Serpents. - 



-REPTILES.- 



-ViPEBiNE Serpents. 



39 



they should send forth such a foetid emanation as some 

 authors assert is extremely doubtful. We rather agree 

 with Mr. Waterton upon this subject, who gives his 

 opinion thus : — " The nauseous smell, or fcetor, which 

 is said by some authors to come from the bodies of 

 these monster snakes (the large Boas of Guiana), and 

 to infect the atmosphere, is fabulous. The whimsical 

 account of it deserves a place on the shelves of a nursery 

 library. I have never perceived anything of the sort, 

 although it has been my good fortuue to come in con- 

 tact with great serpents. Did such a foetor really exist 

 to the extent which authors have described, other 

 animals could not live with any comfort under its suf- 

 focating influence, and it would be a salutary warning 

 to them that an enemy was in the neighbourhood. 

 Their precipitous retiring from it would be the means 

 of starving the serpent to death for want of ordinary 

 nourishment." Serpents have numerous enemies always 

 on the look-out for them. They are pursued without 

 relaxation, Azara tells us, by all kinds of eagles, hawks, 

 falcons, storks, herons, and by individuals of the same 

 order to which they belong. In self-defence they have 

 almost no other resource than their fangs, or concealing 

 themselves in the holes of mice, armadillos, or other 

 burrowing animals, or in the pasture ground^ where 

 the grass is high. The manner in which the secretary 

 bird, and some others of the rapacious order, attack 

 serpents, is worthy of observation. As if well aware 

 of the danger they encounter, the birds approach the 

 serpent in a sidelong manner, making a shield of one 

 of their wings, which they half open and allow to fell 

 on the ground. They try at the same time to strike 

 with their beak the reptile's head. Succeeding in 

 this, they are sure to kill them, and then they devour 

 them. 



In all times, and amongst almost all nations, serpents 

 have fixed the attention of the human race. The great 

 tempter of mankind assumed the form of a serpent, 

 and under its guise crept into Paradise. When in 

 the wilderness the Jews were bitten by "fiery-flying 



serpents," Moses made, by command of God, a brazen 

 serpent, which he placed upon a pole, so that those 

 who looked upon it might live. In the times of their 

 idolatry this very brazen serpent, being preserved by 

 them, became an object of their idolatrous worship ; 

 "for unto those days," the days of Hezekiah, "the 

 children of Israel did burn incense unto it." Amongst 

 the Egyptians, as would appear from some of the bronze 

 relics in the British Museum, the Cobra de capello was 

 regarded in some sense as sacred. A serpent was one 

 of the gods of Babylon ; and in the Hindoo mythology 

 serpents were regarded as malignant genii which 

 tenanted the infernal regions. The serpent Python 

 figured as an important agent amongst the ancient 

 Greeks. Amongst the Romans tlie serpent was sacred 

 to .(Esculapius, and he him.self was worshipped under 

 the form of that reptile. The ancient Mexicans wor- 

 shipped the Boa, and offered human sacrifices to it ; 

 and in Africa some of the nations paid similar honours 

 to a serpent. 



Notwithstanding all this respect and adoration, and 

 in spite of the natural dislike almost all people have 

 for them, serpents are often used as food. They are 

 also regarded in many countries as affording aid in 

 curing some diseases. The Anacondas and other Boas 

 supply the natives of the countries which they inhabit 

 with wholesome nourishment. Rattlesnakes are much 

 sought after in some parts of North America, where 

 they are considered excellent food ; and vipers are eaten 

 by many people in the South of France. 



The method of dentition, and the structure and dis- 

 tribution of the scales, form the great characters upon 

 which the arrangement of serpents is based. In most 

 popular works they are divided into two large groups, 

 solely from their possessing venomous fangs, or being 

 destitute of them. In the arrangement of Reptiles 

 which we .have adopted, viz., that of the British 

 Museum, serpents are divided (see p. 5) into two 

 sub-orders, the Viperine and Colubrine— both of which 

 groups contain species that are poisonous. 



Sub-order I.— VIPERINE SERPENTS (Viperina). 



TiiK species of this sub-order are pre-eminently poi- 

 sonous, and their mischievous nature is indicated by 

 many external characters. Their general appearance 

 and physiognomy have something so peculiar in them, 

 and the impression which their look creates is so vivid, 

 that they may be for the most part immediately recog- 

 nized by any one who has ever examined a single 

 species. Their jaws are generally weak. The under 

 one is provided with a series of sharp-pointed teeth ; 

 but the upper jaw is destitute of any, except the mov- 

 able poison fangs, which have been fully described in 

 a previous page (p. 35). The bead is extremely broad, 

 flattened on the crown, and heart-shaped or trigonal. 

 Instead of being covered with plates, like the Colubrine 

 snakes, it is clothed in scales similar to those of the 

 back. Their eyes are small, have a vertical pupil, are 

 sunk deep in the sides of the head, and are shadowed 



by the projecting plates of the eyebrow. The upper 

 lip is swollen and hangs down, in order to conceal the 

 long fangs. In form they are heavy and squat, the 

 body being pretty thick in the middle, somewhat com- 

 pressed ; the back slightly keeled, covered with rough, 

 keeled scales ; and the belly broad, convex, and covered 

 with broad, band-like shields or scuta. The tail is 

 short, conical, thick, but never blunt at the tip.* 

 Their manners, habits, and method of living assist 



• The differences visible between the poisonous nnd inno- 

 cuous groups of serpents were known to early observers, 

 "The viper," says Catesby (meaning by the term viper, the 

 whole of this sub-order), "hath the neck small, the head broad, 

 the cheeks extending wide, their scales rough, the body short 

 and thick in most; is slow of motion, can swell his head 

 and neck; when irritated, hath the aspect terrible and ugly. 

 Whereas snakes (the Colubrine species of serpents) have tha 

 head small, the body long, the scales smooth, are nimble, and 

 of a harmless aspect.' 



