30 ON THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF SERPENTS. 



the odontoid process, which appears in the form of a 

 conical protuberance, surrounded by the three articular 

 planes, which form the glenoid cavity destined to receive 

 the occipital condyle. The small size of the first vertebrae, 

 and the little development of their processes, occasion some 

 obliteration of their articulating surfaces, and even the 

 confounding of one with tlie other. The vertebrae of the 

 tail exhibit in the arrangement of their apophyses an 

 analogous conformation to those of the trunk ; but their 

 size diminishes gradually as they approach the extremity 

 of that member. They are constantly provided with trans- 

 verse processes directed downwards, which augment in 

 length as they approach the base of the tail, where they are 

 often cleft in two, as are also the last ribs ; so that five, six, 

 or more ranges of them may be found. The development of 

 the superior spinous processes of the tail is regulated by 

 that of the apophyses of the vertebra of the trunk ; but in 

 sea-serpents they have an uncommon length ; the inferior, 

 on the contrary, are always longitudinally cleft, or rather 

 may be considered as a double range. In some Ophidians, 

 as in the Eryx, where the tail is obtuse and thick, the 

 number of the apophyses of the tail is very great ; and 

 we see, for the reasons already advanced, m the Bungarus 

 three ranges of transverse processes. 



OF TUE BONES OF THE HEAD. 



The real cranium of Ophidians, or that assemblage of 

 bones which encloses the brain and most of the organs 

 of sense, is the smallest part of the bony frame which sei'ves 

 as a basis for the whole head. On the other hand, the 

 solid organs of mastication, with their appendices and their 

 levers, all fully developed, and all possessing a gi'eater or 

 less degi'ee of movement, compose a larger portion of the 

 head than the former ; and on them almost entu'ely de- 

 pends the shape of the head. The true cranium is always 

 elongated, and is widest just behind the eyes ; from thence 

 the lateral borders most generally converge towards the 

 point of the muzzle ; the posterior part of the cranium 

 is suddenly narrowed, and forms a cylindric cavity more 



