SECTION IV. 



THE CLASS OF REPTILIA OR REPTILES. 



SUB-SECTION I. 

 THE REPTILIA CONSIDERED AS A CLASS. 



TKUE Reptiles include all cold-blooded oviparous verte- 

 brates which are covered with scales, or with bony plates, 

 or both, and which lay their eggs upon the land, and 

 whose young as soon as hatched closely resemble their 

 parents. 



Most kinds of reptiles swallow their prey whole, and 

 the digestion of all is sluggish. Their oesophagus, and 

 muscular stomach, are generally more or less similar to 

 those of Birds. 



Their blood has comparatively few globules, and the 

 globules are large and elliptical in form. 



The circulatory apparatus varies widely from that of 

 Birds and Mammals; the heart, in most cases, having two 



