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THE ENCIRCLING SNAKE

■ Anyone suffering from a feverish flu during the first century A.D. who then consulted the Naturalis Historia of the famous Roman encyclopaedist Plinius († 79 A.D.) received the advice to use a dead snake to combat the disease. Plinius’’ source of this remedy was a certain Nicander. This Nicander even specified which snake the patient should preferably use: an amphisbaena. He advised to wear the dead snake by way of a charm. Even its skin as such should already alleviate the symptoms.

The amphisbaena has more qualities besides its therapeutic ones. Lumberjacks once they fastened such an animal to a felled tree ,were said to become insensitive to cold and to perform their work with less effort as well. Plinius mentioned some additional properties of the amphisbaena. The animal is hardy to cold and –– also as a consequence –– it appears in spring even before the cuckoo is heard (Plinius, XXX, 85).

Plinius talked about the amphisbaena as if this animal did not need any explanation. From other descriptions in old encyclopaedias the modern reader learns that its existence was beyond doubt. One even happens upon some more unusual features of the amphisbaena.

The Roman scientist Aelianus (* 170 A.D.), born about one century after the death of Plinius discusses the amphisbaena in the following text: 
Poets and the compilers of ancient legends (...), may sing of the Hydra of Lerna, one of the Labours of Heracles; and Homer may sing of the Chimaera with its three heads [Il. 6.181; 16.328], the monster of Lycia kept by Amisodarus the Lycian king for the destruction of many, of varied nature, and absolute invincible. Now these seem to have been relegated to the region of myths. The Amphisbaena however is a snake with two heads, one at the top and one in the direction of the tail. When it advances, as need for a forward movement impels it, it leaves one end behind to serve as tail, while the other it uses as a head. Then again if it wants to move backwards, it uses the two heads in exactly the opposite manner from what it did before. (Aelianus, IX, 23)
Both Plinius and Aelianus were convinced of the existence of the amphisbaena. Many successive authors copied their information indiscriminately. This went on unashamedly for many centuries. We, hence, encounter the two-headed snake more or less regularly during the course of time: in The book of beasts, the twelfth-century bestiary reissued by T.H. White, in the thirteenth-century nature-encyclopaedia Der naturen bloeme (1270) by the Flemish Jacob van Maerlant, and in the seventeenth-century Historie of Serpents by Edward Topsell. Maerlant not only talked about the weird locomotion of the ‘‘ansibena’’. He also mentioned that both heads are able to swallow prey, and to fight as well (Van der Voort 2001, 97).

Are we able to picture such an amphisbaena? A painting by Pieter Paul Rubens and his pupil Frans Snijders that is supposed to date between 1610 to 1620 is reproduced on pp. 40-41 in Snake Charm, the beautiful book by Marilyn Nissenson and Susan Jones. The work depicts the head of mythical Medusa, one of the three Gorgons. Medusa’’s hairs consisted of snakes and a glance on this monstrous woman sufficed to petrify the hapless beholder. It is said that the hero Perseus, was able to cut off Medusa’’s head, thanks to some adequate precautionary measures. Apart from the tangle of snake-like hairs, and spiders, a scorpion, as well as a salamander –– which people thought to be the most poisonous serpent in existence –– the painting also depicts an amphisbaena. This relatively small and two-headed serpent is equipped with several protrusions near each head. Note that it has one head on each extremity and that it lies –– not quite peacefully –– in a semicircle.
 
Pictures of the amphisbaena, often drawn with its tail in its mouth, were discovered in many mediaeval bestiaries. The body, hence, assumes a ring-like shape. It is said, now, that the animal could subsequently erect itself to roll along like a hoop. It did, of course, use this quality to annoy people. Its two poisonous heads made it twice as dangerous too. Note, however, that one should not confuse these pictures with those of the ouroboros: the snake that bites its own tail and in this way symbolises eternity.
Tales about two-headed snakes (and their properties) as well as pictures of it are found in all corners of the world. People living in Brazil and other South American countries believe that their local amphisbaena –– which has now been classified to be a leg-less lizard (Amphisbaena alba, Amphisbaena fulginosa - see for a picture Grzimek VI, 397) –– could not be killed by simply cutting it in two, because both parts would search for each other and reunite. It is for this reason that the meat of this remarkable animal was (and still is?) dried and powdered to be used as an adjuvant to settle broken bones (Howey 1990, 316). 

Let us stay somewhere near these geographical regions for a while. The Maya as well as the Aztecs, were also familiar with the two-headed snake. It played and plays a not to be underestimated role in their religions and cultures. The snake may be associated with several of their gods and goddesses, such as the feathered god Quetzalcoatl or the fire snake Xinhcoatl, as well as with the snake coated goddess Coatlicue. A special variation is given by the reappearance of the two-headed snake in several Mayan art forms. They used this animal to represent, among others, the ecliptic, the apparent track of the sun along the sky, which is marked, as it were, by the constellation of the fixed stars. 
The two-headed snake is also known in Africa. It is the symbol of the kingdom of Bamum, in former times situated in southeast Cameroon, over which king Mbuemue held sway during some period in the nineteenth century. He drafted the two-headed snake as a symbol of royal rank and dignity. The two heads may refer to his army, because it once happened to become engaged in a fight on two different fronts at the same time, winning both. It is quite difficult to distinguish the head from the tail of the Indian sand boa Eryx johnii (Trutnau I, 93). The unwary onlooker may obtain the impression of a two-headed snake indeed, for the two extremely small eyes are detectable upon close inspection only. White observes that Indian snake charmers confound the issue by painting two ‘‘artificial eyes’’ on its tail. They then tell the unsuspecting tourists that it is a special property of the –– thus falsified –– animal that one head remains awake when the other one sleeps (White 1992, 177-178). 

Even in North America tales abound about a snake that when threatened by man is able to take its tail in its mouth, whereupon it lifts itself to roll onward like a bicycle wheel. Folktales about the so-called ‘‘hoop snake’’ are common and rather various. This snake does have one head only, however, quite distinct from the ones described in the former tales. In one version the snake escapes. In the other version it rolls toward its disturber, which it attacks relentlessly. During such an attack it mercilessly kills anything in its path. In case the person pursued hides behind a tree the snake may even hit the tree with the poisonous sting on its tail, after which the tree dies in no time. In some stories the tree even swells - just like the bitten part of a human body - before it dies.

The ways, in which both older, as well as modern, artists did and (still) do visualise the herpetological peculiarities of their religion or culture, are fascinating to behold. The question as to the nature of the phenomena upon which all those old, as well as modern , tales may be based is also an intriguing one. Well then, what could be an explanation with regard to the two-headed snakes or for the ‘hoop snake‘? Quite apart from the fact that nature sometimes produces a two-headed snake indeed, albeit with both heads on the same extremity, two-headedness with one head each on a different extremity may be explained by the following observations. When a pair of mating snakes is disturbed (or when the female decides that it is time to go), she may drag the mail on its hemipenis tailfirst with her on her move towards another destination. A quick release when in danger (or when she has had enough) may not be possible since hemipenis and cloaca have been made to fit each other in a often rather complicated way (cf. Steehouder 1993, for pictures of hemipenes). Those who observe such a tailfirst dragging about (or a pair within the final stage of copulation - Rossman et al. 1996, 112), may quite erroneously deduce on the existence of a two-headed snake indeed.

The famous herpetologist Ditmars (1937) gives a likely explanation of the American ‘‘hoop snake’’ myth. He discusses, among others, the genera Abastor and Farancia, the rainbow snakes and the mud snakes, respectively. Ditmars explicitly mentions that these snakes did quite often put him on the wrong foot. These water-loving snakes frequently assume a circular position with the head in the vicinity of the tail. Their bodies are shaped in such a way, that he was sure he was dealing with a discarded bicycle tube. He only stood corrected after a more detailed observation of the object. He continues:
Here appears to be the reason for the origin of the hoop snake story. The supposition seems to have become established that, if a snake rests in this position, it can take its tail in its mouth, elevate the body to a vertical position, and rapidly roll like a hoop. The story is topped off with a sensational thrill. This relates tot the ‘‘hoop’’ snake’’s power to sting with its tail. (Ditmars 1937, 75)

Ditmars then explains that these assumptions contain an element of truth. The tip of the tail of the mud snake is shaped into a dart-like point that is, however, quite harmless. This special kind of scale is very sharp indeed, much sharper than the pointed scales on the tales of other snake species. The mud snake does, in addition, indeed use its tail in defence. When one tries to grasp a mud snake, one may find that it presses its tail upon the arm or hand. The sting may even break the skin to force out a drop of blood. This defensive behaviour of the mud snake often suffices for the predator or perpetrator to change its mind and to let the snake go (Ditmars 1937, 75).
The truth behind it all? I have no idea, actually. It will be clear, however, that even today keepers of terrariums may observe phenomena , that may lie at the root of such striking tales as have been mentioned here. Just read the next paper by Bert Verveen and Tjard de Cock Buning on the behaviour of a garter snake on the website of the European Snake Society. Choose Volume Survey.

Translation from the Dutch: A.A. Verveen.
English corrections: Mark Wootten.