Gary Forsythe, age 12, of Dallas, Texas, for his question:

Does a snake have eyelids?

Mr. Snake stares out at the world with unblinking eyes, day and night, sleeping and waking. His glassy eyes have no little flaps of eyelid skin to open and shut. The eye, even a snakes eye, is a very delicate organ and the snake does have some protection. His eye is covered with a transparent sheath of skin. It is permanently sealed and cannot be opened and shut. The snake cannot blink or close his eyes.

The snake's steady stare tends to fill people with awe. Some people think that he can use his glassy gaze to hypnotize small animals. Some say he can make a bird fall off a tree right into his gaping jaws. But this is not so at all. The glassy eyed snake is not a hypnotist.