Natural History Reptiles (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Natural History Reptiles

In one respect in which Reptiles agree among themselves, they agree also with the Classes of Birds and Fishes; the reproduction of their spe cies is effected by means of eggs. For the most part these are encased in a calcareous covering, either hard and Shelly as in the Tortoises, Croco diles and some Saurians, or tough and leathery as in most of the Serpents: in the Amphibia, however, they are destitute of any covering. In a few in stances, the young are brought forth alive; but these are rather apparent than real exceptions to the general rule, the eggs in such cases being hatched in the body of the parent, or ruptured in the act of deposition. Our native smaller Lizard, Viper, and Slow-worm, afford familiar examples of this peculiarity. Reptiles do not in general ineu bate their eggs; but there is reason to believe that the Boas and Pythons are exceptions to this rule.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.