£ 73 ] 



THE SERPENTS * 



THERE is much geometrical elegance in the si- 

 nuous motions of the Serpent tribe. Their back- 

 bone consists of moveable articulations, and runs 

 through the whole length of their body. The breast 

 and abdomen are surrounded with ribs. Some of 

 the species can make their bodies stiff, and by this 

 means are enabled to spring with great force and ve? 

 locity on their prey. 



The bodies of most of the tribes are covered with 

 scales j and Linnaeus has endeavoured to mark the 

 species by the number of scaly plates on the abdo- 

 men and beneath the tail, the former he denomi- 

 nates scutci) and the latter subcaudal squainte : but 

 every day's experience tends to prove that these are 

 too uncertain and variable to be depended on. 



The head is connected to the trunk without the 

 intervention of a neck. The jaws are so formed 

 that the animals are able to swallow bodies as thick 

 and frequently even thicker than themselves. The 

 tongue is slender and cleft. 



The poisonous Serpents differ from the others in 

 having long tubular fangs on each side of the head, 

 calculated to convey the venom from the bag or re- 

 ceptacle at the base into the wound made by their 



Tills i$ the second Linnean Order of the Amphibia, 



