mn 40 
bles as to witness many of the natural life hab- 
its of even our commonest species.” 
“Very true; and the fact that snakes are so 
difficult to study in their natural haunts largely 
explains away many of the ridiculous senti- 
ments and superstitions relating to the life his- 
tory of even our most frequently met species. 
Now there is special interest attached to the 
feeding of snakes, because these creatures, un- 
like most other animals, feed by deglntition or 
gorging ; that is, they swallow their food whole 
and entire, and positively do not rend and 
masticate their prey. All snakes, venomous 
and non-venomous species, have their mouth 
well provided with teeth. The harmless species 
have teeth closely set on the outer edge of each 
jaw, and as well, a semi-circular set placed on 
the upper jaw on the roof of the mouth. 
Snakes teeth are small, sharply pointed and 
curved backward towards the throat, thus it is 
a difficult matter for our common snake’s prey, 
which is generally captured alive and active, to 
escape from its captor’s grasp. In addition to 
the small, curved teeth common to all snakes, 
the venomous species possess poison fangs; in 
some species these fangs are set or fixed, but as 
a rule they are erectile. These fangs are gener- 
ally placed one on each side of the upper jaw. 
They are provided with a canal through their 
whole length, through which the venom or 
death dealing poison is forced from the venom 
sac on the back part of the jaw, to the wound 
