Snakes* Delhi 295 



consideration. Having caught and held the body, 

 " one jaw is then unfixed, by the teeth of that jaw 

 being withdrawn and pushed forward, when they are 

 again unfixed farther back upon the prey. Another 

 jaw is then unfixed, protruded, and reattached. So 

 with the rest in succession, this movement of pro- 

 traction being almost the only one of which they are 

 susceptible while stretched apart to the utmost by the 

 bulk of the animal encompassed by them. Thus by 

 their successive movements the prey is slowly intro- 

 duced into the gullet." 



A snake can have hardly any sense of taste, for 

 hair, feathers, fur, and dust must all alike be swallowed, 

 completely disguising whatever flesh they cover. 

 Perhaps it is because feeding is so little pleasure to 

 the snake that he feeds but seldom, and when he 

 troubles to do so, does it very thoroughly, in order 

 that his meal may last a long time. He has no 

 beak nor claws to divide his food and enable him 

 to taste, but he abundantly coats it with saliva, his 

 mouth watering over it, and thus lubricates the un- 

 comfortable coating of fur or feathers. 



If any apology should be needed for writing at 

 such length upon snakes, I must remind my readers 

 that, having been brought into contact with certain 

 animals, it follows, as a matter of course, that one 

 learns something of their ways. For instance, I heard 

 of a pony one morning which had stepped upon a 

 krait. It struck him upon the upper part of the 

 foreleg. A ligature was put on at once above the 



