4.6 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



be able to excavate a burrow, and throw out the earth, seems 

 almost incredible. How did the snake remove the earth? As 

 the reptile was not seen in the act of excavating, this question 

 could not be precisely answered. Mr. Hill, however, to whom 

 this subject was referred, gave as his opinion that the snake 

 loosened the earth with its snout, and then worked the loose 

 soil out of the hollow by successive contractions of the segments 

 of the abdomen, which would thus * deliver ' the soil after the 

 manner of the Archimedean screw. 



The eggs which were found in the chamber were removed, and 

 from one of them, which was opened, was taken a young snake, 

 a'bout seven inches in length. 



