The particulars in which, the serpent differs from the lizard are,
that the former have no feet, cast their bright coats annually (like
our metropolitan postmen), and swallow their food without masticating
it. They occupy seven cases. The upper part of the first case contains
many of the most poisonous serpents. Among these are the well-known
and formidable Rattlesnakes of America, with specimens of their
rattles lying near them, which, as the visitor-will see, are a
succession of osseous joints. Here too are the terrible cobra di
capello, and other poisonous serpents of India; the South American fer
de lance; the vipers of Europe; the North African crested viper; and
the Cape of Good Hope and Western African puff adder; the Guinea
nosehorn viper, and the common viper found in England--our only
dangerous serpent. These serpents all inflict their poisonous wounds
by means of two fangs, which they protrude from the mouth, and from
the points of which they inject the poisonous matter into the wounds
they inflict. On the lower shelves of this case the visitor will find
some specimens of the Sea-Serpents, which frequent the East Indian
seas, and the coast of New Holland. They are dangerous reptiles,
having small fangs amid their teeth, with which they attack bathing
animals or men. Some of them have been found sleeping on the warm
bosom of a tropical ocean; and upon the warm sands of the shore they
are often found, coiled up in a torpid state. They vary greatly in
size: but the visitor will perceive none approaching in length to that
remarkable reptile which artists, despairing in their attempts to give
it the proper dimensions, lately coiled about the wide pages of
pictorial papers.
The visitor will next have his attention drawn to that family of
serpents of which the Boa is the great representative. These are all
grouped together in cases (12-15). This family has what naturalists
call "the rudiments of legs." They are a nobler family than that which
the rattlesnake represents, inasmuch as they do not depend upon poison
to master their enemy; but fight legitimately, with their muscular
strength. The terrible pictures which adorn the pages of eastern
travels for children, of poor Indians with just their heads appearing
above the folds of a gigantic boa, will probably recur to the visitor,
as he surveys the tortuous folds of the placid specimens of the family
that lie before him. It is therefore hardly necessary to inform him
that the boa family destroy their prey by coiling round it, and having
secured their tail to a tree to give themselves additional strength,
by crushing every bone in its body. Having thus taken the life out of
the victim, the destroyer, with some trouble, if the animal be large,
swallows it, and lies down for weeks to allow the process of digestion
to go on. Some of these boas are from Africa, some from India, and
some from America. The last two cases of serpents (16, 17) include
many varieties. Here are the common water and ring snakes of England;
the coach whip snakes, that live coiled about trees; the black and red
ringed snakes, known as the coral snakes; and the varieties of
serpents with which the famed serpent charmers of India exhibit their
skill. The juggler snakes have the peculiar power of inflating the
skin of the neck till it bulges over the head, and so forms a kind of
hood. The Indian varieties of these hooded snakes are poisonous, and
are distinguishable from the others by a yellow spot on the back of
the neck.
From the serpents the visitor should turn to the families of the
Testudinata, or