tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post6312742582335617618..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: “What could have been intended by this uncommon device”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-22096104020727425102011-09-11T16:12:10.907-05:002011-09-11T16:12:10.907-05:00Thanks for your comments. If the superstition abou...Thanks for your comments. If the superstition about a snake’s part rejoining can be documented in the eighteenth century, it might have influenced Franklin’s first “Join, or Die” icon. <br /><br />The letter writer acknowledged that in heraldry “the worthy properties of the animal, in the crest-born, shall be considered,” but that “‘the worthy properties’ of a Snake I judged would be hard to point out.”J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-12993131107411032072011-09-11T09:56:05.202-05:002011-09-11T09:56:05.202-05:00My grandmother (b. 1885) used to tell of superstit...My grandmother (b. 1885) used to tell of superstitions surrounding rattlesnakes. First, they never "died" until night. No doubt this was because the body would coil and twist for hours after the snake had been killed because of the long muscles contracting. This probably contributed to the other superstition that if you cut off the head of a rattler (our family's preferred method of execution) that you must either bury it or throw the body far from the head. The reason being that the parts would join back again as they were squirming toward each other!<br /><br />I don't know if similar stories existed in Franklin's time, but they likely did. But, in any case, it's very unusual to read of someone extolling the virtues of a rattlesnake. We seldom treat them with such respect.<br /><br />I enjoyed the post. Thanks for your entertaining blog.Waldo4mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577350666062651359noreply@blogger.com