ITEMS OF SNAKE KNOWLEDGE. 



465 



The Ringhals Snake, although belonging to the Cobra family, has 

 keeled scales like those of the Puff Adder. 



A snake strikes with its fangs so quickly that the eye cannot follow 

 the movement of the head. 



Snakes eat rats, and these rodents in turn devour young snakes and 

 snakes' eggs. 



A large barn rat introduced into a cage containing seven Puff Adders, 

 killed three of them by biting them at the back of the neck. It ate a 

 portion of one. 



Puff Adders have several pairs of duplicate fangs. The active pair of 

 fangs sometimes attains a length of three-quarters of an inch. 



A Puff Adder possesses about 150 pairs of ribs. 



Snakes are the most graceful of all reptiles. The Siamese call them 

 " Sunbeams." 



Most Pythons possess two horny spurs in the tail region. These are 

 the last vestiges of legs. They are useful for gripping purposes when the 

 reptile climbs or swings from branches. 



Fig. 165. — Young snakes emerging from the eggs. They rupture the soft shell with the nose. 



All snakes can swim. 



During a recent flood in Baaken's River Valley, at Port Elizabeth, 

 a great number of snakes were washed out to sea. The incoming tide 

 cast up their dead bodies in hundreds. 



The nostrils of Sea Snakes are placed on the top of the snout. 



The lung of a Sea Snake extends nearly the whole length of its body. 



When on land. Sea Snakes are helpless and blind. 



The scales of Sea Snakes are, in shape, just like the wax cells of the 

 honey bee (six-sided). 



Many cases are on record of people dying after being bitten by Sea 

 Snakes. 



The existence of a sea serpent of monstrous size still remains unproven. 



The rattle of a Rattlesnake is a number of hollow horny segments at 

 the end of the tail. These are loosely joined together, and when vibrated 

 make the characteristic rattling sound. 



The horns of the Hornsman Adder are upright scales above the eyes. 



2 H 



