Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-01-26
The LoeomOtiOn Of the Serpent.

1t is said-and in one sense it is
| true-that serpents have no limbs I;
but some of the bOas and pythOns have
at the base of the tail, on each side of
the vent, little hook, which is sup
/ ported by n bone imbedded in the
flesh, and this rudimentary limb is no
doubt the insignificant representative
of the hinder leg of the ordinary quad
ruped, and of our own lower limb,
just as the nipples of the male mann
malta answer to the fully develOped
breasts of the female, and just as our
eye teeth correspond TO the canine
tusls of the lion.
Nor is the serpent restricted to a
single method of progression, or even
to two or three. There are even four
or five distinct ways in which its 1.-the
and slender body may be used. The
slOwest, but least conspicuous, is the
stealthy glide of retreat, when you
can scarcely perceive a movement of
any one part, and yet the whole body
does advance steadily; but if you have
the courage tOplace your hand quietly
in the serpent's path, and allow it to
pass over it, you will perceive a sem
satiOn as of series of dull edges, like
those of paper knives, striking the
hand backward. Each edge is that OF
one Of the broad overlapping scales, or
'scutes," which cover the belly of the
snake, and each scute is moved for
ward and backward by a correspond
ing pair of ribs, of which there are
from one hundred to two hundred and
fifty in different species; and so,
though completely covered by skin,
and capable of but slight individual
motion, each pair of ribs is Il pair of
legs, and each scute q single foot,
which slips forward without him
dranee, but whose hinder edge catch
es upon the least inequality, and so
serves as q point of resistance by which
the body is pushed forward a little
And this little, multiplied by the
hundred pair of ribs, is enough to pro-
pei the snake slowly, but steadily on
ward, and in straight line.
The above arrangement of the scute
also enables the serpent to move in
several other ways, in which the ribs
are less directly, or at any rate less IN
dividually concerned; for the back.
ward-projecting edges hinder n move
ment in any other than a forward
direction, whether the serpent merely
fixes one region of the body and then
drags the others after it, or throws it
selfinto vertical or lateral undulations,
by the successive Strengthening of
which a more rapid movement is
effected. The greatest speed is attain
ed when it elevates the body in a lof-
ty arch, and then projects the head
forward, draws up the tail, and re-
peats its steps, after a fashion of the
so-called geOmeter or measuring cater
pillars.
1t is commonly believed that some
serpents can take the tail in the mouth
and roll along like hoop, but ne such
proceeding is scientifically described.
Many species, however, may spring
by suddenly uncoiling themselves
into a nearly erect position, and using
the tail as the point of resistance. The
rapidity of this movement is less re-
markable than its precision, when it
is considered that every change in the
position of any part of the spiral must
tend to affect the position of the head.
-IFrom "Beast, Bird and Fish," by
Burt G. Wilder, in Harper's Magazine
for January.