58 ON THE rilYSIOGNOMY OF SERPENTS. 



to the corpora cavernosa of the ])enis of the superior 

 classes of the anmial kingdom. Finally, at the distance 

 of one or two inches from the anus, this body tenninates 

 in a conical muscle, so much elongated that it sometimes 

 extends to the end of the tail. The apparatus we have 

 described, on projection during copulation, inverts itself 

 like the finger of a glove, and it is in this state that its 

 inner surface, now become the outer, is observed to be 

 bristled with prickles. The form of these organs differs in 

 different si)ecies of Ophidians, both in volume and in 

 length ; but no species presents so singular a conformation 

 of them as the Coluber canus of the Cape, the false penis of 

 which is very long, garnished with numerous, thickly- 

 planted, small prickles, each one completely divided, so 

 that there are two false penes on each side, or four in all. 



In the same region, in female Ophidians, is found a 

 pouch called the anal pouch. It is formed of a white, elas- 

 tic, and very tenacious membrane, of which the interior 

 surface secretes a foetid li([uid, smelling strongly of garlic; 

 when attacked, serpents squirt this li([uid through the ori- 

 fices of these pouches at the side of the anus. I have dis- 

 covered organs extremely similar in the males of several 

 species ; they are, in those instances, less developed, and 

 are situated below the false penis ; but in a great nimiber 

 of Ophidians, the male sex is unprovided Avith these pouches, 

 or they are replaced by a pouch lodged in each side of the 

 base of the tail, in the anal cavity itself. 



The organs of generation, properly so called, in Ophi- 

 dians, are always found within the abdominal cavity, 

 occupying the hypochondric regions in front of the kid- 

 neys : the testicles and the ovaries are equally remark- 

 able by their slender form, compressed by their position, 

 and as wanting the s}Tiimetry observed in other animals. 

 They are shut up, with the kidneys and the lower part of 

 the intestine, in the envelopes of the peritoneum, a mem- 

 brane which is often stained of a black colour in the lum- 

 bar region, as takes place m various other reptiles, and in 

 many fishes. 



The ovaries contain a great many eggs, of varying size, 

 and disposed in two rows. The oviduct, in order to re- 



