David Mueller, age 13, of Columbus, Ohio, for his questions:

 Do snakes receive sound?

The snake has always mystified people. He is so different from most animals. He gets along without legs, his starry eyes have no eyelids to blink. He does not gab with other snakes, all he can do is hiss when threatened. He has no ears that you can see. And he goes about his business silently, keeping his secrets to himself.

You have heard of snake charmers. These fellows play on a weird flute. Soon a cobra pokes up from his wicker basket and starts swaying to and fro, You are supposed to think he is dancing in his snakey way to the music. If this is so he can hear and even has a good ear for tuned

But keep your eye on the charmer with the flute. Either he is moving to and fro or he is moving the flute to and fro; Maybe the wary snake is following the movements   Just keeping an eye on something that might b e getting ready to pounce on him:

As a matter of fact, the cobra would keep on dancing if you shot off a pistol behind him. That is, if it didn't scare the flute player into a dead stop. The snake has to see something to believe it. Sounds reach him hardly at all. He is just about deaf to ordinary everyday noises.

The snake, of course, has no outside ears. But neither do birds certain seals and lots of other animals. Yet they hear and quickly "respond". to sound. They have inner ears, lightly covered with skin and fur or feathers. And the hearing job, even our hearing, is really done in the inner ears inside the head.

The snake also has inner ears. But parts are missing or not in working order. He has no ear drum to vibrate to sound. The bones that in most animals carry vibrations from the eardrum to the middle ear are deeply buried in muscles. The snake uses these muscles for swallowing. It has been suggested that he hears quite a racket as he swallows. If so, he is not telling.

It often seems that a snake responds to sound, he may seem startled and slither away from a big noise. Chances are, his unwinking eyes have seen something move. He is rather short sighted. But those lidless eyes do not miss much that moves nearby,

It has been proved that some snakes are not stone deaf. A rattler hears a note, if it is low enough. He can hear and will perk up if you play him a note two and a half octaves below middle C. Any note or sound higher than that is wasted on him even from a flute,