VII. THE TONGUE OF A SNAKE—PART III. ITS USES, 115 VIII. THE GLOTTIS, 129 IX. BREATHING AND HISSING OF SNAKES, 142 X. HIBERNATION, 159 XI. THE TAIL OF A SNAKE, 170 XII. OPHIDIAN ACROBATS: CONSTRUCTION AND CONSTRICTION, 192 XIII. FRESH-WATER SNAKES, 221 XIV. THE PELAGIC OR SEA SNAKES, 233 XV. ‘THE GREAT SEA SERPENT,’ 247 XVI. RATTLESNAKE HISTORY, 268 XVII. THE RATTLE, 294 XVIII. THE INTEGUMENT—‘HORNS,’ AND OTHER EPIDERMAL APPENDAGES, 315 XIX. DENTITION, 342 XX. VIPERINE FANGS, 368 XXI. THE CROTALIDÆ, 381 XXII. THE XENODONS, 395 XXIII. OPHIDIAN NOMENCLATURE, AND VERNACULARS, 413 XXIV. DO SNAKES INCUBATE THEIR EGGS? 431 XXV. ANACONDA AND ANGUIS FRAGILIS, 452 XXVI. ‘LIZZIE,’ 470 XXVII. DO SNAKES AFFORD A REFUGE TO THEIR YOUNG? 483 XXVIII. SERPENT WORSHIP, ‘CHARMING,’ ETC., 507 XXIX. THE VENOMS AND THEIR REMEDIES, 532 XXX. NOTES FROM THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, 561 INDEX, 593 [Illustration] [Illustration] INTRODUCTION. TO the many friends who have repeatedly asked me, ‘What _could_ induce you to take up such a _horrid_ subject as snakes?’ a few words of explanation must be offered. Some words of apology are also due that I, a learner myself, should aspire to instruct others. I cannot do better, therefore, than tell the history of this book from its birth, and in so doing cancel both obligations. The little history will be a sort of _OPHIDIANA_, or gossip about snakes; and in this I only follow the example of most herpetologists, who, when writing exclusively on these reptiles, preface their work with some outline of the history of ophiology, and generally with an excuse for introducing the unwelcome subject at all. There is still reason to lament that traditional prejudice invests everything in the shape of a serpent with repulsive qualities, and that these prejudices are being only very slowly swept away by the besom of science.