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A joint snake is a
"Joint Snake." Myth Beasts. 2011
/ref> Such lizards are often called joint, or, more commonly, glass snakes. According to travelers' accounts, their skin is as hard as parchment and as smooth as glass. It is so stiff that it can hardly bend itself. It is streaked with black and white.
A joint snake symbolizes the American colonies in Benjamin Franklin's 1754 political cartoon, "
legendary creature
A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accou ...
of the Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, the myth likely having spread elsewhere. Supposedly, the joint snake can break itself (or be cut) into pieces and will reassemble itself. It is said that if a piece of the snake is taken and the pocket knife used to cut the snake is set down in the place of the snake's piece, the knife will join up with the whole of the snake.
Explanations
The myth is probably based onlegless lizards
Legless lizard may refer to any of several groups of lizards that have independently lost limbs or reduced them to the point of being of no use in locomotion.Pough ''et al.'' 1992. Herpetology: Third Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall:Pearson Education ...
that can regenerate their tails after they are broken off./ref> Such lizards are often called joint, or, more commonly, glass snakes. According to travelers' accounts, their skin is as hard as parchment and as smooth as glass. It is so stiff that it can hardly bend itself. It is streaked with black and white.
Depictions
A joint snake symbolizes the American colonies in Benjamin Franklin's 1754 political cartoon, "Join, or Die
''Join, or Die.'' is a political cartoon showing the disunity in the American colonies. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the original publication by ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' on May 9, 1754, is the earliest known pictorial representation of c ...
".
Notes