THE RATTLESNAKE 135 



which might be called the " gullet-toothed snake " for 

 the following reason : If its jaws be opened they will be 

 found to contain but a few exceedingly minute teeth, but 

 if the finger be passed down its throat, then a series of 

 bony prominences projecting down from the under sur- 

 face of the backbone and the upper wall of the gullet. 

 Each of these bony prominences is capped with enamel, 

 and acts as a true tooth. These snakes feed on eggs, and 

 are so notorious that they are known in Cape Colony as 

 the "egg eaters." Now, a snake's mouth is not bordered 

 by any fleshy lips, and if this snake were to crack an egg 

 in its mouth, most of the contents would run out and be 

 lost. Accordingly it swallow^s each hen's e^^g whole, and 

 then, wdien safely within the gullet, it squeezes and 

 breaks the egg against the curious teeth of its backbone. 

 Thus the nutritious contents of the egg is secured, and 

 the waste, otherwise inevitable, entirely avoided. 



The above-mentioned harlequin snakes of America 

 {Elaps) are very handsome reptiles, their bodies being 

 encircled with black, red, and yellow rings, as are also 

 some American snakes which are not venomous. They 

 are not large, rarely exceeding three feet in length, 

 while both their mouths and poison fangs are small. 

 Added to this, they only bite under great provocation, so 

 that they should be little dreaded. 



Forms allied to these snakes and those next to be 

 described constitute the bulk of the serpents of Australia, 

 that region of the world being distinguished from all the 

 others by having the decided majority of its snakes 

 venomous. 



A small serpent of south-eastern Asia, called Adeni- 

 ophis, is very remarkable for the exceptional size of its 

 poison glands, which extend back for fully one-third of 

 the reptile's entire length, so as to push the heart back 



