BOAS. 167 



remains in an almost torpid state for some days, 

 or until nature silently digests the swallowed 

 animal." 



The author of the article Boa, in the Penny 

 Cyclopaedia, commenting on the above descrip- 

 tion, and noticing the asserted lubrication of 

 the prey with saliva, makes the following obser- 

 vations, in which we cannot help concurring, not- 

 withstanding the almost invariable statement of 

 such a thing, — at least, by unscientific describers : 

 — "^ There is generally in these descriptions an 

 account of the fleshy tongue of the reptile, and of 

 its application to the dead animal for the pur- 

 pose of covering it with saliva previous to the 

 operation of swallowing it. A glance at the 

 tongue of a Boa or a Python will convince 

 the observer, that few worse instruments for such 

 a purpose could have been contrived. The delu- 

 sion is kept up by the mode in which these 

 Serpents are sometimes preserved in museums, 

 where they may be occasionally seen with fine 

 artificial, thick, fleshy, vermilion tongues in the 

 place of the small, dark-coloured extensile organs 

 with which nature has furnished them. We have 

 frequently watched constricting Serpents while 

 taking their prey, and it is almost superfluous to 

 add that they never covered the victim with saliva 

 from the tongue before deglutition. When the 

 prey is dead, and the Serpent is about to swallow 

 it, the tongue of the destroyer is frequently 

 thrust forth and vibrated, as if indicatory of the 

 desire for food ; but the mucus is not poured out 

 till it is required to lubricate the dilated jaws and 

 throat for the disproportioned feast." * 



* " Penny Cyclop." v. 26. 



