i8o SNAKES. 



the Zoological Gardens, has a tail of which the last few- 

 inches taper so suddenly that the extreme end of this 

 reptile appears almost ludicrously trivial for so fine a pos- 

 sessor. One inch of this — hardly thicker than a rat's tail — 

 you may see wriggling so rapidly that you can scarcely follow 

 its movements, or believe that it is a part of the large 

 quiescent body to which it is attached. In pursuit of its 

 prey the python itself glides with slow dignity, while the 

 trifling little terminal inch or so of tail is in a perpetual 

 but most ^///dignified wriggle. 



In the * Racer,' already familiar to the reader, the tail is 

 one-fourth the length of the body ; in the * milk snake ' 

 {Coluber exiinius), introduced in chapter iv., it is one-fifth. 

 The extensive variation in tails may be comprehended by 

 their number of vertebrae, which in some snakes amount to 

 200, and in others are reduced to 5. 



Of the practical uses of the snake's tail, the natitral uses, 

 — those above mentioned being either imaginary ones, or 

 a mere expression of feeling, — the prehensile power is one 

 of the greatest. * Strictly speaking, the true prehensile 

 tail is found only in the boa,' Schlegel, Owen, and other 

 physiologists tell us; but that statement refers to some 

 peculiar anatomical construction, enabling the tail to twine 

 and grasp with extraordinary force, because nearly all 

 snakes can manage to climb, or to raise themselves when 

 occasion requires it, making use of their tails, as was stated 

 at the commencement of this chapter. ' Even the clumsy, 

 ugly death adder can climb well,' Krefi"t assures us, and that 

 it can support itself against a wall with only a portion of 

 its tail on the ground. 



