Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1891-05-02
A sERPENrINE Eae.EATER.
Some Interesting Points About Various
Kinds of Snakes.

Somo Interesting Points About Various
Kinds of Snakes.
"The funniest snake | know any
thing about is one found in Africa,
which lives upon eggs, said Osteologist
Lucar to Star reporter, at has GU
rious projection downward from its
backbone, just behind the head, which
is like tooth, the extremity being
actually tipped with enamel. This
tooth-like appendage has most inn
portant function with relation to the
creatures method of getting living,
and it would be difficult to find more
astonishing illustration in nature of the
adaptation of structure to necessity.
"When this snake swallows an egg
the latter is passed down through the
gullet until it encounters the sharp
tooth l have spoken of, which breaks
the shell. Thus not only is the food
rendered ready for immediate digestion,
but no portion of the fluid contents is
lost, as would be the case if the snake
were obliged to bite into the egg with
its mouth fangs.
'It seems surprising how many snakes
are able to swallow animals bigger
sidered how particularly nature has
adapted to the purpose the structure of
their jaws. The lower iawbone, instead
of being in single piece, is merely
connected in front by an elastic liga-
ment, so that the two halves are capa-
BILE of great extension. Again, the halves
of the lower jawbone are attached
to the skull very far back, 50 that the
animal can make an enormous gap.
"To properly prepare the skeleton of
a snake is one of the most difficult
pieces of work in my line of business.
Serpents of all sorts come to the Smith
sonian institution in two shapes. The
smaller ones are usually in alcohol,
while the big fellows are apt to be
simply dried and poisoned by soaking
in an arscnical solution. In the pycp-
lration of Il specimen very sharp and
delicate scissors are employed, with
forceps tc supplement them, the flesh
being carefully removed so far as is
practicable with these Instruments.
Then recourse must be had to the
'craping of the bones until they are
perfectly clean. Sometimes the sl1ele-
ton is soaked in an acid preparation for
The purpose, but this destroys the liga-
ments, and it is not easy to put all the
parts together again rightly. In the
preparation of delicate skeletons the
great thing is patience. There are two
very finely prepared skeletons of big
snakes in the National museum. and
in making them ready for exhibition
the utmost pains were taken to pre-
serve the cartilaginous eXtremitics of
the ribs, which, with ordinary treatment,
are lost. Without these little pieces of
cartilage the serpent's skeleton can
hardly be said to be completc, inasmuch
as they are the feet upon which the
reptile walks, as it were. In fact. n
snake walks on the ends of its ribs, and
in that manner achieves locomotion.
Some big serpents, however, like tke
boas and pythons, really have hind legs,
though they are quite rudimentary.
Pythons, you know, are constructors,
crushing their prey in their folds. They
have no poison glands, but they can
bite terrifically with their many teeth,
which turn inward like hooks, so that n
person once seized would have little
chance of disengaginy himself save by
chopping off the head of the reptile. ~
Kansas Citv S+or