CHA PTE Rav Ll: 
SNAKES. 
F all Reptiles, the Snake is the most interesting, either 
() at liberty or in confinement. As a rule, people do 
not look upon the animal with indifference; they are 
either attracted to it or repelled by it. The Snake is one of 
the most remarkable of all creatures. It has always held an 
important place in the history of mankind. By some nations 
it has been worshipped as a god, by others reviled and dreaded as 
the embodiment of evil. Nor does this appear strange to those 
who are at all familiar with the Reptile. No wonder that the 
heathen reverenced an animal so beautiful in colouring, graceful 
in movement and swift in action; or feared one so strong, deadly 
and incomprehensible. The Snake has been closely connected 
with the religion of every pagan country wherever it was known. 
It is said that there are hardly any ancient sacred carvings of 
Egypt, India, China, Japan, or Mexico in which the Serpent is 
not represented. Probably, since ornaments were first used up 
to the present day, the Snake has been a favourite device. We 
see it constantly on rings, bracelets, vases, coats-of-arms, and the 
like. And yet, for all this, the Snake is so little understood. 
There are certainly more delusions concerning it than any other 
animal. <A great authority on ophidian matters has said that 
‘almost every popular notion about a Snake is an error.” 
