ZOOLOGY. 147 



kinds possess such great strength, as to enable them to seize 

 and destroy Animals of the size of an Ox ; and even Maa 

 himself is sometimes overcome by these immense creatures ; 

 but few if any of the very large Snakes are poisonous ; 

 but destroy their victims by mere muscular compression, 

 as Avhen once any animal becomes encircled in their 

 enormous folds, the contraction of their muscles is suffi- 

 cient to deprive it of life ; the lesser kinds feed on 

 Birds, the lesser Quadrupeds, Frogs, Lizards, and even 

 their own species. They are devoured by Birds of prey, 

 Swine, and more particularly by the Weesel tribe, who wags 

 constant war against the whole family, and are kept for this 

 purpose in a half domesticated state, in many of the warmer 

 climates. 



Most of this class arc oviparous, depositing their eggs 

 amongst heaps of decaying vegetables, iu duiig-hili.-^, under 

 hay or corn stacks, or similar places; some kinds are 

 viviparous, or to speak perhaps more correctly, ovavivipa- 

 rous ; hatching their eggs internally : they are mostly land 

 animals, though some kinds readily take the water ; and. 

 a few are amphibious ; those resident in cold countries, 

 become torpid in the winter ; all of them are capable of ab- 

 staining from food for a great length of time, in some cases, 

 from four to six months and upwards. 



The broad scaly plates on the bellies of Serpents are 

 e-alled Scuta, and the smaller or divided plates beneath the 

 tail Subcaudal Scales ; from the number, absence, or disposi- 

 tion of these scales, the Linnean genera of Serpents, are 

 chiefly constituted. 



L 2 



