The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-05-01

Over and above this administrative feeling
OF repugnanoe. there still exists among many
persons belief that snakes arc creatures Of
more or less detective organization. Deprived
Of legs. aud reduced to effect their movements
By sinuous windings Of their ELONGATED body
and tail they have an appearance Of helpless
ness which may By itself excite compassion.
Yet no mistake Of the kind could we'll be
greater. The principles Of evolution sufics 70
make It evident that the structure Of serpents
must be tolersbly good. or else they
could never have survived Natures many
destructive agencies. But In fast. their
structure 10 . marvel OF admirable
contrivances and accurate adjustments. 90
that We must afarm them to be - perfectly
adapted to their requirements and peculiar
modes Of life as any other animals. Biz Rich
ard Owen said. moro than thirty years ago:
ut ls true the serpent has no limbs. yet It can
outclimb the monkey. outswim the nsh. OUT
leap the jerboa. and. suddenly loosing the
close coils Of its crouching spiral It can spring
into tho air and seize the bird upon the wing:
thus oil these creatures fall its prey. The SER
pent has neither hands nor talons. yet It can
outwrestle the athlete. and crush the tiger in
the embrace Of its ponderous overlapping
folds Far from licking up It's food as It glides
along. tho serpent lifts up its crushed PROV.
and presents 1t. Rrasped In the death coil as in
. hand. to tho gaping slime-dropping mouth"
Serpents together constitute one order Of
the GLASS Of reptiles. the other. still existing
members OF that class constituting three other
plainly distinct orders, namely. crocodiles.
lizards. tortolses. But the variety Of forms
which reptllian life now presents 10 small
indeed compared with what existed during
that vast period OF time which interviewed be-
tween the final formation OF the coal deposits
and the formation OF the chalk which consti-
tutes our North and South Downa
At different epoohs during tho time known
Is the secondary period. the surface OF tho
earth seems to have been 30 predominantly
peopled with reptile life, that II has boon
called The Age Of Reptiles" Then huge
Iguanodons stalked or leaped about In the
Weslds OF Sussex and Hampshire. OF those
Iguanodons marvellously complete skeletons
arc to DO seen mounted In tho attitudes Of
life, IN the Royal Museum Of Brussels: sight
In itself sufficient to induce visit to that cap
itsL Other smaller reptiles browssd on tho
foliage Of the then existing plains. and were
pursued and proved upon. By fol- roptilian
monsters OF various kinds. The seq also
swsrmsd with reptiles (Iohthvosau,-i). %
aquatic As the whales AMI dolphins OF our
own day. And not only were the earth and
seas thus peopled. but there were flying rep-
tiles OF different kinds and sizes. known -
Pterodactyles.
Among all those multitudinous forms, how.
ever. serpents arc hardly known to have had
place: and scarcely any OF their remains have
~ yet been found below those clays. sands.
and Gravels which began to deposit them.
selves In hollows on the surface Of the chalk.
and nre known as the earliest Tertiary
deposits. They arc called Eoce,ie. because in
them we mcet with the dawn. as It were. Of
Int
Then great snakes. from twenty to thirty fact
long. Inhabited England and North America:
and as these existed thus fully developed In
tho eurliest Tertiary times, they probably also
lived In the later secondary period. In the de.
posits OF which other remains will no doubt.
sooner or later. DO found. Serpents. therefore.
wore venerable Inhabitants OF tho earth when
human foot flrst trod its soil: and many of
their kind already had become extinct Ser
penis are thus o relatively modern order OF
the class OF reptiles. subsequent to the class Of
fishes. but anterior ~ those Of birds and
beasts.
The common snake 10 from three to four feet
long and can. % rule. DO readily recognized
byt presence OF yellowish-white trans
verse marx. bordered posteriorly by blssk. on
inc neck. Immediately behind the head. The
presence OF this very conspicuous collar may
serve as sign to any one that the creature
possessing It Is entirely harmless. and may be
handled with impunity. 1t never bites. nor
could It DO any harm II 1t did. The upper sur
lace OF the head body. and tail is Of brown
lsh'gFay with green tinge. with two rows Of
sinai black spots. which may SO coslssce - to
form series OF transverse rings Tho under
surface Of the creature 10 blush. msrbled
with black. There Il no sign OF Limb sxtsr-
nany. NOR are there any rudimsnts Of shoulder
or breast bones within the substance OF the
eedE' Tho head y evA and aattSssd. and