CHAPTER XXXV 

 INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS OF REPTILES 



The Point of View. — In studying or not 

 studying the world of reptiles, everything de- 

 pends upon the point of view. With persons in 

 middle life, who hold up their hands and shudder 

 at the mention of the word "reptile," there is 

 nothing to be done. They are victims of an un- 

 reasoning prejudice that often is deliberately 

 taught to young people, both by precept and ex- 

 ample, until at last it becomes bone of their bone 

 and flesh of their flesh. Human children are not 

 born with the inherited fear of reptiles which is so 

 characteristic of the apes and monkeys of the 

 jungles ; and it is not fair to terrorize their inno- 

 cent souls with awful "snake stories," any more 

 than with the "ghost stories" which most care- 

 ful parents forbid. 



With young people whose minds have not been 

 artificially warped by older persons who abhor 

 all reptilian life, much may be done. 



Now, come ! Let us reason together. 



Despite electricity and steam, this world is 

 yet a fairly large place. That it has existed 

 through countless ages, and that its animal life 

 has gone through many marvellous transforma- 

 tions, no one can deny, without being put to 

 shame by the silent and immutable testimony 

 of the rocks. This world, the animals now liv- 

 ing upon it, and those lying within it, entombed 

 by Nature's hand, have been millions of years 

 in forming. If you doubt it, go into an Arizona 

 canyon, half a mile in depth, and at the bottom 

 of a mountain-wall of rock, dig out the remains 

 of a fossil, then ask yourself this question : " How 

 long has it taken Nature to pile half a mile of 

 solid rock upon the grave of this creature, and 

 then cut down to it again f " 



In the evolution of the birds of to-day, the 

 reptiles of the past have played an important 

 part ; and the study of the Class Reptilia is very 

 much worth while, if for no other reason than to 

 learn the nearness of the relationships between 

 its members and the birds. 



Remember, first of all, that the reptiles of to- 

 day are actually insignificant in comparison 

 with those which existed ages ago, the bones of 

 which are now fast coming to light. A twenty- 

 four-foot python or anaconda of to-day, lying 

 beside a sixty-foot dinosaur, with a hind leg ten 

 feet high, would be like a garter-snake beside a 

 kangaroo. 



In this day of liberal thought and broad rea- 

 soning, any person whose knowledge of the world 

 of reptiles is limited to the false notion that all 

 these creatures are either "slimy" or dangerous, 

 is to be pitied. A persistence in that all-too- 

 common estimate is a distinct loss to all those 

 who entertain it. It means the shutting out, 

 with the black curtain of Ignorance, of a whole 

 world of interesting forms and useful facts, and 

 also a lifetime of cringing fear, largely without 

 cause. 



Young Americans, I exhort you to take a broad 

 and sensible view of the reptilian world, — as of 

 every other great subject. Many of these creat- 

 ures are worth knowing, some because they are 

 wonderfully interesting, some because they are 

 useful, and others because they are dangerous. 

 None of them, however, are "slimy" ! A snake 

 may be cold to the touch, but its skin is as clean 

 and free from slime as a watch-chain. What is 

 more, there is no living creature, not even a 

 dolphin, dripping from the sea, which possesses 

 a skin displaying the beautiful pattern of colors 

 and the rainbow iridescence of the reticulated 

 python, of the East Indies. In reality there are 

 a great number of reptiles that are undeniably 

 beautiful. 



I would it were possible to touch upon all the 

 Orders of Reptiles, extinct as well as living, and 

 introduce some of the gigantic and wonderful 

 lizards that were like kangaroos, rhinoceroses, 

 and sea-lions, and also like nothing else under 

 the sun; but in this volume it is impossible. 

 There is space available only for the four Orders 



313 



