448 RINGED SNAKE. 



frogs, &c. and is capable of swimming, though 

 not with any great degree of celerity. It deposits 

 its eggs in any warm and moist situation, as under 

 hedges, in dunghills, &c. in the form of a con- 

 tinued chain or necklace of ova, to the number of 

 twelve, fourteen, sixteen, or even twenty, of the 

 size of those of a blackbird, and of a whitish co- 

 lour : these, according to the observations of Mr, 

 White, " do not hatch till the spring following," 



During the winter the snake conceals itself in 

 any convenient retreat, and becomes nearly tor- 

 pid, reappearing in the spring, when it casts its 

 skin, which cracking or opening on the edges of 

 the lips, is, by the efforts of the animal, gradually 

 thrown off, in an inverted direction, throughout 

 its whole length, to the very terminal scale of the 

 tail, and so complete is the spoil or exuvium, as 

 to exhibit the very coat or membrane of the eyes* 

 themselves : the whole skin is entirely transpa- 

 rent. 



* Not the cornea itself, but its exterior pellicle. 



