88 INTRODUCTION 



stridor, 64 ; Tropidonotus ordinatus, 78 ; Pseudaspis 

 cana, 80 ; Python molurus, nearly 100 eggs. 



The eggs are deposited in holes without any sort 

 of nest, under moss or decomposing leaves, in 

 accumulations of saw-dust, or in manure-heaps. 

 In many cases it has been observed that the female 

 remains for some time with her eggs or young, and 

 in the large Pythons a sort of incubation takes place, 

 the female remaining coiled in a spiral over the mass 

 of eggs for six to eight weeks ; an increase of several 

 degrees in her temperature at that period has been 

 ascertained by experiments conducted with every 

 possible care, a remarkable fact in the case of a 

 so-called " cold-blooded " animal. 



The numerous reports of young snakes seeking 

 refuge in their mother's gullet have not been sub- 

 stantiated by satisfactory scientific evidence, and, 

 although it is perhaps wise to say that the question 

 remains an open one, it may be mentioned that, in 

 Europe at least, trained observers who have devoted 

 special attention to the habits of Vipers, in districts 

 where these reptiles are exceedingly abundant, have 

 never come across an instance of the form of maternal 

 solicitude with which these snakes in particular have 

 been credited. Not a single reported case of a 

 female snake swallowing her young for protection 

 rests on satisfactory evidence. 



The embryo is closely coiled up in a spiral. Just 

 before birth it is distinguished by a large, convex 



