ITEMS OF SNAKE KNOWLEDGE. 463 
The Ringhals Snake, although belonging to the Cobra family, has 
keeled scales. like those of the Puff Adder. 
A snake strikes with its fangs so quickly that the eye cannot follow 
the movement of the head. 
Snakes eat rats, and these rodents in turn devour young snakes and 
snakes’ eggs. 
i 
A large barn rat introduced into a cage containing seven Puff Adders, 
killed three of them by biting them at the back of the neck. It ate a 
portion of one. 
Puff Adders have several pairs of duplicate fangs. The active pair of 
fangs sometimes attains a length of three-quarters of an inch. 
A Puff Adder possesses about 150 pairs of ribs. 
Snakes are the most graceful of all reptiles. The Siamese call them 
“ Sunbeams.” 
Most Pythons possess two horny spurs in the tail region. These are 
the last vestiges of legs. They are useful for eee purposes when the 
reptile climbs. or swings from branches. 
Fic. 156.— Young snakes emerging from the eggs. They rupture the soft shell with the nose. 
All snakes can swim. 
During a recent flood in Baaken’s River Valley, at Port Elizabeth, 
a great number of snakes were washed out to sea. The incoming tide 
cast their dead bodies up on the shore the following day. 
The nostrils of Sea Snakes are placed on the top of the snout. 
The lung of a Sea Snake extends nearly the whole length of its body. 
When on land, Sea Snakes are helpless and blind. 
The scales of Sea Snakes are, in shape, just like the wax cells of the 
honey bee (six-sided). 
Many cases are on record of people dying after being bitten by Sea 
Snakes. : 
The existence of a sea serpent of monstrous size still remains unproven. 
The rattle of a Rattlesnake is a number of hollow horny segments at 
the end of the tail. These are loosely joined together, and when vibrated 
make the characteristic rattling sound. 
The horns of the Hornsman Adder are upright scales above the eyes. 
