Reptiles and Birds: A Popular Account of Their Various Orders, With a Description of the Habits and Economy of the Most InterestingFiguier, Louis
Science
Reptiles and Birds: A Popular Account of Their Various Orders, With a Description of the Habits and Economy of the Most Interesting
Figuier, Louis
Birds; Reptiles
arm (_humerus_) is single, and long in proportion to the fore arm. In
the Frogs (_Rana_), the ilic bone is much elongated, and is articulated
in a movable manner on the sacrum, so that the two heads of the thigh
bones seem to be in contact. The femur, or thigh, is much lengthened and
slightly curved, and the bones of the leg so soldered together as to
form a single much elongated bone.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Skeleton of a Frog.]
The respiration of Reptiles and some of the Batrachians, like that of
Birds and Mammals, is aërial and pulmonary, but it is much less active.
Batrachians have, in addition, a very considerable cutaneous
respiration. Some of them, such as Toads, absorb more oxygen through the
skin than by the lungs. Their circulation is imperfect, the structure
of the heart only presenting one ventricle; the blood, returning after a
partial regeneration in the lungs, mingles with that which is not yet
revivified: this mixed fluid is launched out into the economic system of
the animal. Thus Reptiles and Batrachians are said to be _cold-blooded_
animals, more especially the former, in which the respiratory organs,
which are a constant source of interior heat, are only exercised very
feebly. Owing to this low temperature of their bodies, reptiles affect
warm climates, where the sun exercises its power with an intensity
unknown in temperate regions; hence it is that they abound in the warm
latitudes of Asia, Africa, and America, whilst comparatively few are
found in Europe. This is also the cause of their becoming torpid during
the winter of our latitudes: not having sufficient heat in themselves to
produce reaction against the external cold, they fall asleep for many
months, awakening only when the temperature permits of their activity.
Serpents, Lizards, Tortoises, Frogs, are all subjected to this law of
their being. Some hybernate upon the earth, under heaps of stones, or in
holes; others in mud at the bottom of ponds. The senses are very
slightly developed in these animals; those of touch, taste, and smell,
are very imperfect; that of hearing, though less obtuse, leaves much to
be desired; but sight in them is very suitably exercised by the large
eyes, with contractile eye-balls, which enables certain reptiles--such,
for instance, as the Geckos, to distinguish objects in the dark. Most
Reptiles and Batrachians are almost devoid of voice: Serpents, however,
utter a sharp hissing noise, some species of Crocodiles howl
energetically, the Geckos are particularly noisy, and Frogs have a
well-known croak. In Reptiles and Batrachians the brain is small, a
peculiarity which explains their slight intelligence and the almost
entire impossibility of teaching them anything. They can, it is true, be
tamed; but although they seem to know individuals, they do not seem to
be susceptible of affection: the slight compass of their brain renders
them very insensible, and this insensibility to pain enables them to
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