SNAKES. 169 
If a Snake be taken in the hands and loosely held, its body will 
seem to flow through the fingers in a marvellous manner, appar- 
ently. without any assistance of the ribs and ventral scales. <A 
good way to feel the movements of the 
abdominal scutze, is to allow a Snake to 
crawl round the neck just above the 
collar. 
The late Sir Richard Owen says, in 
his “Anatomy of the Vertebrates,” 
that “The vertebrae (Figs. 56 and 57) 
of Serpents articulate with each other 
by eight joints in addition to those of = yyq 5¢—THR Hinp As- 
the cup and ball on the centrum; and PECT OF A VERTEBRA 
F ; j ; (much enlarged) OF A 
interlock by parts reciprocally receiv- RINGED SNAKE (T'ropido- 
< : F notus natrix), SHOWING 
ing and entering one another, like the THE ‘ BALL,” FROM 
joints called tenon and mortice in Se 
carpentry.” 
Some of the large Pythons have more than 400 vertebre. 
Nearly every vertebra of the body is provided with a pair of ribs, 
on the tips of which the Reptile may be saidto walk. Inasense, 
therefore, a Snake is almost all feet, as 
before remarked. 
In Miss C. Hopley’s book on _ the 
‘‘Snakes,” there are some interesting 
illustrations of three Four-rayed Snakes 
(Llaphis quaterradiatus). The first Snake 
is represented as holding one bird down 
with its body while it is preparing to eat 
Fic. 57.—THE Front @nother held in its coils. The second 
ASPECT OF A VERTE- Snake is figured as holding one bird 
BRA (much enlarged) ok ‘ 
OF A RINGED SNAKE+ down-on the ground, retaining another in 
AA iecatdend “CUP! its coils, and swallowing a third. The 
Bee PAFURE. third Snake is shown in the act of 
devouring one bird, while it holds two 
others in different coils of its body. These illustrations are 
referred to as endorsing, in a degree, the assertion that though 
a Snake has no hands it seems to be all hands. 
The idea that a Snake is able to leap or spring a long distance 
