ROOM II.] 
natural history. (Animals.) 
31 
Wall Cases 11 — 16. The Coluerine Snakes. 
Case 11. On the lower shelves. The Sea Snakes, which are pe¬ 
culiar to the seas of Asia and New Holland, and are in some degree 
dangerous, as many of the species have small fangs dispersed amongst 
the true teeth ; some of them grow to a very large size; they sleep on 
the shores coiled up, and are sometimes found asleep on the surface 
of the calm tropical seas ; and the Acrochorde, found in the ditches 
of the rice-fields of India. 
Cases 12—15. The genera allied to the Boa; they are the only 
snakes furnished with the rudiments of legs; they are not venomous, 
and kill their prey by crushing it between the folds of the body, gene¬ 
rally at the same time twisting the end of their prehensile tail round a 
tree or some other fixed point, in order to increase their pow r er; some 
come from America, some from India, and a few from Africa. 
Cases 16, 17. The genera allied to Coluber; as the water snakes 
( Tropidonotus ) and the common ring snake of England; the coral snake 
(Elaps ), which is marked with alternate black and red rings; the flat- 
tailed coral snake, which lives in the sea and has a flattened tail; the 
juggler snakes ( Naja ), w T hich have the faculty of dilating the skin of the 
neck so as to form a kind of hood over the head; they are found in 
Africa and India, and are used by the native jugglers in their exhibi¬ 
tions; the Indian species have usually a yellow spot on the back of the 
neck, somewhat resembling a pair of spectacles. These snakes have 
their hinder teeth larger than the rest; are furnished with a poison tube, 
like the fang of the rattle-snake and vipers. The tree snakes, or coach- 
whip snakes, have very long bodies; they live chiefly on trees; one of 
these is peculiar for its nose being much produced. 
Wall Cases 18—23. The Tortoises and Turtles. 
Cases 18, 19. The Land Tortoises, which live on vegetable sub¬ 
stances. They are used for food ; as the gigantic Indian tortoise, natu¬ 
ralized at Galapagos, from whence they are procured in large numbers 
for food by the sailors; and the different species from India, Africa, 
and America, many of which are beautifully varied with yellow. 
Cases20—22. The Fresh-water Tortoises, or Terrapins, which 
live on animal food; they are found in the warmer parts of both 
hemispheres, and are eaten by the North Americans and the natives of 
India. Some grow to a large size, as the crocodile or snapping tor¬ 
toise of America, and the thurgi tortoise of India. On the lower 
shelves of Case 22 are the Chelydce , which differ from the other terra¬ 
pins in bending their head back under the margin of the shell w r hen at 
rest, and cannot withdraw it into the cavity of the shell like the other 
tortoises. These animals will only take their food while in the water 
when in confinement. 
Case 23. The three-clawed terrapins, which live in the rivers 
of Africa and Asia, and North Ameika; they are strictly carnivorous, 
and eat their food in w T ater; they are to be seen in the Ganges preying 
on the human bodies that float down that river. The low r er shelves 
of this Case contain the Marine Turtles, which live principally on fuci, 
