SEEING A SNAKE FEED. 35 



do take the trouble of feeding, of doing it thoroughly, so that 

 their meal lasts them a long while. 



Deglutition is greatly facilitated by an abundant supply 

 of saliva, which lubricates that uncomfortable coating of 

 feathers or fur ; but ' lubrication ' is understood to refer 

 merely to the natural secretions of the mouth, in which the 

 tongue performs no part at all. 



The salivary apparatus of snakes is peculiar to them, and 

 very complicated. Even the nasal and lachrymal glands 

 pour their superfluous secretions through small canals into 

 the mouth.^ These active and abundant glands are excited 

 by hunger or the sight of food, just as in mammals ; and 

 for the more common expression of the mouth ' watering ' 

 that of * lubrication ' is here used, because over the rough- 

 coated prey these salivary secretions act as a great aid in 

 deglutition. The erroneous impressions that have obtained 

 on this subject are touched upon in describing the tongue 

 (chap. vi.). 



A circumstance happened at the London Zoological Gardens 

 a few years ago, which, although familiar to many, may be 

 referred to as bearing on two of the above features — namely, 

 the dull sense of taste in a snake, and the abundant supply 

 of mucous secretions. It was in the case of a large 

 boa which swallowed her blanket. She was about to 

 change her skin, and, as usual on such occasions, was 

 partially blind, as also indifferent to food. The rabbits 

 given to her dodged her grasp, and her appreciation of 

 flavours was not sufficient to enable her to discriminate 

 between blanket and rabbit fur ; so, seizing a portion of 



^ Essai sur la Physionomie des Serpents. Par Herman Schlegel. Paris, 1837. 



