GARTER, Order of the, the highest order of knighthood in England. Two stories are told of its origin. The first is that Richard I at the siege of Acre caused some of his officers to tie leather thongs around their legs as a dis tinction. The origin of the order is, however, generally attributed to Edward III, and the legend runs that the Countess of Salisbury hay ing dropped her garter while dancing, the king restored it after putting it round his own leg, amid the jesting of courtiers, with the words, Honi soft qui mal y pense—uShame be to him who thinks evil of it." The date of the founda tion or restoration by Edward III of the order is not exactly determined; 1344 is given by Froissart, while other authorities, founding on the statutes of the order, assign it to 1350. In the former year it appears that a festival was held, and a society or company instituted, called the Company of Saint George, with the design of furnishing soldiers of fortune to assist King Edward in asserting his claim to the crown of France, but it seems probable that the organiza tion was completed as an order of chivalry in 1350. The order is said to have been founded in honor of the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, Saint Edward the Confessor and Saint George of Cappadocia, the last being its special patron. Until the reign of Edward VI its common title was the Order of Saint George, which it still bears, beside that of the Garter. The original number of knights, 26, including the sovereign, its permanent hqad, is still retained, except that since 1786 princes of the blood are admitted as supernumerary members. The order is fre quently conferred on foreign sovereigns. The vestures and insignia of the order are: The emblem of the order, the garter, a dark-blue ribbon edged with gold, bearing the motto, and with a buckle and pendant of gold richly chased; worn on the left leg below the knee; the mantle of blue velvet, the length of the train distin guishing the king; the surcoat and hood of crimson velvet, the hat of black velvet, with plume of white ostrich feathers, having in the centre a tuft of black heron's feathers, and fas tened to the hat with a band of diamonds ; the collar of gold consisting of 26 pieces, each in the form of a garter, with the badge of the order, called the George, pendent from it — a figure of Saint George on horse-back fighting the dragon —the lesser George being worn on a broad blue ribbon over the left shoulder. The star, formerly only a cross, is of silver, and consists of eight points, with the cross of Saint George in the centre, encircled by the garter. A star is worn by the knights on the left side when not in the dress of the order. The officers of the order are the prelate, the bishop of Win chester; the chancellor, the bishop of Oxford; the registrar, dean of Windsor; the garter king-of-arms, and the usher of the black rod. There are a dean and 12 canons, and each knight has a knight-pensioner.
GARTER the head of the heraldic establishment in England, consist ing of three kings-of-arms—Garter, Claren cieux and Norroy, and the herald of the mili tary order of the Garter. The office of garter king-of-arms was instituted by Henry V in 1417. The duties of the garter king-of arms are pnncipaily to grant neraiwc sup porters, to arrange funerals and to present the order of the Garter to foreign princes. The Garter is a member of the Heralds' College.
or Names given in the United States to several small striped harmless serpents of the genus Eutcenia. especially E. sirto!is. which abounds in
all temperate parts of the continent from Guate mala to Canada, and is exceedingly variable.
This species varies in color front light-green through olivaceous to black, marked by three stripes, but only the one along the spine is well defined, those on the sides being often obscure, broken or altogether absent. The spaces be tween these may be spotted in double or not at all; and the belly, usually light greenish blue, may be darker, almost to blackness. Some varieties have a metallic lustre. The ordinary eastern specimens are olive-brown, with dull spots and stripes. It is everywhere abundant, frequenting grassy meadows, farm-fields, road sides and gardens, Where it searches for mice •as the principal part of its food, but it eats in sects, small toads and frogs, and the eggs and young of birds whose nests are on or near the ground, for it is not a bold climber. It is abroad by day as well as by night, and itself forms the prey of such larger snakes as the blacksnake and king-snake. In the West it eats all the young gophers and ground-squirrels it can get, and in these habits commends itself to the protection of agriculturists. These snakes are extremely active and swift, as they must be not only to capture their prey, but to avoid being caught by the larger blacksnakes, king-snakes and the like which pursue them. They swim well and hide clearly in water, and in many habits, as in structure, resemble the water-snakes (Natrix); and like them they are pugnacious, and quick to bite when handled, but their teeth are minute and the bite, of course, quite harmless. Their abundance is due to these qualities, not only, but even more to their great fecundity, 25 to 40 young in a season not being an uncommon product for one mother, and an instance of 80 is recorded. These are born alive, in early warm weather, and are able to care for themselves from the start, but the mother remains near them and protects them vigorously for some time. When cold weather approaches, these serpents seek under ground retreats, such as old gopher-holes, and there often gather in large numbers which hibernate entwined together in a mass; mating takes place at this season. The skin is usually shed in the spring, by creeping through some crevice and scraping off the old hide, which peels backward from the head.
Of the score or more of species the greater number are Mexican and Central American; and some are known by very few specimens. The beautiful slender ribbon-snake (E. saurita) of the Southern States is chocolate in color, with three narrow distinct stripes, and has highly aquatic habits. The common species of the plains region (E. radix) is peculiar in its fondness for fish, catching them constantly in the pools and seizing every dead one cast on shore. A similar fish-loving species is the sub tropical E. macrosternma, which appears in the talons of the eagle in the coat of arms of Mexico. The common species of California is E. elegans. In the southern part of that State occurs a rare form (E. infernalis.), sometimes wholly black, save a yellowish throat. For the identification of the various species of this wholly American group the reader should con sult Cope's (Crocodilians, Lizards, and Snakes of North America,) published by the Smith sonian Institute in 1900. •