48 REPTILES 



the large batagurs (Batagur, Cachuga, etc.) of the Indian rivers 

 are as purely herbivorous. Indeed the only group of chelonians 

 which is constant in the matter of diet appears to be the soft 

 river-tortoises (Triony chides), which are wholly carnivorous. 



Snakes of all kinds subsist on an animal diet, which may, 

 however, consist of the entire bodies of land-animals, swallowed 

 whole, of eggs, of fishes, or in the case of the burrowing 

 species, of worms and other subterranean creatures. The 

 pythons and boa-constrictors crush the bodies of the animals 

 they have seized for food within their lithe coils until the 

 former are reduced to the condition of a sausage, when, after 

 being lubricated with saliva, they are swallowed whole. Exag- 

 gerated stories are undoubtedly current as to the size of the 

 animals a five-and-twenty-foot python is capable of gorging ; 

 but we have no definite means of gauging the capacity of these 

 voracious reptiles in this respect. The fibrous (instead of 

 bony) union between the two branches of the lower jaw in all 

 snakes is a special adaptation for the swallowing of such huge 

 boluses. After a gorge of this nature a python, like other 

 large snakes, requires a long period of quiescence, which is 

 passed in a kind of semi-torpor, before it is ready for another 

 meal. 



The following particulars in regard to the amount of food 

 consumed during one year by snakes in captivity were 

 published in the report of the Trivandrum Museum, Travancore, 

 for 1903 ; the dates when the reptiles changed their skins 

 being likewise given : — 



A Malay python 21 ft. long, ate 100 fowls, two hare-walla- 

 bies, two bandicoots, one kangaroo, and one dog. It shed its skin 

 on 30th September, nth December, 1902, and 18th February, 

 12th April, and 9th June, 1903. An Indian python measuring 

 15^ ft. in length, ate fifty-four fowls, two bandicoots, two dogs, 

 two guinea-pigs, one heron, and two hare-wallabies. Its skin 

 was shed on 22nd August, 9th October, 17th December, 1902, 

 and 6th February, 1st April, and 2nd June, 1 903. Another ex- 

 ample of Python molurus, 8^ ft. long, ate during the year nine- 

 teen fowls, four bandicoots, and one dove; shedding its skin on 

 14th September, 26th December, 1902, and on 19th February, 

 8th April, and 19th June, 1903. Yet another, 9 ft. long, ate 

 fifteen fowls, one bandicoot, and one hare-wallaby. This snake 



