The Ringed Snake, Tropidonotus natrix, is often found in fine seasons near human habitations. It deposits its eggs, which are fifteen to twenty in number, commonly in dunghills, in one agglutinated mass. Exposed to the air, these eggs soon shrivel and dry, and the embryos within them perish. The Ringed Snakes are also found near rivers and meadows, by the side of water-courses, into which they love to plunge; hence they are sometimes called Water Serpents, Swimming Serpents, Hedge Eels, and other provincial synonyms. They sometimes attain to as much as and more than a yard in length. The summit of their head is covered with nine large scales, disposed in four rings. The upper part of the body is of a more or less darkish grey colour, marked on each side with irregular black spots. Between the two rows of spots are two other longitudinal rows, which extend from the head to the tail. The belly varies from black to a bluish white. Upon the neck are two whitish or pale yellowish spots, which form a kind of half collar or ring, from which its name is derived; these two spots become much more apparent from being contrasted with two other very dark triangular spots placed near them. They prey upon lizards, frogs, and mice, and they even surprise young birds, and devour the eggs in their nests, for they climb trees with facility. Towards the end of the autumn they seek the warmest places, approaching near to houses; or they retire into subterranean holes, often at the bottom of some hedge, which is almost always in an elevated place, secure from inundations. The Ringed Snake is found in nearly all European countries, and can be handled without danger. Lacépède gives some interesting details, showing the gentleness of its habits. They are easily tamed, and can be kept in houses, where they soon accustom themselves to those who have the care of them. At a sign from their keeper, they will twist themselves round his fingers, arms, and neck, insinuate their heads between his lips to drink his saliva, and to hide and warm themselves they creep under his clothes. In their wild state, the adult Ringed Snake lives in the fields; and, when full-grown, shows great irritation when attacked. When exasperated, they move their tongues, erect themselves with great vivacity, and even bite the hand which tries to seize them; but their bite is quite harmless.
[This Ringed Snake is the Natrix torquatus of Ray, well known to naturalists. The female is larger than the male. Its food consists a good deal of frogs, which are generally caught by the leg, and swallowed alive, in spite of resistance and very distressing cries.
When the skin has just been cast, the Ringed Snake presents beautiful markings, especially when seen swimming across some clear running stream, its head and neck raised above the limpid water, and the sun shining on its bright enamelled skin. It has been supposed, not unnaturally, that the Snake casts its skin at fixed intervals; this, Mr. Bell considers to be a mistake. He has always found that it depended on the temperature of the atmosphere and on their state of health and feeding. "I have known the skin thrown off" he adds, "four or five times during the year. It is always thrown off by reversing it, so that the transparent covering of the eyes and that of the scales are always found in the exuviæ. Previous to this curious phenomenon, the whole cuticle becomes somewhat opaque, the eyes dim, and the animal is evidently blind. It also becomes more or less inactive, until at length, when the skin is ready for removal and the new skin perfectly hard underneath, the animal bursts it at the neck, and creeping through some dense herbage or low brushwood, leaves it detached, and comes forth in brighter and clearer colours than before."
The Ringed Snake begins to hybernate, in some warm hedge or under the root of some tree, or other sheltered situation, about the end of autumn; and there they coil themselves up, sometimes in numbers, till the spring again calls them forth. Many instances are told of this Snake being tamed. Mr. Bell had one which knew him from all other persons; it would come to him when let out of its box, and crawl under the sleeve of his coat, and every morning come to him for its draught of milk.]
The Green and Yellow Snake is also about a yard in length, and is common in the south and west of France; they have been taken in the forest of Fontainebleau. The beautiful colours in which they are clothed causes them to be easily distinguished from the Viper. The eyes are edged with golden-coloured scales; the upper part of the body is of a very dark greenish colour, upon which is extended a large number of radiating lines, composed of small yellowish spots of different shapes, some long, others lozenge shape, giving it a chequered appearance. These chequers extend from the head to the tail. The belly is yellowish; the large plates which cover it have a black spot at each end, and are bordered with a very thin black line. This inoffensive reptile is extremely timid, and generally hides itself from observation, taking to flight at the least alarm. They are said to be easily tamed.
The Viperine Snake (Fig. 12) has the body of a greyish or dirty yellow colour, having on the middle of the back a series of blackish spots so close to each other as to give the idea of one small continuous wavy line from head to tail. The sides are covered with isolated spots, forming lozenge-like figures, the centres of which are of a greenish tint. This is the smallest of all the European Colubridæ, and, like the others, it is found in most parts of Europe.
[The Psammophidæ, or Desert Snakes, are akin both to the Colubridæ and to the Tree Snakes of the next family; but the latter, remarks Dr. Günther, may always be distinguished either by their green coloration, by the horizontal pupil to the eye, or the absence of a long, anterior, maxillary tooth. In the Psammophidæ the pupil of the eye is round or vertical. Most of the species of this family belong to the fauna of tropical Africa, which also produces a slender form (in Psammophis elegans). The other species are of a stouter habit, frequenting plains, or at all events living on the ground. Of the Indian Psammophis condanarus, Dr. Jerdon procured one which had killed and was swallowing a small Viper (Echis carinata), this being one of the few instances in which a non-venemous Snake has been known to overpower a poisonous one. We have heard the same of a small Boa-like Serpent (Chilabothrus?) in the West Indies, which is said to prey upon the formidable Crotalidæ. The Psammodynastes pulverulentus has a wide geographical range over South-eastern Asia and its islands. Although innocuous, it has the aspect of a venemous species.
In a kindred African family, the Rachiodontidæ, the species of Dasypeltis have the maxillary teeth minute and few in number (four to seven); but they have also some remarkable gular teeth, which are formed by the elongated inferior spinous processes of the hinder cervical vertebræ. The object of the latter is to crush the shells of birds' eggs, upon which the Snakes in question habitually feed.
Of the more characteristic Tree Snakes, the Dendrophidæ have the body and tail much compressed, or very slender and elongated; the head generally lengthened, narrow, flat, and distinct from the slender neck; the snout rather long, obtuse or rounded in front; cleft of the mouth wide; and the eye of moderate size, or large, with round pupil. These are Diurnal Snakes, which live entirely upon trees, where they prey chiefly on arboreal lizards and frogs. Species of them inhabit all tropical countries. They are mostly of great beauty, and the Indian Chrysopelea ornata is excessively so, being variegated with yellow and crimson upon a black ground; but the crimson soon fading when a specimen is immersed in spirit. Others are very variable in their colouring, as the African Bucephalus capensis and the Indian Dendrophis picta.
The next family of Dryiophidæ, or the Whip Snakes, have a still more slender and elongated body, which has been aptly compared to the thong of a whip. The head is very narrow and long, with tapering snout, ending in a protruded rostral shield, which is sometimes modified into a flexible appendage; eyes of moderate size, and all the Asiatic species have the pupil of the eye horizontally linear, and a long fang-like tooth in the middle of the maxillary. The whole of this group are provided with a posterior grooved tooth. They are chiefly nocturnal, and their movements are wonderfully rapid and graceful among the branches of trees. They are numerous almost everywhere in tropical countries. In general the various Whip Snakes are of a bright leaf-green colour, with two white stripes on the belly, so that they are difficult to discern among the foliage. In the genus Langaha, which is peculiar to Madagascar, the muzzle is elongated into a fleshy appendage, which is covered with small scales, constituting about one-third of the total length of the head. This appendage is dentated in one species (L. crista-galli), and not so in another (L. nasuta). In the Indian genus Passerita the snout is long and pointed, terminating in a flexible appendage. The name of Whip Snake is applied by Anglo-Indians to all of the species of Dendrophidæ and of Dryiophidæ, and the erroneous notion prevails that they are highly venemous, and that they spurt venom into people's eyes. The same is believed in South Africa of the Bucephalus capensis. Even Gordon Cumming asserts that one night a Snake which his servant had tried to kill with his loading-rod flew up at his eye, and "spat poison into it. Immediately," he adds, "I washed it well at the fountain. I endured great pain all night, but next day my eye was all right."12
Of a beautiful green species (Philodryas viridissimus), appertaining to the family of Dendrophidæ, in Brazil, Dr. Wurcherer writes:—"I am always delighted when I find that another Tree Snake has settled in my garden. You look for a bird's nest, the young ones have gone, but you find their bed occupied by one of these beautiful creatures, which will coil up its body, of two feet in length, within a space not larger than the hollow of your hand. They appear to be always watchful; for at the instant you discover one, the quick playing of the long, black, forked tongue will shew you that you too are observed. On perceiving the slightest sign of your intention to disturb it, the Snake will dart upwards through the branches and over the leaves, which scarcely appear to bend beneath the weight. A moment more, and you have lost sight of it." Some of the true Whip Snakes attain to six or seven feet in length, or even more; and with reference to the vague application of vernacular names (vide p. 42), it may here be remarked that the "Little Whip Snake" of the Australian colony of Victoria denotes a poisonous Snake of a very different family (the Hoplocephalus flagellum).
The Dipsadidæ are a numerous family of tropical Tree Snakes, which also have a much compressed body, but short and triangular-shaped head, which is broad behind; the eye large, having generally a vertical pupil. Some of them attain to six or seven feet in length, and all live on warm-blooded animals. It is remarkable that certain of the species prey on birds solely, whilst others attack only mammalia. Their coloration varies a good deal, and species of them inhabit most tropical and subtropical countries.
The Lycodontidæ are an extensive family of small Ground Snakes, inhabiting Africa and tropical Asia, which have the body generally of moderate length, or rather slender, and the head also of moderate length and width, with generally a depressed, flat, and somewhat elongated muzzle; maxillary with a fang-like tooth in front, but without a posterior grooved tooth. The African species feed on Mice and other small nocturnal mammalia; while the Indian species (which have a vertical pupil) prey chiefly, if not wholly, on the smaller Scincoid Lizards, which they would appear to follow into the place of their retreat. Lycodon aulicus is one of the commonest Snakes of the Indian region, and is quite harmless, though often ignorantly supposed to be dangerously poisonous.
The Amblycephalidæ, or Blunt-heads, comprise a few species of moderate or small size, akin to the Dipsadidæ, but the narrow mouth of which necessitates their feeding on insects, and they live on trees and bushes, or under the roofs of huts. Of the Indo-Chinese and Malayan Amblycephalus boa, Dr. Günther remarks that "the head of this most singular Snake resembles much that of a mastiff, the lips being arched and tumid. It climbs with great facility, frequenting the roofs of the natives' huts in pursuit of its insect food. It attains to a length of three feet, the tail being a third." Of a second genus, Pareas, three species inhabit the same region.
The Pythonidæ, or Pythons, and Boas, are celebrated for the enormous magnitude to which some of the species attain. These are emphatically the great constrictor Serpents, to all of which the name of Boa-constrictor is popularly applied, although this appellation refers properly to one only of them which is peculiar to South America. Various genera of them inhabit Africa, South-eastern Asia and its islands, Australia, and South America, with the West Indies.]
The Pythons are large Serpents of Asia and Africa. They live in marshy places, and near the margins of rivers. They are non-venemous, but possessed of immense muscular power, which enables some of the species to kill, by constriction, animals of much larger circumference than themselves.
Aristotle tells us of immense Lybian Serpents, so large that they pursued and upset some of the triremes of voyagers visiting that coast. Virgil's Laocoon, so vividly represented in the well-known marble group, owes its origin, no doubt, to the descriptions current of constricting Serpents. Quoting Livy, Valerius Maximus relates the alarm into which the Roman army, under Regulus, was thrown by an enormous Serpent, having its lair on the banks of the Bagradus, near Utica. This Serpent Pliny speaks of as being a hundred and twenty feet long. But, without multiplying instances to which time has lent its fabulous aid, and coming to more modern times, Bontius speaks of Serpents in the Asiatic islands as beings so various that he despairs of even enumerating them all. "The great ones," he says, "sometimes exceed thirty-six feet, and have such capacity of throat and stomach, that they swallow entire Boars." Adding that he knew persons who had partaken of a Hog cut out of the stomach of a Serpent of this kind. "They are not poisonous," he adds, "but they strangle by powerfully applying their folds round the body of their prey." Mr. M'Leod, in his interesting voyage of the Alceste, states that during a captivity of some months at Whidah, on the coast of Africa, he had opportunities of observing Serpents double this length, one of which engaged a negro servant of the governor of Fort William in its coil, and very nearly succeeded in crushing him to death. There can be no doubt that the length is here much exaggerated. About thirty feet is the utmost length attained by the most gigantic Serpents of which we possess accurate knowledge.
The body of the Python is large and round. They live on trees in warm damp places, on the banks of streams or water-courses, and attack the animals which come there to slake their thirst. Hanging by the tail to the trunk of a tree they remain immovable in their ambush until their opportunity comes, when they dart upon their prey, fold their bodies round it with amazing rapidity, and crush it in their monstrous folds. Animals as large as Gazelles, and even larger, thus become their victims. Their jaws are extremely distensible, as we have seen; for, having neither breast-bone nor false sides, they can easily increase the diameter of the opening, so as to swallow the most voluminous prey.
The Ophidians (as we have seen) surpass all other Reptiles in the number of their vertebræ, with incomplete hæmal arches; these constitute the skeleton of the long, slender, limbless trunk. All these vertebræ coalesce with one another, and are articulated together by ball-and-socket joints. Besides this articulation to the centrum, the vertebræ of Ophidians articulate with each other by means of joints which interlock by parts reciprocally receiving and entering one another, like the tenon-and-mortise joint in carpentry. "The vertebral ribs have an oblong articular surface, concave above and almost flat below, in the Python. They have a large medullary cavity, with dense but thin walls, with a fine cancellated structure at their articular ends. Their lower end supports a short cartilaginous membrane, closing the hæmal arch, which is attached to the broad and stiff abdominal scute. These scutes, alternately raised and depressed by muscles attached to the ribs and integuments, aid in the gliding movement of serpents."
The peculiar motion of Snakes was first noted by Sir Joseph Banks, and commented on by Sir Everard Home. Sir Joseph was observing a Coluber of unusual size, and thought he saw its ribs come forward in succession, like the feet of a caterpillar. To test this, he placed his hand under the animal, the ends of the ribs were distinctly felt pressing upon the surface in regular succession, leaving no doubt that the ribs formed so many pairs of levers, by means of which it moves its body from place to place.
The muscles which bring forward these ribs, according to Sir Everard, consists of five sets. One from the transverse process of each vertebra and the rib immediately behind it, which rib is attached to the next vertebra. The next set goes from the rib near the spine, and passes over two ribs, sending a slip to each, and is inserted into a third, a slip connecting it with the next muscle in succession. Under this is a third set, issuing from the posterior side of each rib, passing over two ribs, and sending a lateral slip to the next muscle, and is also inserted in the third rib behind. And so on throughout the five sets of muscles.
On the inside of the chest there is a strong set of muscles attached to the anterior surface of each vertebra, and passing obliquely forward over four ribs is inserted into the fifth one only in the centre. From this part of each rib a strong flat muscle comes forward on each side, before the viscera, forming the abdominal muscles and uniting in a middle tendon, so that the lower half of each rib which is beyond the origin of this muscle, and which is only laterally connected to it by a loose cellular membrane, is external to the belly of the animal, and is used for the purpose of progressive motion, while that half of each rib which is next the spine, as far as the lungs extend, is employed in respiration.
These observations of Sir Everard Home apply to all Snakes; but the muscles were compared with a skeleton of the Boa-constrictor in the Hunterian Museum, which is thirteen feet nine inches in length. The habit of attaching themselves to trees, and holding on by the tail, their heads and bodies floating listlessly on some sedgy river, is explained by the structure of the tail. Dr. Meyer has minutely described the manner in which they hook themselves on to a tree, which gives them the power of a double fulcrum. The apparatus which gives this power is a spur or nail on each side of the vent in the Pythonidæ, in which the anatomist discovered the elements of an unguinal phalanx articulated with another bone much stronger, which is concealed under the skin.
Following the arrangement of the Pythonidæ, adopted by Dr. J. E. Gray in the Catalogue of the British Museum, we find:—
I. Morelia, having a strong prehensile tail, distinct head, truncate muzzle, crown of the head with small shield-like plates. Of this genus there are two species. The Diamond Snake (M. spilotes), a native of Australia, and of a bluish-black colour; and the Carpet Snake (M. variegata), from Port Essington and Swan River. It is whitish, with irregular black-edged olive spots, and an olive head, with two or three white spots in the centre of the crown.
II. Python, having the crown shielded to behind the eyes.
Of this genus there are two species, which have sometimes been referred to the Boas. The Pythons bear the same general appearance. Upon their bodies is traced a sort of blackish-brown chain, presenting nearly quadrangular links upon a clear yellowish ground, extending from the nape of the neck to the extremity of the tail. The suscephalous region is partly covered by a large brownish-black spot. Upon each side of the head is a black band, which frequently extends from the nostril, passing by the eye, as far as, and up to, the commissures or corners of the lips.
P. reticulatus, the Ular Sawad of the Malay countries, found also in Burmah and Siam, has the four front upper labial plates pitted; the frontal plate simple; the head has a narrow, longitudinal, brown stripe. This is one of the most handsomely marked species of the whole family, its body being covered with a gay lacing of black and golden yellow. It is said to attain the great length of thirty feet, and is stout in proportion. In its native wilds the powers of this gigantic reptile are said to be enormous, being able to subdue a full-grown Buffalo; and even a Man has been said to fall a prey to its fury. A Malay prao had anchored for the night under an island of the Celebes. One of the crew had gone ashore in search of the favourite betel nut, and is supposed on his return to the beach to have fallen asleep. In the dead of the night his comrades were roused by his screams; they pulled ashore with all expedition, but came too late; the cries had ceased, and the wretched man had breathed his last in the folds of one of these enormous Serpents. They killed the creature, cut off the head, and carried it, together with the lifeless body of their comrade, to the vessel. The right wrist of the corpse bore the mark of the Serpent's teeth, and the disfigured body showed that the man had been crushed by the constrictive folds of the reptile round the head, breast, and thighs. The Ular Sawad arranges its eggs by placing them in a group, which is covered by the body. This statement, first made by Mr. Bennett, has been confirmed by the observations of M. Lamare Picquot, and by observations on other species of Python in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, and in the London Zoological Gardens.
The Rock Snake of India and Ceylon (P. molurus) is another species to which the name of Boa-constrictor has been given. It has the two pairs of front upper, and three hind lower labial shields pitted, and the frontal plates double. Of this gigantic Serpent several specimens are generally to be seen in the Zoological Gardens.
III. Hortulia, having the upper and lower labial shields deeply pitted; muzzle and forehead with symmetrical shield; nostrils lateral. They are natives of Africa, and three species are known, namely, the Natal Rock Snake, having the lower labial shields deeply pitted, the muzzle and forehead with symmetrical shields, the nostrils lateral; the Guinea Rock or Fetish Snake (H. Sebæ), closely resembling the last in many structural points; and the Royal Rock Snake (H. regia), having the four pairs of the upper front labials pitted, the upper ocular plate single, the lower labial shields four in number and broad.
The Royal Rock Snake inhabits Western Africa. It is black in colour, marked on the middle of the back with a series of oblong white spots, the sides being marked by another series of large white spots, with one or two black spots in the upper part; the head black, with a streak over the nostrils and the top of the eyes, another from the lower edge of the eye, the lips and chin beneath are white.
The Natal Rock Snake (H. natalensis, Fig. 13) is described by Sir Andrew Smith as being gigantic in size, he having seen a skin measuring twenty-five feet, although part of the tail was absent. "It feeds," he says, "on small quadrupeds; and for some days after swallowing one it remains in a torpid state, when it may be easily destroyed." Of this opportunity, however, the South Africans never avail themselves; they have a horror of the reptile, but believe that it has an influence over their destinies, and affirm that no one has ever been known to kill one and prosper.
The Guinea Rock or Fetish Snake (H. Sebæ, Fig. 14) is typical of the genus, and has also been referred to the Boa-constrictor, and closely resembles the Natal Rock Snake. It is a native of the warmer parts of Africa. A living specimen at the Zoological Gardens is estimated to weigh a hundredweight.
Of the genera Liasis and Nardoa there are five species, very imperfectly known.
IV. Epicrates, an American and West Indian species, having the crown scaly; the forehead with symmetrical shields.
The Aboma (E. cenchria) is one of the largest of the group, sometimes attaining dimensions quite gigantic. It is yellowish in colour, with a row of large brown rings running the whole length of the back, and variable spots on the sides; these are generally dark, with a whitish semi-lunar mark. This formidable Reptile has all the habits of its congeners; it is found in the marshy swamps of tropical America, and near the rivers, where it lies in wait for its prey.
The Boas, properly so called, have the scales smooth; labial shields smooth, not pitted; the body compressed, tapering to the tail, which is long and prehensile; the head is comparatively small, being enlarged behind, and contracted towards the muzzle, which is rather short. The crown is covered with scales; the nostrils lateral, between two plates. Four species of this genus are recognised by naturalists, all of which have been described by travellers as the true Boiguacu, or Boa-constrictor of Linnæus. This species has the scaly circle of the orbit separated from the upper labial plates by one or two series of scales. A large chain consisting of blackish hexagonal spots, alternating pale oval stains, notched and jagged, extending the whole length of the back, and forming a very elegant design. This species seems to be strictly confined to tropical America. Humboldt found it in Guiana, and the Prince de Wied observed it in Brazil. All the specimens in the British Museum are from that part of the New World. This is supposed to be the Tlicoatl and Temacuilcahuilia (the words meaning "fighting with five men"), described by Hernandez, the latter name being derived from its size and strength. "It attacks," he says, "those it meets, and overpowers them with such force, that if it once coils itself round their necks, it strangles and kills them, unless it bursts itself by the violence of its own efforts." The same author states that he has seen Serpents as thick as a man's thigh, which had been taken when young by Indians and tamed. That this Boa attains an immense size is a well-established fact. Shaw mentions a skin in the British Museum, in one of his lectures, which measured thirty-five feet in length.
Three other species—the Lamanda (B. diviniloqua), from Santa Lucia; the Emperor (B. imperator), a native of Mexico; and B. eques, the Chevalier Boa of Peru—are all to be occasionally seen in the Zoological Gardens.
The Boa anaconda, more properly Eunectes murinus, is also a native of tropical America. The name of Anaconda has become well known through Mr. Lewis's celebrated tale, so called, in which its predatory habits are displayed in such a manner as to enthral and fascinate the reader, as the author makes the reptile fascinate its victim. The name, Mr. Bennett tells us, is of Cinghalese origin, and is popularly applied to all very large Serpents. This species is of a brownish tint, with a double series of colours extending from head to tail; the sides are covered with annular spots with white disks surrounded by blackish rings. Seba has represented this creature lying in wait for Mice; but this is probably the prey of the young Anaconda. Another provincial name, "El Troga Venado" (the Deer Swallower), is probably applied to the matured Reptile.
The following description of the actions of one of these large non-venemous Serpents, which accompanied a specimen sent to the United Service Museum, by Sir Robert Ker Porter, is probably a fair description of the habits of all the large Pythonidæ:—"This species is not venemous, nor is it known to injure man (at least not in this part of the New World); however, the natives of the plain stand in great fear of it, never bathing in waters where it is known to exist. Its common haunt, or rather domicile, is invariably near lakes, swamps, and rivers; likewise close and wet ravines produced by inundations of the periodical rains. Fishes, as well as other animals which repair there to drink, are its prey. The creature lurks watchfully under cover of the water, and, while the unsuspecting animal is drinking, suddenly makes a dash at its nose, and with a grip of its back-reclining range of teeth, never fails to secure the terrified beast beyond the power of escape. In an instant the sluggish waters are in turbulence and foam. The whole form of the Serpent is in motion; its huge and rapid coilings soon encircle the struggling victim, and but a short interval elapses ere every bone in the body of the expiring prey is broken." Sir Robert then describes the manner in which the prey is swallowed, being previously lubricated by the Serpent's saliva; but Professor T. Bell, after carefully watching the constricting Serpent's mode of swallowing its prey, asserts that this is a delusion. "The mucus is not poured out till it is required to lubricate the dilated jaws and throat for the seemingly disproportionate feat."
[The small, but very distinct family of Erycidæ have the body of moderate length, cylindrical, covered with small and short scales; the tail very short, with only a single series of subcaudal scales; head somewhat elongate; eye rather small, with vertical pupil. Adult individuals have, like the Pythons, a short conical prominence in a groove on each side of the vent; this being the extremity of a rudimentary hind limb. "The Snakes of this family," remarks Dr. Günther, "shew great similarity to the Pythons and Boas, with regard to their internal structure as well as to their external characters. But their tail is very short, not flexible, and much less prehensile; and whilst the Serpents just mentioned are more or less arboreal, frequenting marshy places with luxuriant vegetation, the Erycidæ inhabit dry, sandy, or stony plains, burrowing with the greatest facility below the surface, and entering crevices and holes in search of their prey, which consists of Mice, Lizards, and other burrowing Snakes. Probably they are semi-nocturnal, and able to see in dark places as well as in the night. They are found in Northern Africa, in the islands of the Mediterranean, in the arid parts of India, and probably in Arabia; two species are known to have been brought from Sikhim."
The Cursoria elegans is said to be from Afghanistan; Eryx iacalus inhabits Greece and Egypt; and there is also E. thebaicus in the latter country, and E. Johnii in India. Another Indian species is the Gongylophis conicus, which the natives erroneously persist in declaring to be venemous. The Eryx Johnii is frequently found in the possession of the serpent-charmers of its native country, who mutilate the end of its short, thick tail in such a manner that the scarred extremity somewhat resembles the form of the head. Such specimens are shewn as deadly Two-headed Snakes, and, as such, are occasionally brought alive to Europe. An example of this species lived in the London Zoological Gardens for about eight years, and fed regularly on young Mice. The keeper assured Dr. Günther that it frequently covered its prey with saliva. It always kept itself hidden below the gravel at the bottom of its cage. This species attains to a length of nearly four feet, the tail measuring but four inches.
The Acrochordidæ constitute a very remarkable small family, of which one genus is terrene, and another highly aquatic in its habits. Whether a third genus, the Javanese Xenodermus, should be referred to it, is doubtful in the opinion of Dr. Günther. These Snakes have the body of moderate length, rounded, or slightly compressed, and covered with small wart-like, not imbricate, tubercular or spiny scales; tail rather short, prehensile; head rather small, not distinctly separated from the neck, and covered with scales like those of the body; nostrils close together, at the top of the snout; teeth short, but strong, of nearly equal size, and situate both in the jaws and on the palate. These serpents are viviparous. One of them, Acrochordus javanicus, inhabits Java and the Malayan peninsula, where it is considered rare. It grows to a length of eight feet, and its habits are terrene. The late Dr. Cantor justly compares its physiognomy to that of a thorough-bred bull-dog; a female in his possession brought forth no fewer than twenty-seven young in the course of about twenty-five minutes; they were active, and bit fiercely. Hornstedt found a quantity of undigested fruits in the stomach of this Serpent! Upon which Dr. Günther remarks that no opportunity of making further observations on the habits of this remarkable Snake should be lost. The aquatic member of this family, Chersydrus granulatus, inhabits from the coasts of India to those of New Guinea and the Philippine Islands. Sometimes it is met with at a distance of three or four miles from the shore. Mr. W. Theobald remarks that it is plentiful in the Bassein River (in British Burmah), in salt water below Gnaputau, and, with various other Sea Snakes, is frequently swept by the tide into the fishing baskets of the natives. The ebb-tide, running like a sluice, sweeps various Fishes, Crustaceans, Snakes, and even Porpoises occasionally, into the broad mouths of those baskets, where they are at once jammed into a mass at the narrow end of the creel. "The Chersydrus," he adds, "is more nearly connected with the Hydrophidæ than with the next family, being as essentially aquatic as any of the former, to which, save from its wanting the poison-gland, it might be appropriately referred. Indeed, it has been erroneously asserted by some authors to be venemous."
The Homalopsidæ are an extensive family of Snakes, of thoroughly aquatic habits, which are only occasionally found on the margins of rivers; several of them enter the sea, and in some parts of their organization they approximate to the true marine Snakes. They may be easily recognised by the position of the nostrils on the top of the snout, which enables them to breathe by raising only a very small portion of the head out of the water; an arrangement which is likewise seen in the Hippopotamus, the Crocodile, the Sea Snakes, and other aquatic animals. Many of them have a distinctly prehensile tail, by means of which they hold on to projecting objects. Their food consists either entirely of Fishes, or, in some species, of Crustaceans also. All appear to be viviparous, and the act of parturition is performed in the water. Not any of them attain a large size-about three or four feet in length, or considerably less; and in captivity they refuse to feed. All the Asiatic species of this family have a grooved fang at the hinder extremity of the maxillary bone. The species are numerous, and are arranged into many generic divisions. The majority are from the grand Indian region, extending to China and to Australia, but there are also several from the New World. The Herpeton tentaculatum, of Siam, is very remarkable from its snout terminating in two flexible, cylindrical, scaly tubercles, which are supposed to be employed as organs of touch under water—perhaps to discern its food, which as yet has not been ascertained. The largest known example of this curious Snake is only twenty-five inches long, of which the tail measures six inches.
We now proceed to the first family of Poisonous Snakes, that of
Which are very distinct from all that follow, though less so from certain of the harmless species appertaining to the two families last treated of. Some of their distinctions have been already noticed (p. 45), but they are especially characterised by their highly compressed tail, indicative of their thoroughly aquatic habits. According to Dr. Günther, there is no other group of Reptiles the species of which are so little known, and the synonymy of which is so much confused, as that of the Sea Snakes. Most naturalists who have worked at them have been misled by the idea that the species were not nearly so numerous as they actually are. Mr. W. Theobald makes out as many as twenty-five inhabiting the Bay of Bengal and the adjacent seas, to which area this group of Reptiles is mainly confined, a few species extending to northern Australia, and one, the most emphatically pelagic, the Pelamis bicolor, even to the Pacific Ocean. One genus only, Platurus, approaches the Land Snakes in several of its characters; having much the physiognomy of an Elaps, with the cleft of the mouth not turned upwards behind, as in other Sea Snakes; the eye also is rather small, nor is the tail at all prehensile. There are two species of this particular form, one of which, P. scutatus, is rather common, and its geographic range extends from the Bay of Bengal and the China seas to the coasts of New Zealand; the distribution of the other, P. Fischeri, being nearly as extensive. The great genus Hydrophis has the posterior part of the body highly compressed, and most of the species are more or less of a bluish lead-colour, like that of the sea, or black, banded with white or yellowish white. They are so abundant in the Indian seas that some of them are taken with every haul of a fishing-net, and they are helpless and seemingly blind when out of the water; the fishermen commonly seizing them, one after the other, by the nape and throwing them back into the sea. Some of them (Microcephalophis of Lesson) have the head very small and the neck exceedingly slender, while the compressed body is large and thick.
These are comprised under the one family, Elapidæ, all of which have an erect, immovable, grooved, or perforated fang in the fore-part of the maxillary bone. There is little in their external appearance to distinguish them from the harmless Colubrine Snakes, to which they are more nearly akin, in all but their poison-fangs, than they are to the Rattlesnakes and Vipers; yet some of the most poisonous of Ophidians appertain to this family, as exemplified by the well-known Cobras of the Indian region and of Africa, and also by some of the worst Snakes that inhabit Australia. In the colony of Victoria alone as many as ten species of Snakes are known, one only of which, Morelia variegata, is harmless; and one only of them, the formidable Death-adder (Acanthopis antarctica), belongs to the sub-order of the Viperine Snakes. The rest are included among the Colubriform Venemous Snakes, and most of the accidents from poisonous Snakes in that colony are due to what is there known as the Carpet Snake, Hoplocephalus curtus, while the Snake that bears the same name in the adjacent colony of New South Wales is the innocuous Morelia spilotes, which is a small Serpent of the family of Pythonidæ. Of the total number of Snakes known in all Australia, by far the greater number are venemous, which is the reverse of what occurs elsewhere. Only about five species, however, are really dangerous throughout the great island-continent, for in many of them the poison is by no means virulent. Thus, of Diemansia psammophis, which sometimes exceeds four feet in length, Mr. Krefft remarks that "its bite does not cause any more irritation than the sting of a bee." Also, that "the bite of Hoplocephalus variegatus is not sufficiently strong to endanger the life of a man. I have been wounded by it several times," writes Mr. Krefft, "and experienced no bad symptoms beyond a slight headache; the spot where the fang entered turning blue to about the size of a shilling for a few days." Again, of Brachysoma diadema, "this very handsome little Snake is venemous, but never offers to bite, and may be handled with impunity." Far otherwise, however, is the venom of Hoplocephalus curtus, and also of some others. H. curtus is one of the worst Snakes of Australia, where it inhabits the more temperate parts of the country from east to west. Its bite is almost as deadly as that of the Indian Cobra, to which it is, indeed, considerably allied. "A good-sized Dog bitten became paralyzed within three minutes, and was dead in fifty minutes afterwards; a Goat died in thirty-five minutes; a Porcupine Ant-eater (Echidna hystrix) lived six hours; and a common Tortoise, an animal which will live a day with its head cut off, died in five hours after being bitten." The H. superbus replaces it in Tasmania.
The Cobras (Naja) are widely known, alike from the virulence of their poison, and for their remarkable dilatable disk or "hood" on the nape, the ribs which support this hood being much elongated. Two species are commonly recognised, the Cobra di capella of Southern Asia (Naja tripudians), and the Asp (N. haje) of Africa; but there are marked local varieties of both species, and the N. sputatrix of the Malay countries should probably be recognised as a third species. Those of India, with Ceylon, have a mark like a pair of spectacles upon the hood, while those of Burmah and the neighbouring countries eastward have only an oval black spot upon it. In India the commonest colour of this formidable reptile is uniform brown, though many are of a pale yellowish straw colour, and there are others of every shade between that and black. It grows to a length of about five feet, seldom more. "Almost every writer on the natural productions of the East Indies," remarks Dr. Günther, "has contributed to the natural history of this Snake, which has been surrounded by such a number of fabulous stories, that their repetition and contradiction would fill a volume." It is very generally diffused over the Indian region, though, as Mr. Theobald notices, from its nocturnal habits it is less often seen than many harmless species. "This Snake is, I believe," he adds, "of inoffensive habits, unless irritated, but is, of course, a dangerous neighbour to have in a house.13 Not only in Burmah, where the respect for animal life is greatest, but in India also I have known a Cobra enticed or forced into an earthen jar, and then carried by two men across a river, or some distance from the village, and liberated. Dr. Günther remarks that, 'singularly enough, it has never been obtained in the valley of Nepâl.' This is very easily accounted for," continues Mr. Theobald, "since few would venture to kill a Cobra, even for scientific purposes, in the rigorously Hindu state of Nepâl. In British India, decent Hindus will not kill a Cobra; and if one has taken up his abode in a house, he is permitted to remain, or else carefully inveigled into an earthen-pot, and carried away as described. Of course only the orthodox Hindu is so careful to abstain from injuring the Cobra, and their reverential feeling is now perhaps rather the exception than the rule, though probably as strong as ever in Nepâl." A fine example of the still more formidable gigantic Cobra (Hamadryas elaps), to be noticed presently, was obtained from an earthen pot which had floated out to sea.
The late Sir J. Emerson Tennent mentions that "the Cinghalese remark that if one Cobra be destroyed near a house, its companion is almost certain to be discovered immediately after—a popular belief which I had an opportunity of verifying on more than one occasion. Once, when a Snake of this description was killed in a bath of the Government House at Colombo, its mate was found in the same spot the day after; and again, at my own stables, a Cobra of five feet long having fallen into the well, which was too deep to permit its escape, its companion, of the same size, was found the same morning in an adjoining drain.14 On this occasion the Snake, which had been several hours in the well, swam with ease, raising its head and hood above water; and instances have repeatedly occurred of the Cobra di capella voluntarily taking considerable excursions by sea" (or by rivers, as the writer has personally witnessed).]
Cobras are much dreaded, for they instil the most subtle poison into their bites. Their manners are very singular. When at rest the neck of the animal is no larger in diameter than the head; but when under the influence of passion and irritation the neck swells at the same time that the animal raises the front part of his body vertically, holding this part straight and rigid as an iron bar. The lower part of the body rests upon the ground, and serves as a support to the upper part, which is movable and capable of locomotion. This faculty of dilating the neck is as striking a trait in the organization of the Cobras, as the rattle is in Crotalus. The ancient inhabitants of Egypt adored them; they attributed to their protection the preservation of grain, and allowed them to live in the midst of their cultivated fields. The Cobra is no longer an object of adoration in the East, but is held sacred by many people, and it serves in nearly every country of Asia as a very curious spectacle; being the Serpent chiefly used by snake-charmers in these countries, terrible as it seems to us.