SNAKE 



5419 



SNAKE DANCE 



Snails move so deliberately that the expression 

 "slow as a snail" has become proverbial. 



The typical land snails are found in warm, 

 damp places in fields and woodlands; they es- 

 pecially like a situation under a fallen log or 

 in a mossy tree stump. Their organ of locomo- 

 tion is a so-called foot, a long, muscular pro- 

 jection extending from the shell. By contrac- 

 tions of this organ the snail slowly crawls along, 

 its progress being aided by the secretion of a 

 slimy mucus. One of these creatures can be 

 trailed by the slimy track it leaves behind it. 

 On the forward end of 'the foot is a head bear- 

 ing two pairs of tentacles, or horns, and on 

 the upper pair of tentacles are the tiny, black 

 eyes, capable of seeing in all directions. The 

 lower pair of horns constitute the organs of 



LAND SNAIL SHELLS 



(a) Common Philippine variety; (&) colored 

 rhell from Florida; (c) the most common shell 

 found in America. 



touch. The mouth is provided with a peculiar, 

 ribbonlike tongue, which is covered with numer- 

 ous tiny, hard teeth. Though snails are fond of 

 leaves and other vegetable matter, some are 

 flesh eaters. In many places in Southern Eu- 

 rope these animals are used as food, and in 

 France they are fattened for the market in 

 snaileries. 



SNAKE, the general name of the largest 

 order of the reptile group, which includes also 

 lizards, turtles, tortoises, alligators and croco- 

 diles. Though the majority of snakes are 

 harmless, and many of them perform a useful 

 service by killing and devouring insects, mice 

 and gophers and other farm pests, most people 

 regard the snake tribe as the' most repulsive 

 in the entire animal kingdom. This prejudice 

 against these creatures is too deep-rooted to be 

 argued away. It existed in early Bible times, 

 for in the story of the Garden of Eden a ser- 

 pent is taken as the symbol of the Evil One, 

 and a curse was pronounced upon it (see Gene- 

 sis III, 14 "Dust shalt thou eat all the days 

 of thy life"). Eating dust is the picturesque 

 Bible way of saying that snakes have no legs. 

 With the exception of a few species possessing 

 rudimentary hind legs, the serpents are en- 

 tirely lacking in the ordinary means of locomo- 

 tion, but crawl by special movements of the 

 ribs and scales. 



The body is regularly cylindrical and has no 

 distinct divisions of head, trunk and tail. Con- 

 trary to the belief of many, it is not slimy, but 

 is covered with dry scales, which are folds in 

 the skin. There are no external ears and no 

 eyelids. The sense of hearing is made possible 

 by an internal auditory mechanism, and the 

 eyes are protected by a transparent cap that is 

 shed with the skin. Like the Evil One, of 

 which it is the type, the snake sleeps with its 

 eyes open. The tongue is long, slender and 

 forked. It is the animal's best organ of touch, 

 and is thrust out when it wishes to ascertain 

 its whereabouts. The teeth, which curve back- 

 ward, are sharp and pointed, and are used in 

 seizing food but not for chewing, as the prey is 

 swallowed whole. Poisonous species have, in 

 addition to the ordinary teeth, perforated fangs 

 through which the poison fluid passes from 

 glands at their base. Snakes can swallow crea- 

 tures much larger than themselves, as the lower 

 and upper jaws are hinged together in such a 

 manner that the mouth can be widely ex- 

 tended. In addition, the halves of the lower 

 jaw are connected in front by an elastic band, 

 and each side can be pushed forward inde- 

 pendently. Sometimes the prey is swallowed 

 alive, but the huge pythons and boas first kill 

 their victims by crushing them. 



Snakes range in size from small creatures 

 not over five inches long to the giant anacon- 

 das of South America, which grow to be thirty 

 or forty feet in length. There are between 

 1,500 and 2,000 species, found in practically all 

 parts of the globe except in the polar regions, 

 and occurring most abundantly in the tropics. 

 They live on and under the ground, in fresh 

 and salt water and in trees. Animal life con- 

 stitutes their chief food, but a few species eat 

 eggs. Some snakes lay eggs and others bring 

 forth their young alive. A characteristic of the 

 serpent tribe is the habit of molting the skin 

 several times a year (see MOLTING) . E.B.P. 



Consult Ditmar's Reptiles of the World. 



Related Subjects. The most important snakes 

 are described in these volumes under the follow- 

 ing headings, and there are illustrations with 

 many of them : 



Adder Garter Snake 



Anaconda Glass Snake 



Asp Milk Snake 



Black Snake Moccasin Snake 



Boa Python 



Cobra Rattlesnake 



Copperhead Viper 



SNAKE DANCE, a weird ceremonial dance 

 of the Arizona Hopi Indians (see HOPI), in 



