ON THE SERPEXTS IX GENERAL. 135 



compact^ glossy scales_, and frequently ornamented v/ith 

 beautiful and variously coloured patterns. Although 

 deprived of feet, fins, or other obvious members for 

 "walking, the serpent glides on the earth, ascends trees, 

 or even directs its course through the waters, with 

 surprising agUity and with graceful evolutions ; yet the 

 serpent was cursed ^^ above every beast of the field;" 

 and man, as if remembering this curse, and the lament- 

 able event which caused it, turns from the reptile 

 with disgust and horror, or seeks to eflPect its instant 

 destruction. 



(135.) In their anatomical and natural characters, the 

 ophidians, or serpents, present us with many peculiarities. 

 They are, generally speaking, destitute of any organs 

 of locomotion projecting from their body, which thus 

 resembles a coach-whip, thickest in the middle, and 

 tapering more towards the tail than to the head. They 

 move upon the ground by an undulating motion, and 

 amongst trees, by encircling the branches. In this 

 they differ entirely from lizards, which are provided 

 with feet, although both agree in having two auricles 

 to the heart, and in the body being covered with nu- 

 merous scales. These latter characters point out the 

 Ophides, or serpents, and the Saures, or saurians, as 

 the typical and sub-typical groups of the whole class. 

 In addition to the three kinds of teeth possessed both 

 by lizards and serpents, the latter have others in the 

 palate, disposed in several arched rows : they are fixed 

 or united to the bones, and are not hollowed. The 

 venomous serpents, however, have others very sharp 

 and long, attached to the maxillary bones ; and these, 

 being hollowed like a funnel, convey the poison into 

 the wound they make. Serpents, like lizards and tor- 

 toises, are oviparous ; the eggs are covered by a cal- 

 careous shell, and the young burst forth to life in the 

 form they are permanently to retain. There are some, 

 however, particularly among the venomous groups, 

 which are viviparous, — that is, the eggs are retained 

 or hatched in the body of the female from whence the 



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