36 



Serpents.- 



-REPTILES. 



-Serpents. 



evil man: preserve me from the violent man; which 

 imagine mischiefs in their heart ; they have sharpened 

 their tongues like a serpent; adders^ poison is under 

 their lips.'' As Kitto observes, " the usage of the 

 Hebrew language renders it by no means improbable 

 that the/a»i^ itself is called Lashon, "the tongue," in 

 the present text ; and a serpent might then be said to 

 sharpen its tongue, when, in preparing to strike, it pro- 

 truded its fangs. The situation of the poison, which is 

 in a manner behind the upper lip, gives great propriety 

 to the expression, " adders' poison is under their lips." 

 It would appear, on good authority that this poison 

 retains its power for some time after the death of 

 the serpent; M. Dumeril says, even after it has been 

 for some time preserved in spirits. It is necessary, 

 therefore, he adds, to be extremely cautious in hand- 

 ling or examining specimens whicli have been so pre- 

 served. Wonderful stories to this elleot have been 

 told, but Dr. Cloquet in a paper communicated to the 

 Philosophical Society of Paris in 1827, relates some 

 experiments made b}' Dr. Emmanuel Rousseau, demon- 

 strator of anatomy at the Jardin du Roi, who had at 

 his disposal a rattlesnake which had been dead for two 

 days, and who found that even in the colder climate of 

 Fi-ance, the poison retained its power though the snake 

 was dead. A pigeon was procured, its pectoral muscles 

 were pierced by the poison fang being inserted by 

 force, and the poor bird died within a very short period 

 indeed. From a variety of experiments made on the 

 nature of this poison, it appears, according to Schlegel 

 and others, to be neither acid nor alkaline. That of 

 the viper, which has been most observed, was found 

 not to redden tlie tincture of turnsol, or turn greoi the 

 syrup of violets.* However fatal the poison of ser- 

 pents is when introduced into the system, it is perfectly 

 harmless when taken into the stomach. This was 

 well-known to the ancients ; the celebrated Roman 

 physician, Celsus, was well aware of it, and Lucan in 

 his " Pharsalia" makes Cato expound tlie same truth 

 to the soldiers under his command — 



*■ And now with fiercer lieat the desert glows, 

 And mid-day gloamings aggravate their woes. 

 When, lo ! a spring amid tlie sandy plain 

 Shows its clear mouth to cheer the fainting train. 

 But round the guarded hank in thicli array. 

 Dire aspics roll'd their congregated way. 

 And thirsting in the midst, the Dipsas lay. 

 Black horror seized their veins, and at the view, 

 Back from the fount tlie troops recoiling flevv. 

 When wise above the crowd, by cares unquelled. 

 Their awful leader thus their dread dispell'd; 

 Let not vain terrors thus your minds enslave. 

 Nor dream the serpent brood can taint the wave : 

 Urged by the fatal fang, their poison kills, 

 But mixes harmless with the bubbling rills. 

 Dauntless he spoke, and bending as he stood, 

 Drank with cool courage the suspected flood." 



A\1ien we observe the motion of serpents, we see 

 that to them eminently applies the terra Reptiles, their 

 mode of progression being truly reptation, or creeping. 

 Many mistakes, however, are made with regard to 



* Dr. ITarlan on the other hand asserts, from direct experi- 

 ments, that the poison from the rattlesnake, when tested with 

 litmus paper, invariably displayed acid properties ; and Dr. Can- 

 tor found the poison of no fewer than seven different species, 

 in all his experiments, to redden litmus paper. 



their method of moving along the ground, especially 

 by artists. ' Mr. Waterton very justly remarks upon 

 this subject — " All snakes in gliding onwards take a 

 motion from right to left, or vice vei'sci, but never up 

 and down ; the whole extent of the body being in con- 

 tact with the ground, saving the head which is some- 

 what elevated. This is equally observable on land 

 and in water. Thus when we see a snake represented 

 in an up and down attitude we know at once that the 

 artist is to blame." 



The vertehrcE, or bones of the spinal column, are very 

 numerous, amounting in some species to more than 

 three hundred ; and are united to each other by a ball- 

 and-socket joint, the head of each separate bone being 

 received into a deep cuplike cavity of the one suc- 

 ceeding it. This mode of articulation allows of great 

 mobility, each joint, separately, possessing a considerable 

 degree of motion ; and all, united, giving the body very 

 great flexibility. With the exception of the first two 

 or three next the head, all the vertebra; — tliose of the 

 tail not included — give origin to two ribs, one on each 

 side. These ribs form a great portion of a circle, so as 

 to embrace nearly the whole circumference of the body, 

 and are the real and efficient organs ot locomotion, 

 Serpents can glide along with considerable velocity, and 

 it is generally said and believed, that they can spring 

 vigorously and dart tlieir body to a great distance. 

 Stories are told of their springing at a single bound 

 over the head of a man riding on horseback.* When 

 tliey repose upou the ground, they generally form 

 with their body several circles placed one above another, 

 or around the others surmounted by the head. The 

 body is thus coiled up by the contraction of tlie muscles 

 of one side ; and it is by the sudden relaxation of these 

 muscles, and the violent and instantaneous action of the 

 muscles of the other side uncoiling tlicm, that the pro- 

 pulsion of the body is accomplished. This motion is 

 compared to that of a spiral spring, the coils of which 

 are distinct. These being pressed upon the table till 

 they close, and suddenly released, the whole body ol 

 the spring is at once propelled forwards. From the 

 structure of the vertebral column and ribs, however, as 

 described above, we have great doubts whether any 

 serpent has the power of raising the whole of its bodj' 

 at any lime by a sudden bound, from the ground upon 

 which it rested. When a serpent prepares to attack 

 its prey, or any animal which has suddenly roused or 

 irritated it, it raises its head and part of its body erect, 

 and when it strikes, it darts forward merely that part 

 which is not resting upon the soil.f The sensibility 

 of serpents is, like that of other re])tiles, very obtuse ; 

 and in winter they pass a long period of it in a state of 

 complete lethargy. Their irritability, however, is very 

 great ; their heart will still pulsate for a long time after 

 it has been plucked out, and they will open and shut 



* Poets have often made allusions to this pretended power 

 of serpents. Montgomery says — 



" Anon he flew 

 Straight as an arrow shot from his own rings. 

 And struck his victim, shrieking ere it went 

 Down his strain'd tliroat, that open sepulchre." 

 ■f Azara, an accurate observer, in treating of the serpents of 

 Paraguay, observes — '* In order to seize their prey, they employ 

 no other means than address and surprise. They approach il 

 by slow degrees, because tliey never leap.'' 



