TWENTY-TWO-FOOT RETICULATED PYTHON (DEAD) . 



New York Zoological Park. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 



THE ORDER OF SERPENTS 



General Characters. — A serpent, commonly 

 called a "snake," is a very slender, long-bodied, 

 legless reptile, cold-blooded, covered with scales, 

 and breathing air. It moves by a sinuous mo- 

 tion, in which the scales under the body grip the 

 earth, while the extension of the body musclss 

 push the body forward. To afford a good hold 

 upon the earth, the abdominal scales are very 

 broad, set crosswise with the body, and the rear 

 edge of each scale is free and sharp, like a blade. 



The backbone contains a great number of 

 vertebrae, sometimes nearly 300, and there is one 

 for each crosswise scale under the body. There 

 are also a great number of ribs, but the tail verte- 

 brae are of course without them. The ribs are 



quite loosely attached to the vertebrae, in order 

 that they ma) 7 have the very free play that is 

 absolutely necessary to the life of a serpent. 



The head is usually flat and broad, and en- 

 tirely covered with scales. The jaws are long, 

 and well armed with long, sharp-pointed teeth, 

 which point backward, in the direction of the 

 throat. There are no molars for masticating 

 food, and therefore all food is swallowed whole. 

 Excepting in the injection of poison, the only 

 function of the teeth is to seize and hold fast 

 the serpent's prey while it is being swallowed. 

 Poisonous serpents have special teeth, called 

 fangs, for making deep wounds and filling them 

 with poison. These are set in the roof of the 



