FORM AND DESCRIPTION.

SERPENTS have almost all the members of their body very similar to lizards: indeed, if you take away the feet, a lizard imitates a serpent quite beautifully. But if we consider the head at first glance, it is not of the same shape and quality in all: for in some the head is light, in others heavy, in others wide, in others narrow, in others white, in others black, in others yellow, and in others marked with various colors. Finally, some turn it so swiftly to either side that, to one observing them, they seem to be two-headed or amphicephalous. Furthermore, serpents possess all the sensory organs similar to other animals—namely, nostrils for smelling, eyes for seeing, and ears for hearing; but these do not protrude, just as they do not in birds, but only openings appear: whence Pliny wrote that of feathered animals, only the Owl and the Horned Owl have plumes like ears, while in others there are cavities for hearing, which we observe in serpents. They also have nasal passages before the mouth, but not so developed that they can be called nostrils; for it suffices that they function solely for the purpose of breathing. They do not move the upper eyelid, just as birds do not, but they blink only with the lower, and their eyes are harder than those of birds. Moreover, although the blind snake is numbered among serpents as being devoid of light, this should not bring about wonder among so many species of snakes, since among so many quadrupedal animals the mole also lacks eyes, although in it, according to the mind of the Philosopher, if the skin is removed, the place of the eyes appears. Furthermore, serrated teeth are assigned to these animals: since Pliny records that those teeth are called serrated which fit together like a comb, so that they are not worn down by meeting in opposition, as is observed in serpents, fish, and dogs. Likewise, it lacks a neck. Hence Porta not undeservedly elicited that snakes have a signature and prerogative against the ailments of the neck. Although afterward we find the nape is not the same in all, but broad in the Chersydrus and narrow in the Seps. Then, serpents are covered with a bark-like skin, since it was the opinion of Aristotle that non-feathered oviparous animals are protected by a bark (shell/integument), whereas viviparous ones are adorned with hair. Thus, animals that produce an egg, also according to the mind of Pliny, put on either feathers, or scales, or a shell, or a bark, or pure skin. The passage for excrement, or the anus, is seen near the end of the tail in certain serpents, such as in the female viper and the haemorrhous; in males, however, it is observed in a higher place, closer to the belly. Finally, the tail of all serpents does not befall the same form; since the female viper bears a tail that is fleshy and rough with somewhat hard scales. The Dipsas has a slender and black one, with the rest of the body being whitish. Indeed, in some serpents it is shorter, in others longer, and in others it is bristly with scales, as we shall teach in the particular description of each serpent.

Sensory organs of serpents, what they are like.

How oviparous animals are covered.

ANATOMICAL.

Lib. 2. de rerū var. c. 29.

Lib. 6. de differ. Anim.

Tongue of serpents, what it is like.

FROM the description of the external parts, we shall step by step approach the exploration of the internal parts of snakes. First, the head of a serpent is covered by a single bone of convex shape, as Cardanus asserts. Indeed, nature did not engrave the holes for the eyes in this bone, which was done so that they might not be easily injured while they creep upon the ground. They have teeth that are serrated and sharp, just as was written a little before in the description of this animal; but, as Edward Wotton notes, there are two in the upper part, on the right and left, which are very long and perforated by a thin duct, like the sting of a scorpion, through which they afterward, given the occasion, ejaculate poison. The tongue of serpents is thin, long, and filled with a black color; and for that reason, it is extended to a greater length: at the tip, however, it is bifid, and according to some, hairy, or rather thin like a hair, as was explained in the chapter on lizards. Pliny called the tongue of serpents three-forked, because they vibrate it with such speed that they seem to put forth a triple tongue. Beneath the tongue in some, a small skin is found which covers the teeth like a vesicle, in which poison is hidden, which afterward...