Most
of them are beautifully marked and spotted, and some shine like gold in
the sun, while others have pale, soft tints; but these lovely colours fade
in death, just as those of fish do; so that a snake in all its glittering
beauty can only be seen when alive. They often change their skins, creeping
out of the old and appearing ready-dressed in the new. A traveller along
the banks of the Nile has often found these cast-off skins in the fields;
they are always turned inside out, for the old skin, which is very soft,
folds back as the snake slips out of it.
[Illustration: SPOTTED SNAKES]
I suppose the first thought of all of us, on finding a snake in the grass,
would be, Is it a venomous one? So I think you will like to know that
poisonous snakes are rare in Europe; and Mr. Wood [Footnote: _Natural
History_ p. 521.] tells us that the Viper, which is our only venomous
serpent, is one of those least dangerous to life, although far from a
friend to those who shrink from pain. It may be known by dark spots down
the back. When we speak of venomous serpents, we mean those whose bite is
to be dreaded, because it conveys a tiny drop of poison, which mingles with
the blood, and often causes intense anguish, ending in death. In poisonous
serpents, the venom lies in a little bag at the root of a long sharp tooth,
pierced by a narrow tunnel, through which, at the moment when the bite
is given, the poison flows into the wound.
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