Remarks on the Habits of the Snake. 483 



base to the extremity of a branch, assisted by the twigs pro- 

 jecting from it. In the latter movement it generally prefers 

 elevating its head, to pass over the axilla of a branch, rather 

 than to pass beneath it ; thus additional support is given to 

 the body, and the abdominal scales, {scuta), which are the 

 principal agents of progression, are made to act with greater 

 power. These transverse abdominal scales are of a peculiar 

 nature ; not only as they defend the lower part of the body 

 from external injury, but, having an intimate connection with 

 the ends of the ribs, are by them, through the agency of a se- 

 ries of powerful internal muscles, erected, and made to move 

 backwards and forwards upon each other, and thus each scu- 

 tum is, as it were, drawn after the preceding, and this, in rapid 

 succession, being continued throughout the entire series, gives 

 a progressive motion to the body of the serpent, which travels 

 onward, as if upon so many feet. Hence it is that a snake, 

 after having coiled its head and neck over a branch, is capa- 

 ble of drawing the remainder of the body over, in a gradually 

 progressing direction. It will sometimes extend itself from 

 the upper branches, by twisting its tail round a small one, 

 lowering the rest of its body, and extending itself to its full 

 length, pass its head and neck in a spiral course round a low- 

 er branch, then loosening its hold of the upper one, drop the 

 tail end of the body into the lower part of the tree, and, fol- 

 lowing the course which the head and neck had previously 

 taken, will travel on, drawing up the pendant part of its body, 

 and proceed as before. The snake is not only able to travel 

 with rapidity over the earth, but possesses the power of throw- 

 ing the whole length of its body from the ground, performing 

 a kind of leap : this is done by placing the body upon the 

 ground in the form of an involuted spire, the folds of the an- 

 terior part forming the centre of the figure ; then suddenly 

 extending itself in the form of a spiral spring, it will throw 

 itself to a distance. This movement may sometimes be seen 

 in very hot weather, by the banks of a stream, when snakes 

 will often lie basking in the sun, with their bodies coiled in 

 the manner just described, — the neck and head being direct- 

 ed from the centre to the circumference, above the folds.—- 

 This position seems to be preferred to any other by the snake 

 while reposing, and it is one from which the animal is ena- 

 bled to perform the most rapid movement upon a sudden sur- 

 prise ; for in a wood, from this position, they will leap, by an 

 instantaneous effort, into the brushwood, and thus elude our 

 most energetic efforts to secure them, or even to get sight of 

 them ; but by the side of a stream this movement may be bet- 

 ter seen, for on a sudden approach, they will leap from the 



