. Fourteen weeks in zoology. Zoology. 174 SUBKINGDOM TERTEBKATA. by ball-and-socket joints. The eyes are destitute of lids, and hence the unblinking stare of a serpent. Some species are hatched from the egg before it is deposited, and are said to be ovoviviparous; but nearly all lay eggs in the sand, to be hatched by solar heat. In some varieties, the mother looks after her young for a season, and swallows them in case of danger. The teeth point backward. Most of the venomous serpents have, in place of teeth in the upper jaw, two fangs, through which the poison is ejected to the bottom of the
. Fourteen weeks in zoology. Zoology. 174 SUBKINGDOM TERTEBKATA. by ball-and-socket joints. The eyes are destitute of lids, and hence the unblinking stare of a serpent. Some species are hatched from the egg before it is deposited, and are said to be ovoviviparous; but nearly all lay eggs in the sand, to be hatched by solar heat. In some varieties, the mother looks after her young for a season, and swallows them in case of danger. The teeth point backward. Most of the venomous serpents have, in place of teeth in the upper jaw, two fangs, through which the poison is ejected to the bottom of the wound.* The jaws are fastened with elastic ligaments. Fig. Skeleton of a Sej-pent. which allow them to be separated, so that the snake can swallow an animal twice its own size. Snakes shed their epidermis once, and, in many cases, three or four times a year. It parts aroi^nd the mouth, and the reptile slides out of it by crawling through a crevice to hold it, reversing the cuticle. The slough is perfect, even to the epidermis of the * Snakes, in repo^f, coil with the tail in the middle and the head outside, laid over, at times, across the folds of the Ijody to the centre of the coil; so that on an alarm they ran uncoil with a forward motion, as they have no power of moving tail first. \\'hen ahont to strike, resting upon the latter third of their body, they double themselves int'i folds, not coils, and sitddenly Btraighteninff, reach forward their length only, and always instantly recover their darting Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Steele, Joel Dorman, 1836-1886. New York, Chicago [etc. ] A. S. Barnes & Company
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1872
