30 
ON THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF SBEPENTS. 
tlie odontoid process, which appears in the form of a 
conical protuberance, surrounded by the three articular 
planes, which form the glenoid cavity destined to receive 
the occipital condyle. The small size of the first vertebras^ 
and the little development of their processes, occasion some 
obliteration of their articulating surfaces, and even the 
confounding of one with the other. The vertebrae of the 
tsiil exhibit in the arrangement of their apophyses an 
analogous conformation to those of the trunk ; but their 
size diminishes gradually as they approach the extremity 
of that member. They are constantly provided with trans- 
verse processes directed downwards, which augment in 
length as they approach the base of the tail, where they are 
often cleft in two, as are also the last ribs ; so that five, six, 
or more ranges of them may be found. The development of 
the superior spinous processes of the tail is regulated by 
that of the apophyses of the vertebra of the trunk ; but in 
sea-serpents they have an uncommon length ; the inferior, 
on the contrary, are always longitudinally cleft, or rather 
may be considered as a double range. In some Ophidians, 
as in the Eryx, where the tail is obtuse and thick, the 
number of the apophyses of the tail is very great ; and 
we see, for the reasons already advanced, in the Bungarus 
three ranges of transverse processes. 
OF THE BONES OF THE HEAD. 
The real cranium of Ophidians, or that assemblage of 
bones which encloses the brain and most of the organs 
of sense, is the smallest part of the bony frame which serves 
as a basis for the whole head. On the other hand, the 
solid organs of mastication, with their appendices and their 
levers, all fully developed, and all possessing a greater or 
less degree of movement, compose a larger portion of the 
head than the former ; and on them almost entirely de- 
pends the shape of the head. The true cranium is always 
elongated, and is widest just behind the eyes ; from thence 
the lateral borders most generally converge towards the 
point of the muzzle ; the posterior part of the cranium 
is suddenly narrowed, and forms a cylindric cavity more 
