288 PHILOSOPHY OF ZOOLOGY. 



dom, tliey furnish an interesthig subject of inquiry, from 

 the superstitious opinions which have been entertained con- 

 cerning them, and the strange properties with which cre- 

 duhty has invested them. It is not our province to give a 

 history of the errors of the human mind, when untutored 

 by that philosophy which gives precedence to accurate ob- 

 servation, but to unfold those characters which the differ- 

 ent groups exhibit, and by which they may be recognised. 

 In this inquiry, it is Indeed painful to consider, that hu- 

 man ingenuity has hitherto failed to convert serpents into 

 any thing that is useful, — for it is not worth while to re- 

 gard them in this light, when occasionally furnishing a re- 

 past to a few naked savages, or serving to amuse, when 

 dancing to the signals of a juggler, before a few indolent 

 Asiatics. It is still more painful to consider the destruc- 

 tion of human life by their venomous fangs, or the quanti- 

 ty of misery which they have occasioned to those who have 

 survived the noxious bite. 



Serpents admit of a very natural distribution into two 

 sections, according as the scales on the belly are similar or 

 dissimilar to those on the back. Other characters correla- 

 tive with these, intimate the propriety of the arrangement. 



A. Serpents with the Ventral and Dorsal Scales simiiar: 



The serpents of this division, which are destitute of 

 ventral shields, have the lower jaws intimately united, and 

 supported at the base by two ossa quadrata, which are articu- 

 lated immediately to the cranium. The upper maxillary 

 bones are united to the cranium and to the intermaxillaries. 

 This arrangement limits the power of gaping, or of swal- 

 lowing objects larger than the ordinary aperture of the 

 mouth. The body is nearly of equal thickness at both ex,- 

 tremities. Progressive motion is chiefly accomplished by 



