68 
NATURE NOTES 
snake, though not quite corresponding, are two sets of smaller 
dashes of black which, with the others, make a ring-like appear- 
ance, and hence doubtless comes one of its names. The throat 
is ivory-like, the head brown ; and at the back are two daubs, 
yellow and black, two on each side. The eyes have hazel irides, 
are lidless and susceptible of turning only through a small angle. 
The yellowish cheeks are striped with black, which increases 
the expressiveness of the features. The cloven tongue of jet is 
protruded through an orifice in the lips, withdrawn into a fleshy 
sheath fixed in the lower jaw, and rooted in the throat. When 
active, the snake darts out, wags and withdraws its tongue almost 
every moment, a circumstance which undoubtedly invokes sus- 
picion, especially when the snake keeps this member steadily out 
{as it sometimes does) and keeps the sharp, black points in 
different planes, thus giving it a barbed, steel-like appearance. 
As a matter of fact the tongue terminates in two harmless hairs. 
The jaws are somewhat bony and rough, this being their worst 
feature. The snake, therefore, has some reason for making the 
most of theatrical bravado, and succeeds in scaring most people, 
though undoubtedly to its own detriment. 
A snake’s motion deserves notice. The construction of the 
backbone facilitates lateral flexion, and thus enables the snake 
to tie itself in knots. In its favourite posture the snake is coiled, 
and you have only to touch its tail when it is immediately hooked 
round your finger. If the snake is startled on a bank when partly 
hidden, the marking of its sides makes it resemble a revolving 
cogwheel. It moves by pressing its ribs against the ground or 
what may be thereon, and when that is perfectly level by drawing 
its body into curves, but never by contracting it into a lump as 
does a worm. On uneven ground this motion becomes so rapid 
that capture then requires an alert hand. 
A cage for snakes should be of ample extent. It should be 
ventilated by perforated zinc, but not so much as to tempt capri- 
cious weather, nor in such a way as to make escape possible, in 
effecting which your prisoner is apt enough. Indeed, so ungrate- 
ful are snakes that, while exercising one on the open ground, 
care is needed that in its path lie no holes or other places of 
shelter into which it will inevitably creep and be lost. A cage 
should have an extensive skylight, because its occupants require 
to bask in the sun. It should have a den of earth for the snake 
to lodge in at night, or during ungenial days, for the snake is 
prone to take shelter and frequently crawls into one’s sleeve. 
Special care is needed to provide warm quarters for a snake’s 
hibernation at the end of September. A den should be made in 
a box of earth and be stuffed with cotton wool, having, of course, 
a narrow but clear passage leading to it. Neglect of these pre- 
cautions may, I believe, permanently injure a snake’s health. 
There must also be a cage to receive frogs and toads. These 
creatures are swallowed alive by the snake in its natural state ; 
but as the latter appears not to refuse them when dead, it might 
