Philip Henry Gosse

“ The body is long, slender, and elegant, without spines on any part; the toes are free, long, and very unequal; the tongue long, extensile, sheathed at the base, and terminating in two long slender points; there is a collar round the neck, formed by a transverse range of broad scales, separated from those of the breast by a space covered with minute ones, and overlapping them; a part of the bones of the skull projects over the temples and orbits; the palate is in general furnished with minute teeth, and those of the jaw are placed on the same line, and have a cutting edge. ”

“ The robust form of the jaws in these animals, their trenchant and frequently notched or toothed edges, the mode in which the lower mandible shuts into the upper, and the great strength of the muscles which move them, manifested in the force with which they snap together,—while they remind the beholder of the beak of a bird of prey, yet constitute an instrument of far greater power, and seem to intimate that it must be something more than grass that requires an apparatus so formidable. ”

“ In the whole range of animal existence, there is none that can compare with the venomous Snakes, for the deadly fatality of their enmity; the lightning stroke of their poison-fangs is the unerring signal of a swift dissolution, preceded by torture the most horrible; the bite of the American Rattlesnake has been known to produce death in two minutes. Even where the consummation is not so fearfully rapid, its delay is but a brief prolongation of the intense suffering. ”

“ There, on a sudden, hundreds of Alligators are seen dispersed all over the lake, their head and all the upper part of their body floating like a log, and in many instances so resembling one, that it requires to be accustomed to see them, to know the distinction. Millions of the large wood-ibis are seen wading through the water, muddling it up, and striking deadly blows with their bills on the fish within. ”

“ In an instant the sluggish waters are in turbulence and foam, the whole form of the Colubra is in motion, its huge and rapid coilings soon encircle the struggling victim, and but a short moment elapses, ere every bone is broken in the body of the expiring prey. ”

“ The manner in which the Snake takes its prey is very curious. If it be a frog, it generally seizes it by the hinder leg, because it is usually taken in pursuit. As soon as this takes place, the frog in most instances, ceases to make any struggle or attempt to escape. The whole body and the legs are stretched out, as it were, convulsively, and the Snake gradually draws in, first the leg he has seized, and afterwards the rest of the animal, portion after portion, by means of the peculiar mechanism of the jaws, so admirably adapted for this purpose. ”

“ Lurking in the dense reeds, or tangled herbage that grows rank and teeming at the edges of rivers in hot climates, or under the mangroves that interweave their myriad roots in arches above the water, or concealed among the bleaching trunks and branches of trees that have fallen into the stream, these huge reptiles watch for the approach of a living prey, or feed at leisure on the putrid carcases with which the waters daily supply them. ”

“ The Iguana now proves itself less passive than usual, for when it finds its confidence deceived, and itself captured, it exerts itself with violence, rolls its sparkling eyes, and inflates its throat; but such efforts are useless, the huntsman manages to tie its fore -feet together, and to secure them under the creature's throat, so that it can neither fly nor fight. If taken alive, it appears at first sullen and intractable, but after a time becomes domesticated, and runs about the house and garden with as much confidence as a cat. ”

“ Every rivulet and river, every lake, pond, and pool, every stagnant or running ditch by the road-side, and even the little collections of rain-water that lie in the gravel-pits of the common, are pretty sure to be tenanted by this vigorous and graceful swimmer, or by its black and wriggling tadpoles. ”

“ The feet seem like stumps abruptly cut off, armed around the edge with a set of blunt nails, which serve as a sort of grapplings to hold on the surface of the ground and drag the body forwards. To an animal which feeds on herbs, the power of pursuit is useless; nor is it necessary that swiftness in escape should be conferred on one which can draw in its head and limbs on the approach of danger, presenting only a solid case of mail, in which it may defy every enemy but man. ”

“ On land, also, the Crocodile is said to use this organ as an efficient weapon of offence, dashing it from side to side with swift contortions, when its weight, its hard rough surface, and especially its saw-like crests, render its strokes eminently formidable. Like the Turtles, the Crocodiles lay their eggs in the sand, and leave them to be hatched by the heat of the sun. ”

“ Upon the land the animal is swift of foot; but when once in possession of a tree, it seems conscious of the security of its situation, and never offers to stir. There the sportsman easily finds it, and as easily fastens his noose, round its neck: if the head be placed in such a manner that the noose cannot readily be fastened, by hitting the animal a blow on the nose with a stick, it lifts the head, and offers it in some measure to the noose. In this manner, and also by the tail, the Iguana is dragged from the tree and killed by repeated blows on the head. ”

“ When free, in health, and at ease, it is of a beautiful green; some parts excepted, where the skin being thicker and more rough, produces gradations of brown, red, or light grey. When the animal is provoked in open air, and well fed, it becomes a blue green, but when feeble, or deprived of free air, the prevailing tint is yellow green. Under other circumstances, and especially at the approach of one of its own species, no matter of which sex, or when surrounded and teased by a number of insects thrown upon him, he then almost in a moment takes alternately the three different tints of green. ”

“ Most of the Amphibia undergo a metamorphosis, or change of form, which is connected with a change in the character of their respiration and in the medium in which they live. Thus the Frog is, in its first stage of active existence, a fish-like Tadpole, breathing the water by means of gills, but afterwards undergoes a great change of form, gradually acquires four well-developed limbs, throws off its tail, and at the same time loses its external gills, and becomes an air-breathing animal, possessed of internal lungs, and capable of crawling on the land as well as swimming in water. ”

“ The muscles of these enormous reptiles are very numerous, and their power immense, when exerted, as it is, for the purpose of depriving their victims of life, in the constrictions of the great coils or knots of the lithe body around the prey. The strong bones of large quadrupeds twined in the fatal embrace of one of these Serpents are broken to pieces in a moment by the irresistible pressure, which is not relaxed till the last motions of life have ceased in the miserable victim. ”

“ There is not perhaps in the whole circle of zoology, a more beautiful example of the gradation between forms whose extremities are widely distinct from each other, than is presented by the gradual and almost imperceptible transition of the Lizards into the Serpents. If we look at a Chameleon, or an Iguana on the one hand, and then at a Rattlesnake or a Cobra di Capello on the other, they seem almost as remotely separated as animals of the same class can be ”

“ The Snake, however, retained it for a considerable time in his grasp, after it was apparently motionless. He then slowly and cautiously unfolded himself, till the goat fell dead from his monstrous embrace, when he began to prepare himself for swallowing it. Placing his mouth in front of the dead animal, he commenced by lubricating with his saliva that part of the goat, and then taking its muzzle into his mouth, which had, and indeed always has, the appearance of a raw lacerated wound, he sucked it in as far as the horns would allow. ”

“ North America, which presents us with all the anomalous forms that we have been considering, with the exception of the Proteus, produces two or three species which are still more eel-like in their appearance than the Sirens. The body is greatly lengthened, flexible, and formed for swimming, terminating in a thin, and vertically compressed tail. The skull is solid. There are four limbs, but in one of the genera, these are so widely removed, so short and slender, and so rudimentary, the toes being almost evanescent, as to convey the idea of tentacula rather than feet. ”

“ The prey of the Toad is the same as that of the Frog,—insects of all kinds, slugs and earthworms; and hence it is a useful inhabitant of a garden, in which it may be often kept with more facility than the Frog, from its indifference to water, which is needful to the comfort of the Frog. It takes its food in the same manner, but refuses that which is not alive, and even in actual motion. It is sluggish in its motions, neither leaping nor running, its pace being a kind of crawl. ”

“ Yet it cannot be denied that there is another side to the picture: the knowledge that many kinds are armed with a most deadly potency of mischief; the difficulty of knowing (at first sight, and by the unskilled, at least) how to discriminate between the venomous and the innocent; the fierce boldness and preparedness for war which almost all manifest, if disturbed; and the threatening aspect with which, open-mouthed, they face an adversary, combine with a something of malignity in the eye and physiognomy, more or less observable in all, to inspire fear and aversion. ”

“ The earth is the sphere of activity of by far the greatest number of the Serpent races: they inhabit various situations, some frequenting woods, others heaths, and many preferring deserted buildings, old walls, and heaps of stones. A few species reside permanently among the foliage of trees; and others there are, which are truly aquatic, roving through the ocean even at considerable distance from the shores. These have the hinder parts of the body and the tail greatly compressed, so as to form a vertical oar. ”

“ The Toads are totally without teeth, both in the jaws and in the palate; the body is thick and swollen, and the skin is set with warts or tubercles; behind each eye is a glandular protuberance, studded with pores, from which a milky secretion exudes; the head is large and flat on the top; the hinder limbs are not much longer than the fore, and consequently their powers of leaping are but small. They habitually crawl, and when they jump, it is with little agility, and only to a short distance. In the tadpole state they inhabit the water, and resemble the members of the preceding Families ”

“ The body is for the most part thicker and shorter than the usual proportions; the skin is loose and capable of being inflated with air at pleasure; the head is short, flat, and broad, particularly behind; the neck also is short, and the tail seldom longer than the body. From these peculiarities the Agamas are sometimes called frog-lizards. The whole head, body, and limbs, are commonly covered with lozenge-form or hexagonal scales, which are often prolonged into little spines, which bristle up formidably, when the body is distended with air. ”

“ In an instant, the head is, as it were, launched by a sudden effort towards the object of its anger, and the erected tooth struck into it, and withdrawn with the velocity of thought. It is found by experiment, that the effect of subsequent wounds is greatly diminished either by the diminution of the quantity of venom, or by some deterioration of its strength: so that if a venomous Serpent be made repeatedly to inflict wounds, without allowing sufficiently long intervals for it to recover its powers, each successive bite becomes less and less effective. ”

“ Should she hear any more noise, or perceive any indications of danger, she instantly sinks and goes off to a considerable distance; but should everything be quiet, she advances slowly towards the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the full stretch of her neck, and when she has reached a place fitted for her purpose, she gazes all round in silence. ”

“ Audubon speaks of some species shooting through the element with the arrowy fleetness of a bird on the wing. Except when they come on shore to lay their eggs on the sand, or clamber on the rocks, as intimated above, to browse on herbage, the Turtles never leave the sea; they may often be seen in fair weather in the tropics, floating motionless on the calm surface of the ocean, many hundred miles from land. They are supposed on such occasions to be asleep, but they are very vigilant, and will rarely allow a near approach without disappearing by diving. ”