SEROUX D'AGINCOURT SERPENT. 



199 



SEROUX D'AGINCOURT, JEAN BAPTISTE, 

 born at Beauvais in 1730, died in 1814. He passed 

 a great part of his life in Italy, devoted to the 

 study of the arts. Besides his Recueil de Frag- 

 ments de Sculpture antique en Terre cuite (4to., 

 1814), we have from him a very learned work, en- 

 titled Histoire de I'Art par les Monuments, depuis 

 sa Decadence au cinquieme Siecle, jusquci son Re- 

 louvellement au quinzieme Siecle (3 vols., folio, 325 

 plates, Paris, 18101823). 



SERPENT. The serpents, or ophidia, form a 

 very natural class of reptiles, in general easily dis- 

 tinguished by the total absence of feet, not the 

 slightest vestige of which is discoverable on the 

 most minute dissection. Their motion is, notwith- 

 standing, very rapid in some species, and is accom- 

 plished by means of the sinuosities, or folds, which 

 they form with their bodies. When in a state of 

 repose, they usually dispose themselves in coils, 

 with the head in the centre; and many are enabled 

 to spring to a certain distance by the sudden un- 

 folding of these coils. Serpents are destitute of 

 moveable eyelids, or distinct tympanums. All have 

 teeth, but they serve only to retain their food, and 

 are not adapted to the purpose of mastication. 

 They are long, very sharply pointed, and incline 

 backwards. The venomous species have the maxil- 

 laries very small and moveable, and in them are im- 

 planted two teeth much longer than the rest, and 

 traversed by a canal, for the purpose of transmitting 

 the poison. These fangs are projected forward in 

 the action of biting, but at other times, are disposed 

 along the roof of the mouth, in such a manner as 

 hardly to be discoverable at first sight. The jaws 

 of serpents are united by ligaments in such a man- 

 ner as to admit of great extension, which enables 

 them to swallow animals of much greater diameter 

 than their own bodies. The tongue is remarkably 

 extensible, and terminates in two long cartilaginous 

 points. They have only one lung. The skin, in 

 different genera, is annulated, coriaceous or granu- 

 lated, or, most frequently, covered with scales. 

 They feed on quadrupeds, reptiles, insects, or 

 worms, and swallow their prey entire. They do 

 not drink, and the power of digestion is slow, one 

 meal serving them for weeks, or even months; but 

 when an opportunity offers, they take an enormous 

 quantity of food. The ribs are very numerous, 

 and surround a great portion of the trunk. The 

 muscles, even in the smaller species, are endowed 

 with an astonishing power of constriction; and 

 those species which attain the enormous dimensions 

 of thirty feet or more, are enabled to destroy the 

 larger quadrupeds by involving them in their folds. 

 Serpents inspire an instinctive horror in man and 

 most' animals. Their hissing, in some species, is 

 truly startling ; but, notwithstanding, most of them 

 are perfectly harmless. In northern climates, they 

 pass the winter in a torpid state, and change the 

 epidermis in the spring. The eggs are rounded, 

 and agglutinated in bead-like rows by a mucous 

 substance, and, in the venomous species, hatch be- 

 fore they are excluded from the oviduct, and the 

 young are born living. The females often take 

 care of their young for a time, and, on the approach 

 of danger, have been seen to receive the whole 

 family in their throats, and, when it has passed, to 

 restore them again to the open air. More than 

 three hundred species are enumerated, most of 

 which, including all the gigantic species, inhabit 

 tropical climates. South America, in particular, 

 abounds with them. The venomous species com- 



pose about one fifth or one sixth of the whole num. 

 ber; and among these are some whose bite is fatal 

 in a few hours, and even minutes. But few species, 

 and these mostly harmless, inhabit cold climates; 

 and towards the poles, they seem to be entirely 

 wanting. The venom of the European viper is 

 neither acid nor alkaline, neither acrid nor caustic; 

 is insipid to the taste, and harmless when taken in- 

 ternally; in short, possesses most of the external 

 characters of simple mucus. It preserves its power 

 after the death of the animal which furnished it. 

 Its strength varies in intensity according to the 

 warmth of the climate and season of the year, being 

 much more dangerous in summer than in winter; 

 as also according to the lapse of time which has 

 intervened since the last bite, and the degree of 

 irritation with which the action is performed. It 

 is much more fatal to small animals 'than to large, 

 and especially when they are much terrified. 



The boas or anacondas inhabit tropical America, 

 and are, in general, easily distinguished by having 

 the plates under the tail undivided. Some attain 

 a gigantic size, and curl their tails about the trunks 

 or branches of trees, and, in this position, lie in 

 wait for the larger quadrupeds. The pythons 

 equal them in size, and pursue the same mode of 

 life. They inhabit the tropical parts of the eastern 

 continent The species of hydrus are small aqua- 

 tic serpents, having the extremity of their tails en- 

 larged, and very much compressed; which con- 

 formation gives them greater facility in moving 

 through the water. They inhabit the intertropical 

 parts of Asia, and the neighbouring islands, and in 

 some situations are very abundant. 



The rattle-snakes (crotalus) are exclusively 

 American, and are celebrated for the violence of 

 their poison. They are easily distinguished by the 

 noisy instrument at the end of the tail, composed 

 of horny sacks loosely inserted into each other. 

 The banded rattle-snake grows to the length of 

 four or five feet. It inhabits the Northern and 

 Middle States from about lat. 46, and is also found 

 in the Western States, and beyond the Mississippi. 

 The diamond rattle-snake (so called from a row 

 of large black rhomboidal figures disposed along the 

 back) attains larger dimensions, and inhabits the 

 Southern States. The same, or a very similar 

 species, is found in South America. The ground 

 rattle-snake (C. miliarius') is a small species, in- 

 habiting the Southern as well as the Western 

 States. It has but two or three rattles on the tail, 

 and is much dreaded, as its small size, and the 

 slight noise of its rattle, render it more liable to be 

 overlooked The copper-head (trigonocephalus tisi- 

 phone') is as dangerous as the rattle-snake, which 

 it much resembles, but is destitute of the rattle at 

 the extremity of the tail. The colour is brown, 

 with clouded spots of a deeper hue. It is widely 

 diffused through the United States. The elaps 

 fulvius inhabits the southern and south-western 

 parts of the United States. The length is about 

 two feet, and the tail very short. It is marked 

 with about twenty broad black rings, alternating 

 with about as many yellow ones. The last are 

 speckled with brown, and are whitish on the margin. 

 The above are the principal poisonous American 

 serpents. 



The following are entirely harmless: The hog- 

 nose snake (heterodon) is a remarkable reptile. 

 The nose is slightly turned up, and flattened in 

 front, bearing a remote resemblance to the snout of 

 the animal whose name it bears. It possesses th* 



