Reptiles. 387 



" Much is breeding, 



Which, like tiie courser's hair, hath yet hut life, 

 And not a serpent's poison." 



Act i. Scene ii. 



It may be worth mentioning in connection with Antony, that one of 

 the pet appellations given by him to Cleopatra was drawn from the 

 reptiles of which we here treat. Her words are — 



" He's speaking now, 



Or murmuring ' where 's my serpent of old Nile ?' 

 For so he calls me." 



Snakes possess, as is well known, the power of changing their 

 skins, a process which takes place at uncertain intervals of time : be- 

 fore it is cast off, the colouring appears dull, and the animal blind. 

 When the new skin is completely formed and hardened underneath, 

 the old one bursts, or splits asunder about the neck, and is removed 

 by the creature passing through any tangled copse or other place where 

 there is a dense and luxuriant vegetation. As the skin is occasion- 

 ally found in such situations, attached to the lower branches of bram- 

 bles or shrubs, we can appreciate the propriety of the concluding lines 

 of Oberon's description of the "bank whereon the wild thyme blows." 



" And where the snake throws her enamell'd skin, 

 Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in." 



Act ii. Scene ii. 



The word " enamell'd " is highly descriptive both of the polished 

 appearance which the skin presents and of the diversity observable 

 in the colour ; and as the adder is especially distinguished by the 

 beauty of its markings, we feel that Shakspeare is employing a very 

 striking simile when he speaks of " Gloster's show" in beguiling 

 Henry. 



" As the snake roll'd on a flowering bank, 



With shining chequered slough, doth sting a child 

 That for the beauty thinks it excellent." 



2nd part K. Henri/ VI. Act iii. Scene iii. 



It is because of this acknowledged superiority in colouring that 

 Petruchio asks — 



" Is the adder better than the eel 



Because his painted coat contents the eye ?'' 



Act iv. Scene iii. 



We find among the reptiles enumerated by Timon of Athens, the 



b2 



