676 APPENDIX. 



to under2;o — the under jaw articulates so loosely in the upper that dislocation can take place at 

 the symphysis without causing pain ; in carnivorous animals, and particularly among the Felinee 

 or cats, such as the tiger, the condyle of the lower jaw is deeply set in a groove in the upper, 

 which makes it, combined as it is with its shortness and the strength of the temporal muscles, 

 the most powerful jaw in existence. The tiger's jaws are merely meant to hold fast and tear his 

 jr. J. L. & S. prey ; for he, like the Python, bolts his food without mastication, the tuberculated molars in the 

 XIV. pt. 11. ij^pj^ q£ jj-g jjgg^jj ijging only Jo crunch and grind bones. 



From the depth of the sockets in which the condyles are placed, a lateral motion is 

 impossible, whereas in the ruminating animals its shallowness enables them to use the lower jaw 

 laterally as well as perpendicularly. In the Python, however, beyond the act of holding its prey, 

 the jaws are not of any use, and consequently Nature has only provided them with a structure 

 to answer that end already noticed in the recurved form of the teeth. Dislocation takes place 

 as gradually as the increasing size of the prey renders distention necessary, the lower jaw 

 hanging at length quite loose and disconnected from the upper. 



It is an erroneous idea, though a very prevalent one, that the snake covers the whole of its 

 victim with saliva from the tongue before swallowing it. A single glance at the structure of the 

 tongue of any reptile would at once prove the absurdity of this notion, that organ being of a very 

 long and slender form, wholly unadapted for either licking or tasting. The glands that generate 

 the saliva are only called into action when the animal has begun to swallow. The mucus then 

 secreted naturally assists deglutition to a great degree, but it is never poured forth till the 

 animal actually begins to swallow. 



To prevent suffocation while forcing the body down the oesophagus, two small muscles, 

 attached to the lower jaw and also to the trachea, have been discovered, which can bring 

 forward the larynx nearly to the mouth, which would enable any one to observe the larynx 

 opening and shutting while deglutition is proceeding. After the entire animal is swallowed, a 

 kind of lethargy pervades the system of the snake, and he then may be safely approached. Of 

 this the natives are well aware, and attack him in consequence without fear. 



Such are a few of the habits of this monster reptile. Much information regarding it is yet 

 required, which could easily be gained by persons living in the neighbourhood of large jungles, 

 where it always arrives at the greatest size ; while a few notes concerning the dimensions of 

 specimens killed, made upon the spot, would go further towards our knowledge of the sizes 

 arrived at, than all the vague conjectures or hearsay reports often so freely circulated without 

 any foundation. 



