THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 449 



the words sound more like " hebbow." The Telugu name about the 

 same part of India is " dasira pam " a very appropriate one for it, as ' 

 the python bears on its head three light, often pinkish stripes 

 exactly like the three white stripes of the Hindu caste mark 

 worn on the forehead and called by them " dasira." I am told 

 that about Cuddapah it is known as " condasella." " Conda " is 

 the Telugu for rock. Russell mentions " bora " as one of its names 

 but I think this is generally applied in Bengal to the Russell's viper 

 and not this snake. The two species being of somewhat similar 

 build are often confused not only by natives, but by Europeans 

 too. 



In Ceylon all recent authorities concur in stating that the 

 Singhalese name for it is '• prinbera." The famous John Ray* 

 however says that the name "anaconda" is Singhalese, and not 

 South American as one might suppose. His friend Dr. Tancred 

 Robinson gave him a catalogue of the Tndian snakes he had noted 

 in the Leyden Museum. No. 8 on this list read as follows: — " 8 

 serpens indicus bubalinus anacandaia Zeylonensibus, id est buba- 

 lorum aliorumque jumentorum membra conterens." Colonel Yulef 

 says he can find no mention of the name anaconda in old South 

 American literature, and suggests that it is derived from the 

 Singhalese " anai " elephant, and " kondra " which vanquished. 

 I have failed to get any confirmatory evidence on this subject 

 from Ceylon. 



The Burmese throughout their Province call it " Sa-ba-olm." 



In South China I heard it called " hiang-zo " meaning " aroma- 

 tic snake," a name probably suggested by its cooking flesh, since it 

 is very savoury fare according to Chinese ideas. Swinhoeij: mentions 

 the name " vang " which is in common use among the Chinese in 

 the Island of Hainan. 



General characters. — The python is an extraordinarily massively 



built snake, and its development perhaps the most remarkable 



character it exhibits. Its girth relative to its length considerably 



exceeds that of all other snakes, except its own close allies. The 



body is thickest in the middle, reduces perceptibly towards the 



* Syn. animal-quad, et Serp. 1(393, p- 332. 

 t Hobson Jobson- + Nat- Hist- of Hainan, 1870. 



