File:Natural history of animals; (1895) (14595930690).jpg

Identifier: naturalhistoryo00tenn (find matches)
Title: Natural history of animals;
Year: 1895 (1890s)
Authors: Tenney, Sanborn, 1827-1877 Tenney, Abby Amy Gove, 1836-
Subjects: Zoology
Publisher: New York, Cincinnati (etc.) American book company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
Toad. Snakes, or Serpents. Serpents are Reptiles which are exceedingly long inproportion to their size, and which have no feet, yetthey glide over the ground with very great speed.They move by the bending of their bodies, aided bythe scales which cover their under surface. These arebroad and flat and point backward so as to catch onthe ground and thus aid in locomotion. Their mouth,throat, and body are capable of being greatly dis-tended, and hence they are able to swallow animals SNAKES. II9 whose bodies are much greater in diameter than theirown. They do not masticate their food, and theirteeth are suited only for seizing, killing, and retain-ing prey. The tongue is long, and capable of beingrun out much beyond the mouth, and it can beconcealed within a sheath at its roots. They shedtheir skins every year, and most of them lay eggs fromwhich the young are hatched. There are more than athousand kinds of Snake, and more than a hundredkinds in North America. Some of the largest in the
Text Appearing After Image:
Fig. 176. — Black Snake. Tropical regions, as the Boas and Anacondas of SouthAmerica, and the Pythons of Africa and India, aretwenty or thirty feet long, and are able to swallow 120 VERTEBRATES : BATRACHIANS. dogs, or even small deer, after they have crushed themin their powerful folds. The Black Snake and the Striped Snakes are themost common kinds in North America. The formeris from three to five feet long, and lustrous black. Itruns very fast, and climbs trees and bushes to find birdsnests and devour the young. It is harmless to man. The Rattlesnake of North America, is found onrocky hills and mountains, and its bite is often fatalto men and animals. It has two very sharp fangsin the upper jaw. These are hollow or grooved, andconnected with a bag of poison, so that when thesnake strikes them into an animal, the poison is forcedinto the wound. BATRACHIANS. These are Vertebrates which have no scales, andwhich lay their eggs in the water; the young re-

Note About Images