SERPENTS (SERPENTES.) In these Cases are preserved about 200 different Serpents, finely prepared, and exhibited in their natural positions, with the English and Linnæan names attached to them. The Great Boa. (Boa Constrictor.) By those who are unacquainted with the wonders of nature, the descriptions given by naturalists of some of the more striking and singular animals are received with a degree of scepticism, or even rejected, as exceeding the bounds of credibility.-Amongst these animals may be numbered the prodigious serpents which are sometimes found in India, Africa, and America; serpents of so great a size as to be able to gorge even some of the largest quadrupeds, and of so enormous a length as to measure upwards of thirty feet. There is reason to believe, that these immense serpents are become less common than they were some centuries back; and that in proportion as cultivation and population have increased, the larger species of noxious animals have been expelled from the haunts of mankind. They are, however, occasionally seen, and sometimes approach the plantations nearest to their residence. It is happy for mankind that these serpents are not poisonous; they are therefore to be dreaded only on account of their size and strength, which latter is so great as to enable them to kill cattle, deer, and other animals, by writhing themselves round them, so as to crush them to death by mere pressure; after which they swallow them in a very gradual manner, and when thus gorged with their prey, grow almost torpid with repletion and if discovered in this state, may without difficulty be dispatched. These enormous serpents are natives of Africa, India, the Indian Islands, and South America, where they inhabit marshy and woody places. There are several species of the Boa in this collection, one of which is considered by natura lists, in respect to beauty of colour, size, or preservation, to be the finest specimen ever brought into this country; it measuring thirty-two feet in length, and two feet seven inches in circumference, and is preserved in the act of destroying a deer, which is crushed and expiring in the enormous folds of its merciless enemy. SERPENTS.-No. 2. The A young specimen of the Boa Constrictor. Striped Rattle Snake. (Crotalus Durissus.) Rattle Snake is the most poisonous of reptiles that inhabit America. The most conspicuous distinction this animal bears from all other of its species, is the rattle, which makes so loud a noise while the creature is in motion, that its approach may be known, and danger avoided. Many naturalists are of opinion, that this snake acquires an additional bone to the rattle every year; from the number of which bones, the precise age of the Snake may be known. Catesby, in his History of Carolina, says, "the Rattle Snake is the most inactive and sluggish of animals, and is never the aggressor, except upon what he preys; for unless disturbed he never bites, and when provoked gives warning by shaking his rattles, so that a person has time to escape. It is said that this Snake has the power of charming or fascinating small animals within reach, which it devours. Squirrels and birds are its principal prey, and no sooner do they spy the Snake than they skip from bough to bough, and approach by degrees nearer to the enemy, regardless of any danger, until they enter the extended jaws that are open to seal their ruin. Bartram observes, that some Indian nations never kill the Rattle Snake, or any other species, alleging as their motive, that it would influence its living kindred to revenge the injury or violence done to it when alive. The flesh of the Rattle Snake is said to be much relished, even by Europeans. Spectacle Snake, or Cobra de Capello. (Coluber Naja.) G The Coluber Naja, or Cobra de Capello, is a native of India, where it appears to be one of the most common, as well as the most noxious of the serpent tribe ; very frequently proving fatal in the space of a few minutes to those who unfortunately experience its bite. In India it is exhibited as a show, and is of course more universally known in that country than almost any other of the race of reptiles. It is carried about in a covered basket, and managed by the proprietors in such a manner, as to assume a dancing motion at the sound of a musical instrument. The Indian jugglers, who thus exhibit the animal, deprive it of its fangs, by which they are secured from its bite. FISHES. See through the air, the ocean, and this earth, Beast, bird, fish, insect, what no eye can see, Coryphene, or Dolphin. (Coryphona Hippuris.) The Dolphin is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean, Indian, and Atlantic seas, where it often appears in large shoals, and is sometimes observed to follow ships, devouring with avidity any occasional article of food which may happen to be thrown overboard; it will even swallow substances of a different nature; and we are informed, from the authority of Plumier, that in the stomach of one which he examined, were found four iron nails, one of which measured more than five inches. When taken out of the water, the beautiful |