilap: Oregon, Ci 3). Its length is al^out 900 miles. In the gi'eater part of its course the river flows through a vast lava plateau, the floor of which consists of arid sage- bush plains. The river bed, however, has been worn into narrow caiJons from 1000 to nearly 4000 feet deep. At the bottom of this gorge the stream flows sometimes in tumultuous rapids extending for 100 miles, and in several places it plunges over rocky ledges in magnificent cata- racts, of which the most noted are the Shoshone Falls (q.v.). The chief tributaries are the Sal- mon River, from the east, and the Owyhee, from the west. The main stream is navigable for steamers 100 miles to the Idaho boundary, and in several isolated stretches in its middle course. SNAKEROOT. See Polygala; Serpentakia; and Plate of Goldexbod, etc. SNAKEWEED. Another name of bistort (il.v.l. SNAKEWOOD. Another name of letter- wood ( q.v. ) . ) SNAPDRAGON {Antirrhinum). A genus of about twenty-five species of annual and perennial herbs of the natural order Scrophulariaceae, chiefly natives of the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The English name refers to a pe- culiarity of the corolla, the lower lip of which, if parted from the upper, so as to open the mouth, shuts with an elastic spring or snap. Common snapdragon { Antirrhinum majtis), a favorite plant with many fine varieties used for ornamenting beds, borders, and rockeries, is the most frequently cultivated species. It is a native of Europe, and bears racemes of variously colored flowers. The plants are propagated by seeds sown in gentle heat early in spring; the seedlings are transplanted to pans or pots, and after having been hardened to light and air are set out in the open ground during ilay. Seeds are often sown as soon as they have ripened in the summer, the young plants being protected in cold frames until they are transplanted the fol- lowing spring. Choice varieties are often in- creased by cuttings made in the fall from well- formed flowerless shoots. SNAPPER. A name given to several active, marine, carnivorous fishes of the family Lutiani- d;i^ (and to some others) on account of their voracity and quick biting at food. They are related to the sea-bass and drum-fish. The name especially applies to the members of the 'pargo' genus Neomfpnis, many species of which inhabit warm seas, especially along the American and African shores,, and are highly valued as food. The best-known and most valuable is the 'red' snapper {Xeomwnis ai/a) or 'pargo Colorado,' which is known on rocky banks as far north as New York, but is very numerous in the Gulf of Mexico. It reaches a length of two feet or more, and is one of the best of American food-fishes. Consult Goode, Fish^ri/ Industries, sec. i. (Wash- ington, 1884) ; and see Colored Plate of Food Fishes with article Fish as Food. W'^i.. e<C / .^ y.:^-^" -w^ COM.MON SNAPDRAGON. SNAPPING TURTLE. A large fresh-water tortoise (Chelydrn serpentina) of the rivers and marshes of North and Central America, noted for its fierceness. It sometimes exceeds three feet in length, but ordinarily is about half that. Its shell is too small to permit it to retract either the snake-like head and neck or the long tail. The carapace is covered with pyramidally thick- ened plates, and the plastr6n is reduced to a cruciform shape. Its jaws are large and so strong that often it may be lifted from the ground by the object it bites. It feeds upon fish and all sorts of small aquatic animals. A second species belongs to the Lower Mississippi Valley — the 'alligator-snapper' (llaei-odielifs lacertina), which is larger and is considered for its size the strongest of reptiles. These turtles, early in .June, seek a sandbank, where the females dig holes with their hind feet and bury twenty-five or thirty small spherical eggs, smoothing the sand carefully over them. These two species constitute the family Chelydridie. SNARE-DRUM (from snare, from AS. snear, OHG. snaniliha, snora, sinew, nerve; connected with Lat. ncrrns, Gk i/eijpoi'. neuron. Skt. s»io- roH, Av. snavara, sinew, nerve -- drum). The ordinary small military drum. It is built of a