1889 .] 
172 
[Garman. 
mained throughout, there was a period of a couple of weeks during 
which partial blindness, in consequence of the new growth, prevented 
readiness in distinguishing smaller objects. A week before slough- 
ing the whiteness had disappeared, the eyes were bright as before, 
and, if it had not been for a dullness in the colors of the skin, one 
would have thought the slough had been lost. A few days later, 
restlessness and a disposition to rub the sides of the head against 
rocks, or the boards of the cage, showed that the creature was ready 
to free himself from the slough. By dint of pushing and rubbing, it 
was loosened around the lips and crowded back over the head and 
the neck. Thus far the work was done by pushing against one ob- 
ject or another. 
As soon as the liberated portion was far enough back to permit 
it, the snake rested the lower side of his neck and body on the floor, 
in such a way as to bring their weight upon the epiderm that had 
been set free ; then reaching forward some of the broad ventral 
scales as if gliding, he caught their edges in it and pulled it backward. 
Though the pulling was all done on the lower surface, it stripped the 
coat from sides and back as well. In this manner the whole ante- 
rior part of the body was freed. Afterward the tactics were changed 
and by winding about among the sticks and stones the loose skin 
was soon entangled and held, while the snake going ahead crept out 
of the balance in less time than it has taken to describe it. The 
slough was somewhat like damp paper ; it seemed to have been wet 
on the inner side with a mucilaginous secretion which in drying held 
firmly to the object in contact. The snake after sloughing was in 
his most brilliant, most active and most hungry condition. The 
manner of removing the useless skin varies among different serpents, 
and, undoubtedly, would be varied to some extent by the individ- 
ual under different circumstances. 
The description has been taken from a non-venomous serpent of 
the most common type of tail, that is, a tail that tapers gradually 
to a conical point from which the slough is shed as a hollow cone, 
the cap. In the longitudinal section of such a tail the vessels, mus- 
cles and vertebrae diminish in size toward the extremity until the 
portion within the cap is reached, where the identity of one or more 
of the vertebrae is lost in a conical mass of bone, forming the end of 
the column, the lateral outlines of which are similar to those of the 
cap. The number of caudal vertebrae varies from half a dozen or 
less in some of the short, thick-tailed forms, to more than two hun- 
