SERPENTS. 145 



Perhaps this last feature depends on the flat- 

 tened form of the head, the glare of the eye, 

 (which is not furnished with eyelids, and fre- 

 quently has the pupil linear), and the extreme 

 width of the gape. 



In the Serpents, the four limbs which we have 

 seen gradually to become obsolete in the latest 

 forms of the Saurian group, are no longer found, 

 either in external projections or in internal bones; 

 there is neither breast-bone, nor pelvis, nor 

 shoulder. In one Family, however, there are two 

 horny spurs or hooks on the hinder part of the 

 body, which are connected with minute bones 

 imbedded in the flesh, and seem to be the rudi- 

 mentary representatives of posterior limbs ; they 

 are, however, of no use in progression, but an&wer 



L 



