84 HAMPSHIRE DAYS 



life to a red, glowing ember, which may be broken 

 into pieces, and each piece still burn and glow with 

 its own portion of the original heat. 



The survival after death of something commonly 

 supposed to be dependent on vitality is another 

 phenomenon which, like that of the divisibility 

 of the life-principle, affects us disagreeably. The 

 continued growth of the hair of dead men is an 

 instance in point. It is, we know, an error, caused 

 by the shrinking of the flesh ; and as for the 

 accounts of coffins being found full of hair when 

 opened, they are inventions, though still believed in 

 by some persons. Another instance, which is not a 

 fable, is that of a serpent's skin. When properly 

 and quickly dried after removal, it will retain its 

 bright colours for an indefinite time in some cases 

 for many years. But at intervals the colours appear 

 to fade, or become covered with a misty whiteness; 

 and the cause, as one may see when the skin is 

 rubbed or shaken, is that the outer scales are being 

 shed. They come off separately, and are very much 

 thinner than when the living serpent sheds his skin, 

 and they grow thinner with successive sheddings until 

 they are scarcely visible. But at each shedding the 

 skin recovers its brightness. One in my possession 

 continued shedding its scale films in this way for 

 about ten years. I used it as a book-marker and 

 often had it in my hands, but not until it ceased 

 shedding its scale-coverings, and its original bright 



