Serpents are found in the greatest numbers, both in reference to species and individuals, in tropical coun• tries. In such regions, likewise, they attain the largest sizc. Few species are found in the temperate and colder districts. ln all cases they seem greatly invigo rated by heat, and in its absence speedily sink into a tor pid state.
Wherever man takes up his abode, there the serpents have to engage in an uncquIll combat, which ends in their extirpation. Man not only attacks them in open com bat, with the lance, the sword, or the musket, but he falls upon them, when gorged with food, and prepared only for slumber, or when in a lethargic state, in conse quence of cold. Ile likewise drains the marshes where Ine.y procure their food, and cuts down the forests to which they were accustomed to retire.
13ut while man, as their personal foe, wages against them a war of extermination, and thus greatly int] LICIICCS their geographical distribution, he ieceives powerful support front many of the domestic animals which ac company hint in his dispersion over the globe. The hog is not alraid to give battle even to the most venomous, and in general conies off victorious. The goat, like wise, readily devours the smaller kinds of serpents, and hence the Gaelic proverb, " Cleas na gaol thcr githeadh nathrach," like the goat eating- the serpent, importing a querulous temper in the midst of plenty. Statistical ..dc count of Scotland, vol. xii. p. 449.
When unrestrained by opposition from man, and the physical conditions of their life, serpents are well quali fied for extending their geographical limits. Neither forest, mountain, marsh, nor rivulet, can retard their pro gress. Almost all the species can swim, and many of them with the greatest ease. Indeed it is probable that many of those stories which have been propagated re garding vast sea snakes, have originated in the appeal ance of some of the larger serpents at sea, where they have been driven by accident. Some of the Asiatic spe
cies reside almost constantly in the waters, either fresh or salt.
Independent of the claim which serpents have to our notice, as constituting an extensive division of the ani mal kingdom, they furnish an interesting subject of in quiry, from the superstitious opinions which have been entertained concerning them, and the strange properties with which credulity has invested them. It is not our province to give a history of the errors of the human mind, when untutored by that philosophy which gives precedence to accurate observation, but to unfold those characters which the different species exhibit, and by which they may be recognized. In this inquiry it is in deed painful to consider, that human ingenuity has hither to failed to convert serpents into any thing that is use ful ; for it is not worth while to regard them in this light, when occasionally furnishing a repast to a few na ked savages, or serving to amuse, when dancing to the signals of a juggler, before a few indolent Asiatics. It is still tnore painful to consider the destruction of hu man life by their venomous fangs, or the quantity of misery which they have occasioned to those who have survived the noxious bite.
Having made these preliminary observations on the peculiarities of structure of serpents, as constituting a natural division in the class REPTILES, we shall now proceed to give a brief exposition of the characters by which they are distributed into subordinate groups, enumerating all the genera, and taking notice of at least one species belonging to each.