258 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

The serpent Zl Haje, or Naia Haje, has been much used
by jugglers, who, by pressing the occiput, or hinder part of
the head, can make it as stiff as a stick, thus alternately
seeming a rod or a living serpent. Will not this faculty
account for the apparent miracle performed by the Egyptian
magicians, mentioned in Exodus? It is represented con-
stantly in Egyptian paintings as an emblem of the protect-
ing divinity, and as such is always placed on the portals
of their temples; the power it has of erecting itself when
alarmed or excited is probably the reason why the office of
guardian was bestowed on it.

Orpen BATRACHIA.

Rana.—The Frog.

This well-known little animal is hatched from a gelati-
nous, transparent egg, one of a clustered mass deposited by
the parent in March. In each of these eggs may be seen a
small, round, black globule, which gradually takes the form
of a tadpole, remaining for a month or five weeks enclosed
in the jelly-like substance, enlarging in size, and during
the last four or five days giving evident signs of movement.