CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE INTEGUMENT— ' horns; AND OTHER EPIDERMAL 



APPENDAGES. 



H 



AVING decided that in animal ornfanization nothinc^ 



exists without its especial use ; assuming also that 

 the peculiar development of cuticle forming the rattle is to 

 supply the deficiency of voice, we are next induced to examine 

 those other appendages in serpents which are also modifications 

 of the integument, such as the ' horns ' of the Cerastes, the 

 tentacles, snout-protuberances, and developments occasionally 

 seen about the head of snakes, and which have all, no doubt, 

 their uses. 



' Serpents are naked,' says Giinther — that is, they have no 

 separate epidermal productions in the way of fur, feathers, 

 hair, or wool, and all the variations of form in scales are but 

 the folds of the epidermis.^ The ' variations of form ' include, 

 therefore, the appendages above mentioned. 



The heads of most snakes are covered with non-imbricated 

 plates or shields. The form and position of these shields are 

 in a great measure used in classification ; ' are of the greatest 



1 Reptiles of British India, by Dr. Albert Giinther, F.R.S. 



315 



