THE SMOOTH SNAKE. 63 



inches in length. After its meal, the Coronella re- 

 freshed himself with a bath, and seemed to take 

 great pleasure in the water, which doubtless served 

 to mitigate the great heat of its very rapid digestion. 

 So active is that, that Dr. Opel remarks : " I have 

 known the portion of the prey enclosed in the 

 stomach to be in a state of decomposition while the 

 other portion was still outside the jaws." When 

 bathing, the Coronella generally takes great care not 

 to immerse its head, except during very warm 

 weather, and then it will keep its head beneath the 

 surface for a quarter of an hour at a time. 



In reference to its hybernation, Dr. Opel observed 

 that this was neither so long nor deep as in many 

 other reptiles. Nor did the Coronella bury itself in 

 the sand, but always stretched itself, and slept on the 

 surface. The vitality of this species appears, how- 

 ever, to be one of its leading characteristics, as may 

 be gathered from the following circumstance : — In 

 the autumn of 1858 Dr. Opel was obliged to be ab- 

 sent from home for five weeks. Having no one with 

 whom to intrust his pets, he packed them into a 

 vasculum which was attached to his knapsack, and 

 used by him for botanical specimens. In this they 

 travelled the whole time he was from home. They 

 did not appear to be in the least affected by the 

 close confinement to which they were subjected, but 

 returned to Dresden in safety and good health. For 



