Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/203

Rh the Snake in the act of changing its garment As the convexity of the eyes in the slough is now inward, that circumstance alone is a proof that the skin has been turned; not to mention that now the inside is much darker than the outer. Thus it appears that Snakes crawl out of the mouth of their own sloughs, and quit the tail-part last, just as eels are skinned by a cook-maid. While the scales of the eyes are becoming loose, and a new skin is forming, the creature in appearance must be blind, and must feel itself in a very awkward and uneasy situation.”

The distinctive characters of this genus are the following. The head is well marked, of a long-oval form, flattened and covered with plates; the gape is wide; the body is very long, nearly cylindrical, but slightly flattened; the tail cylindrical and slender; the scales overlapping, placed in longitudinal series, lance-shaped, generally keeled; the plates or shields on the belly are simple and arched at the margin; those beneath the tail arranged in a double series.

Our own common Ringed Snake (Natrix torquata, .) is a familiar example of this genus. It reaches the length of three, and even occasionally four, feet; and is of a pale olive or