320 THE REASON WHY : 



" Snakes breathe then- amorous si^hs in hisses. 

 This dialect no creature misses." SHERBURNS. 



hinder part, some point of which is then attached to the ground, 

 liberating at the same time the fore part. 



The posterior point of attachment then becoming a fixed point, 

 the animal throws forward its length by the action of its extensor 

 muscles, after which it again attaches a point in the foremost part 

 of its body to the ground, and repeats the same process. 



1020. Why do serpents Id themselves fall from trees without 

 sustaining injury ? 



Because their peculiar form, and the elasticity of their parts, 

 prevent concussion from such falls. On reaching the ground, 

 the shock they sustain, instead of proving hurtful, impels them 

 forward, and serves as a stimulus to their subsequent 

 movements. 



1021. How does the snake throw its whole body from the 

 ground in a kind of leap ? 



This is performed by placing the body upon the ground in 

 form of a twisted spiral, the folds of the anterior part forming 

 the centre of the figure ; then suddenly extending itself in the 

 manner of a spring, it throws itself to a distance. 



1022. This movement may sometimes be seen in very hot -weather by the banks of 

 the stream, where snakes often lie basking with their bodies coiled in the manner 

 just described, the neck and head being directed from the centre to the circumference 

 above the folds. This position seems to be preferred to any other by the snake while 

 reposing ; and it is one from which the animal is enabled to perform the most rapid 

 movement upon a sudden surprise ; for, in a wood, from this position they will leap 

 by an instantaneous effort into the brushwood, and thus elu le our most energetic 

 efforts to secure them, or even to get sight of them ; but by the side of a stream this 

 movement may be better seen, for on a sudden approach they will leap from the 

 bank into the midst of the stream, swim to the opposite side, ascend the bank, and 

 secrete themselves. 



1023. Why is the rattlesnake provided with a rattle at tht 

 extremity of its tail ? 



The use of this curious apparatus is unknown, though so 

 obvious a contrivance cannot be without its specific uses. 



