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NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



The "Glass or Joint Snake." 



Ophisaurus ventralis. 



Stories concerning the "glass 

 snake" are so numerous and so 

 marvelous that one might feel jus- 

 tified in doubting the reptiles ex- 

 istence and classing it with the 

 chimaeras, dragons and griffins of 

 mythology. There is, however, a 

 real living and breathing animal 

 which forms a basis for these stor- 

 ies, and the properties of this ani- 

 mal are so wonderful that they ex- 

 plain the origin of the stories, al- 

 though they do not excuse the ex- 

 aggeration. 



Casting aside the thick veils of 

 fable and fictitious names, and 

 viewing the animal by the light of 

 science we discover that although 

 long, slender, snake-like and des- 

 titute of limbs it is not a snake at 

 all, but a lizard. 



It is not the presence of limbs 

 which distinguishes the order of 

 Laccrtilia from that of Ophidia, for, 

 contrary to the generally accepted 

 opinion, there are snakes with 

 legs, rudimentary ones at least, 

 and lizards without even the rudi- 

 ments of them. 



Though destitute of limbs the 

 Ophisaurus would never be mis- 

 taken for a snake by any careful 

 observer. The bones of a snake's 

 brain case are firmly ankylosed 

 together, those of the lizard are 

 less firmly united. The snake's 

 upper and lower jaws are so loosely 

 jointed together that it can swal- 

 low objects with a diameter greater 

 than its own, while the jaws of the 

 lizard are so firmly connected that 

 the mouth is not distensible. The 

 sides of the lower jaw of a snake 

 are joined together by a flexible 

 cartilage, so that each side may be 

 advanced or withdrawn indepen- 

 dent of the other, while the rami 

 of a lizard's jaw are firmly united 

 at their symphysis so that the sides 

 must move together. The eyes of 

 snakes have no movable lids so 

 that it seems always looking about 

 with a fixed, stony stare, while the 

 eyes of the lizard have movable 

 lids, and its frequent, rapid wink- 

 ing gives it a brisk and cunning 

 look. Snakes have no apparent 

 ears, while the ear openings of the 

 Ophisaurus are plainly visible, be- 

 ing on a line with the mouth, and 

 somewhat larger than the nostril. 



The Ophisauri have from four- 

 teen to sixteen longitudinal rows 

 of scales, very much like those of 

 snakes, but instead of the broad 

 plates which cover the ventral sur- 



faces of Ophidians they have the 

 under parts of their bodies sheath- 

 ed, like their backs, in small scales 

 arranged in about 120 transverse 

 rows from the head to the vent, 



The head of the Ophisaurus is 

 small and narrow, tapering to a 

 long, round tipped snout which 

 may be of service in burrowing. 

 The head is attached directly to 

 the body without any distinct neck. 



Of two specimens kept by me 

 one was marked on the upper sur- 

 face by narrow lines of dark brown 

 on a ground of greenish olive 

 which shaded into a polished slate 

 color on the ventral surface. The 

 other was almost black on its dor- 

 sal surface and was destitute of 

 spots, their place being taken by 

 longitudinal rows of whitish occel- 

 lated spots. The lower jaws of 

 both specimens were sulphur yel- 

 low, shading into a darker hue, ap- 

 proaching orange. Their heads 

 were very dark olive, with mot- 

 tlings of sooty black. 



Near the center of the dark in- 

 terparietal plate of each was a 

 minute white spot, the so called 

 pineal eye, supposed to be the 

 abortive relic of the third eye 

 which some remote ancestor car- 

 ried in the top of his head. It has 

 been suggested that this pineal eye 

 may still be sensitive to light, 

 though such is probably not the 

 case. 



Like most lizards my "glass 

 snakes" were shy and timid and 

 did not take kindly to petting at 

 first. Still they made no demon- 

 stration of hostility, except when 

 first captured and then their efforts 

 to bite were very feeble. Needless 

 to say their bites can do no dam- 

 age, for the gape of their jaws is 

 small and their teeth are very 

 small and weak. One of them 

 was fifteen and the other twenty 

 inches in length, though they are 

 said to attain a length of three 

 feet. 



The tail of the Ophisaurus is ex- 

 tremely long, being about twice 

 the length of the head and body, 

 and, like other lizards it is liable 

 to lose its tail. A very slight 

 blow will suffice to break off the 

 tail of almost any lizard, and the 

 detached tail will writhe and flap 

 about in the throes of death, often 

 springing several inches from the 

 ground, while the owner darts 

 away to some place of conceal- 

 ment, where it rapidly recovers 

 and soon grows another tail. The 

 student and collector soon learns 

 the fruitlessness of catching such 

 animals by their tails. 



The great length of the tail of 



Ophisaurus makes the facility with 

 which the creature parts with it 

 seem remarkable, for it is really 

 startling to see an animal lose two 

 thirds of its length and still wrig- 

 gle off undismayed. It is said 

 that the tail when broken from the 

 body will itself divide up into sev- 

 eral squirming pieces, though I 

 have never witnessed this myself. 



Among people not accustomed 

 to make nice distinctions among 

 reptiles the Ophisaurus is invaria 

 bly regarded as a snake, and the 

 sight of a "snake" breaking into 

 two or more pieces on receiving a 

 slight blow, and the shortest of 

 these fragments escaping is a 

 phenomenon demanding explana- 

 tion. It is always easier to "jump' 

 at conclusions" and to'take things 

 for granted than to reason and in- 

 vestigate, so it is assumed that this 

 "snake" having the power of ap- 

 parently voluntarily dividing itself 

 up must necessarily be able to re- 

 unite its fragments with equal fac- 

 ility. 



In spite of its utter absurdity 

 this view is generally accepted, 

 and whenever the partial destruc- 

 tion of an Ophisaurus is witnessed 

 the imagination is called upon to 

 account for the phenomenon, as 

 the facts are embellished and ex- 

 plained until the poor little lizard 

 seems entitled to rank with the 

 Phoenix. 



Although so many people be- 

 lieve that the "joint snake" or 

 "glass snake" reunites its shattered 

 fragments there are but few who 

 have the patience to wait and see 

 this done, or the hardihood to say 

 they have seen it. Those who tell 

 these stories, often in good faith, 

 usually add that they gained their 

 information at second hand, but 

 there was one contributor to the 

 Scientific American who claimed 

 that he had witnessed the feat him- 

 self. The difficulties in the way of 

 fitting together shatterd nerves, 

 blood vessels, and bundles of mus- 

 cular fibers so that the restored 

 animal will be ready for business 

 on short notice are so great that it 

 is difficult to suspend judgement 

 while waiting for the story to be 

 corroborated. 



The Ophisaurus is occasionally, 

 though rarely, found near Vincen- 

 nes, and is thought to be sparsely 

 distributed throughout Indiana, 

 though its ordinary habitat is 

 farther south. It is to the south- 

 ern states, then, that we must look 

 for information regarding its breed- 

 ing habits and general life history, 

 subjects concerning which we are 

 entirely ignorant. 



