INTRODUCTION 



blooded, and perhaps clammy to the touch, but they 

 have a dry covering which is certainly neither " shmy," 

 nor " slippery." Several poets have fallen into grave 

 error by a repetition in their verses of old beliefs and 

 misconceptions. Thus, Chatterton talks of " the slimy 

 Serpent " ; Byron even goes so far as to refer to the 

 black slime which betrays a Snake as it crawls. The 

 greatest bard of any age, and an Englishman to wit, 

 William Shakespeare, joins the merry throng, for in 

 *' Antony and Cleopatra " he writes of fig leaves having 

 the trail of the Aspic (a Snake) upon them in the form of 

 slime. That Snakes can, and do, " sting " is another 

 erroneous and unscientific statement. The forked tongue, 

 shot in and out with lightning rapidity, has given rise 

 to this belief, but all Snakes are by no means poisonous, 

 and certainly none of them can " sting." Those which 

 are venomous perform the operation of inserting poison 

 by means of poison-fangs contained in the upper part 

 of the jaw, but no Snake is capable of stinging. 



The Prophet Job, who was a keen and loving interpreter 

 of Nature, made the error of saying : " The Viper's 

 tongue shall slay him," and other references in the Holy 

 Word could be given if necessary. 



Ovid talks of a Snake having a *' barbed sting " ; 

 Virgil warns all and sundry to " beware the secret Snake 

 that shoots a sting" and of others that " wind," and 

 " grind." 



Chaucer refers to Snakes as " Neders," and Shakes- 

 peare again makes several references to the Snake's 



