CREEPING THINGS.
"_His hand hath formed the crooked serpent._"--JOB xxvi. 13.
"_The Lord thy God ... who led thee through that great and terrible
wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions._"--DEUTERONOMY
viii. 15.
"_The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw
like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord._"--ISAIAH lxv. 25.
The "_creeping things_" which God caused the earth to bring forth on the
Fifth Day are so unlike each other in many respects that we might at first
sight wonder that they should have been grouped together; but the more we
study Reptiles--so called from the Latin word _reptilis_, creeping--the
more we see that there are many things which this great family of
vertebrate animals have in common.
There are four chief divisions of the Reptile family--Tortoises and
Turtles, Crocodiles, Lizards, and Snakes.
Most reptiles have a tail and two pairs of limbs, but, as you know, Snakes
are destitute of limbs, and seem to move along by a motion from inside, so
that they have been said to walk on their ribs. Serpents are covered with
horny scales; Crocodiles and Tortoises have a bony covering.
The Tortoise--so called from its twisted feet, or its crooked way of
walking--has, as you know, an upper and an under shell which covers its
body like a coat of mail, protecting it from every enemy except man.
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