THE GLOTTIS. 141 



A very good account of the whole is quoted in the 

 Pe?iny Magazine, 1836, and we are^therein further enlightened 

 by reading that Joseph Henry Green, Esq., F.R.S., in one 

 of his lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons, alluded to 

 Broderip's paper ' On the Mode in which Constrictors swallow 

 their Prey,' and which had drawn his attention to the state- 

 ment about the larynx, and led him to examine the mouth 

 of a snake. 



In process of dissection, he detected two muscles in the 

 lower jaw, evidently intended for the purpose of bringing 

 the larynx forward ; how far forward and how much of the 

 true windpipe was also brought forward, he did not say. 

 But this in a dead specimen could scarcely be affirmed with 

 certainty. 



From the large size of their prey, and the jaws being 

 stretched open and gorged to their utmost capacity, it is 

 plain that snakes cannot breathe freely in the ordinary 

 manner while feeding, a process sometimes of an hour or 

 more. Owing to the construction of their lungs and their 

 capability to contain a large volume of air, they do not 

 require to breathe frequently ; still they do occasionally 

 take a fresh inspiration, and their needs are met by this 

 wonderful arrangement of the breathing apparatus. 



