There is no work in the English language dealing with the Reptiles of Europe. I have therefore endeavoured to supply this desideratum, so far as the Snakes are concerned, by drawing up in a concise form an account of what is known of their characters, their distribution, and their life-histories. Professor Sordelli, of Milan, having kindly acceded to my request to reproduce some of the beautiful figures drawn by him for the work published in collaboration with the late Professor Jan under the ti

Snakes, Ophidia —regarded by some authorities as an order of the class Reptilia , by the author as a sub-order of the order Squamata , which includes besides the Lizards, Lacertilia , the Chameleons, Rhiptoglossa , and the extinct Dolichosauria and Mosasauria —may be defined as greatly elongate scaly Reptiles without limbs, or with mere vestiges of the hind pair, without movable eyelids, without ear-opening, with elongate, deeply forked tongue retractile into a basal sheath, with transverse vent

The form varies enormously, worm-like in some, comparatively short and heavy, elongate and more or less slender, or extremely gracile and almost filiform, in others. In this respect our common Grass-snake occupies a central position, and for this reason is termed a moderately slender form, anything above or below this standard being described as comparatively short or elongate. Our shortest and stoutest European Snakes are the Vipers, especially Vipera ursinii ; our longest and slenderest, the C

In dealing with the coloration, we have first to distinguish between the colour and the markings. The former is very often highly variable among snakes of the same species, to say nothing of the changes which may take place with age or with the condition of the individuals, whether before or after exuviation; it is not unusual to find among specimens from the same locality a great range of variation, from greyish-white to brown, or red, or black, as, for instance, in our Common Viper. The latter

The typical Ophidian skull is characterized by a solidly ossified brain-case, with the distinct frontals and the united parietals extending downwards to the basisphenoid, which is large and produced forward into a rostrum extending to the ethmoidal region. The nasal region is less completely ossified, and the paired nasals are often attached only at their base. The occipital condyle is either trilobate and formed by the basioccipital and the exoccipitals, or a simple knob formed by the basioccip

In the most generalized snakes—those which show the nearest approach to lizards—teeth are present not only on the rami of both jaws, but also on the premaxillary bone, on the palatines, and on the pterygoids. A reduction of the dentition takes place in various genera, in which the teeth of either the upper or the lower jaw, and of the palatines or pterygoids, or both, may be absent, and the premaxillary is devoid of teeth in the great majority, including all European representatives, of the Ophi

The gland which secretes the poison is a modification of the parotid salivary gland of other Vertebrates, and is usually situated on each side of the head below and behind the eye, invested in a muscular sheath. It is provided with large alveoli in which the venom is stored before being conveyed by a duct to the base of the channelled or tubular fang through which it is ejected. In the Vipers, which furnish examples of the most highly developed poison apparatus, although inferior to some in its

The brain is small and of very oblong shape. It consists of smooth cerebral hemispheres, small optic lobes, a still smaller cerebellum, and long olfactory lobes; the pineal body is not accompanied by a parietal organ. The spinal accessory cranial nerve is absent, and the sympathetic system is but feebly developed. The eyes have been noticed above (p. 12 ). When normally developed they are susceptible of a slight movement under the transparent disc, quite independent from the cornea, which covers

In most snakes there is a very marked asymmetry of the viscera and their blood-supply, the organs of the right side being anterior to, as well as larger than, those of the left. The heart in most cases is situated between the anterior seventh and the anterior fourth of the body; it may be much farther back, beyond the anterior third, in Doliophis , Platurus , and some Viperidæ and Amblycephalidæ, in the middle in Chersydrus . It is of rather elongate form, enclosed in a pericardium in which it l

The genital glands are situated anterior to the kidneys, the right extending farther forward and often larger than the left. The testes are elongate. The vas deferens is closely folded proximally, and runs along the outer side of the kidney into the cloaca close to the ureter. The ovaries are elongate, and consist of two lamellæ, with a lymph-space between them. The oviduct extends from near the anterior extremity of the ovary to a common chamber, or vagina, which is above the rectum and opens i

Snakes may be grouped, according to their mode of life, in five principal categories, gradually merging into each other, or two of them not infrequently found combined in one and the same species. These categories are:—Ground-snakes, Sand-snakes, Burrowing-snakes, Tree-snakes, and Water-snakes. Ground-snakes may be defined as living above ground, and only occasionally climbing bushes or entering the water. Among European genera, Coronella and Vipera are perfect examples of this type, whilst Colu

Like all other animals, snakes are infested with a multitude of vegetable and animal parasites, both external and internal. About 300 species of Ophidian parasites have been recorded; yet our knowledge of them is very imperfect. Although some 2,000 species of snakes are known, parasites have not been recorded for more than 168 species, and in the great majority of these (102) only a single parasite: a tick, a hæmogregarine, or some intestinal worm. Owing to the more frequent opportunity of disse

Representatives of the order Ophidia are found over the whole world, with the exception of Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand, between the Northern limit of 67° in Europe ( Vipera berus ), 60° in Asia ( Vipera berus ), and 52° in America ( Tropidonotus ordinatus ), and the Southern limit of 44° ( Philodryas schotti ). The highest altitudes reached by them are 14,000 feet in the Himalayas ( Tropidonotus baileyi ), 9,700 feet in the Alps ( Vipera aspis ), and 9,000 feet in the Andes ( Liophis albiv

Under this head, the question of poisonous snakes naturally occupies the first place. In addition to what has been said above in Chapter VI., dealing with the anatomical and physiological aspects of the subject, we have to allude to the accidents caused by these dangerous reptiles, and the measures taken to combat them. The enormous mortality for which snake-bite is responsible in India is well known. Statistics establish the fact that an average of 20,000 human lives are thus lost annually: 24,

Skull compact, with short, toothless lower jaw, without transverse bone; palatine and pterygoid reduced and toothless; maxillary small, loosely attached to lower surface of cranium and bearing a few small teeth; no supratemporal, the quadrate articulated to the proötic; a coronoid element in the lower jaw. Rudiments of a pelvic arch, reduced to a single bone. Body vermiform, covered with uniform cycloid scales; head small, not distinct from the body; mouth small, crescentic, inferior; eyes under

Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid bones movable; transverse bone present; pterygoid extending to quadrate or mandible; supratemporal present, attached scale-like to cranium, suspending quadrate; prefrontal in contact with nasal; a coronoid element in the lower jaw. Teeth in both jaws. Vestiges of pelvis and hind limbs, usually terminating, at least in males, in a claw-like horny spur on each side of the vent. This family contains, besides the gigantic Boas and Pythons, several small more or les

Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid bones movable; transverse bone present; pterygoid extending to quadrate or mandible; supratemporal present, attached scale-like to cranium, suspending quadrate; prefrontal not in contact with nasal; maxillary horizontal, not movable perpendicularly to the transverse bone; no coronoid bone. Teeth in both jaws. No vestiges of pelvic arch. An enormous group, comprising the great majority of snakes. Divided into three parallel series: A. Aglypha, with all the teeth

Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid bones movable, the first much abbreviated, erectile perpendicularly to the large transverse bone, and supporting a pair of large canaliculated poison fangs; mandible without coronoid bone. No vestiges of pelvic arch. All more or less poisonous, some being among the most dangerous of snakes. Divided into two subfamilies, each of which is represented by one genus in Europe: Viperinæ. —No pit on the side of the snout; maxillary bone not hollowed out. Crotalinæ. —A