"Yes, dear," said Fred, "so I did. But snakes do not eat their prey as the flesh-eaters do. They swallow them whole.""Oh, how very dreadful," said Norah. "Let us look again at theskeleton of the snake," said Fred. "The teeth, you see, in both jaws are small and sharp-pointed, and they allbend backwards towards the throat.
"Such teeth would be useless for tearing flesh or for chewing purposes. They are meant to hold the victim fast between the jaws while it is being drawn down the throat.
"But the most wonderful thing of all seems to be, that even the bones of the snake are made to help in the work of swallowing. Every bone of the head-the upper jaw as well as the lower-is movable. They are all jointed by ball-and-socket joints, and can be easily pushed out of their places.
You know that the separate bones of the back, and the ribs which join them, are all arranged on the same plan, with ball-and-socket joints.
