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keeps guard close by till they are ready for hatching, when she 

 probably assists the young ones to escape. 



In pythons the maternal instincts are still more developed, 

 and the female incubates, or rather coils herself round (for no 

 augmentation of temperature occurs), her pile of eggs until the}' 

 hatch. The object of this action is probably in the main, if 

 not entirely, to protect the eggs. A female python in the 

 London Zoological Gardens brooded her eggs for some weeks 

 in this manner in the summer of 1881. 



Unfortunately, the observations made in the foregoing in- 

 stance were imperfect, practically the whole information ob- 

 tained being that the snake coils herself round the mass of eggs 

 to protect them and that no appreciable amount of extra warmth 

 is developed during incubation. A second instance of a python 

 laying and brooding eggs in captivity has been more recently 

 recorded in Ceylon. In the autumn of 1904 a python (probably 

 Python molurus) was received at Colombo from the Malay 

 Archipelago. Although the measurements and weight could 

 not be ascertained, it is estimated that the snake was about 28 

 ft. in length and weighed 2501b. Soon after its arrival from 

 Singapore — that is to say, on 28th October — the snake laid 

 about 100 eggs, which almost filled the box in which it was 

 kept. On the following morning, by skilfully coiling her body 

 around them, she had collected the mass of soft-shelled eggs 

 into a heap in such a manner that they were almost completely 

 covered without being pressed by the weight of her body. In 

 order apparently to maintain a constant temperature the python 

 from time to time partially uncoiled herself, so that the heap of 

 eggs became visible. From 28th October, 1904, till 14th Janu- 

 ary, 1905, she refused all nourishment, although tempting 

 dainties were offered. On the latter date the python left the 

 mass of eggs exposed, and it was feared that incubation had 

 been unsuccessful. Closer inspection revealed, however, a young 

 python half emerged from one of the eggs, into which it retired 

 at evening. On the next day, 1 5th January, six young pythons 

 were hatched, some of which died in a few hours, while the others 

 soon became active, making darts at a cloth held near them. 

 Eventually forty-five young snakes were counted, of which 

 thirty- six were alive on 20th January. When first hatched 

 the young measured 2 ft. to 2\ ft. in length. The period 



