THE SNAKES 219 



among the pythons, several species have lancet-shaped 

 teeth that are of great value in aiding the reptile in 

 securing a firm and instant hold of the prey while the 

 coils of the body are thrown about it for constriction. 

 Boas and pythons generally have the lower jaw sus- 

 pension of the typical snakes, enabling large prey to be 

 worked into the mouth and consequent enormous dis- 

 tension of the entire jaw mechanism. 



Speaking from the standpoint of poison-conducting 

 teeth and glands for the secretion of a specific virus, all 

 the species of this family may be termed entirely harm- 

 less, as they are absolutely lacking venomous properties. 

 It would be inappropriate to describe the monster 

 pythons, however, as quite devoid of harm. Most of 

 them are vicious and can produce formidable lacerations 

 with their long, recurved teeth. A few large individuals 

 are bold enough to retain a bull-dog grip upon a man 

 and follow this advantage with a coil or two of the body 

 that could crush out a human life. An eighteen or 

 twenty-foot snake, if viciously inclined, could easily over- 

 power a man and, if the latter had narrow shoulders, 

 could swallow him. There are reliable records of 

 pythons swallowing children — that is, in tropical coun- 

 tries, but no captive snake is bold or hungry enough to 

 devour a human, clad in the garb of civilization. 



The dimensions of even the largest members of the 

 Boidce have been much exaggerated. After careful in- 

 vestigation the writer feels satisfied that the Ular-Sawa, 

 also called Regal or Reticulated Python, Python reticu- 

 latus, is the largest species of serpent, actually attaining 

 a length of thirty feet. It inhabits Burma, Indo-China, 

 the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. Secondly we 

 must rate the Indian Python, P. molurus, of southern 

 India, China, the Malay Peninsula and Java, which 



