This department probably has no no business in the joint snake symposium now being conducted by the Lawrence Journal and Kiwis City Star, but as neither the Journal nor the Star seems to know much about the reptile, we herewith tender some authoritative information. The joint snake is a crawling thing, varying in length from 6 to 15 inches, and in its general appearance more nearly resembles a lizard than a snake. In color it is a dull yellow, with minute stripes of pea green, and its skin is glazed and transparent, differing in that respect from all true members of the snake family.
    There is nothing in the theory that the joint snake flies to pieces when hit with a stick, and that it afterwards crawls about collecting and marshaling in order the dismembered portions of its anatomy. This theory is as fictitious as one concerning the disposition of the hoop snake to take its tail in its mouth and go rolling about the country. As a matter of fact, the joint snake has but one joint, located at a point two-thirds the length of its body, measuring from the head. Any sort of rough treatment will dislocate this joint. A hard blow from a stick directed at the proper spot will do it. Or the two sections of the body may be separated by a simple twist of the wrist, which was esteemed the proper method when we were a boy.
    Dismemberment apparently causes the joint snake no trouble or inconvenience, and produces no wound or contusion. When released the head of the snake runs away and hides in the grass, its natural habitat, leaving the caboose end to its own devices, and it does not come back later and pick up the dismembered fragment.
    As to whether the joint snake dies as a result of the treatment or grows a new tail and lives happily ever after is a matter in controversy which has never been satisfactorily settled. The joint snake is perfectly harmless, being equipped with no weapons either of offense or defense. The writer, who was reared in a joint snake country, has carried them alive and wriggling in his pockets for hours at a time, scaring the women by suddenly releasing one in the house being esteemed a high form of sport and a superlative quip in his neighborhood.—J. E. House, in the Topeka Capital.

From— Yorkville Enquirer. (Yorkville, S.C.), 25 May 1909. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.