36 SNAKES. 



the rug, she with natural instinct constricted this, and pro- 

 ceeded to swallow it. She was, however, made to disgorge 

 it afterwards, when it was scarcely recognisable from the 

 thick and abundant coating of mucous in which it was 

 enveloped. Mr. F. Buckland described its appearance as 

 that of a * long flannel sausage.' 



These highly-developed salivary glands are beneficent 

 provisions in the economy of the serpent race. The reptile 

 cannot, as we said, tear flesh from bones, and discard the 

 latter ; nor separate the food from the enveloping feathers or 

 fur ; nor reject whatever unsavoury portions other animals 

 might detach and leave uneaten. All must be swallowed 

 by a snake, and all digested ; and its digestion, sufficiently 

 powerful, is aided by the excessive flow of saliva, or the 

 insalivation of such food. 



It is not difficult to make snakes disgorge their food. 

 They often do so on their own account, when, after swallow- 

 ing some bulky meal, they are alarmed or pursued, and 

 escape is less easy with that load to carry. The illustration 

 exhibiting the numerous ribs, which are all loosely articulated 

 with the spinal column, enables us to comprehend the capacity 

 for bulk, and the ease with which these fine ribs would 

 expand to accommodate a body even broader than the snake 

 itself. We comprehend, also, why it is that a creature 

 swallowed alive need not be injured or wounded by the 

 mere fact of being swallowed, but would die of suffocation 

 after all. A frog has been known to turn round and 

 escape from the body of the snake, if the latter indulge in 

 a prolonged yawn ; and yawning almost always does follow 

 as soon as the prey is swallowed, because the snake has 



