The Boa Constnctor.— Patents. 463 



stated to be so long that he is enabled to tie it round his wrists 

 His forehead, nose, and every part of his face is said to be covered 

 with ban-. The Indians of his tribe pay him much respect in 

 consequence of his superior sagacity and' hardiness. 



THE BOA CONSTUICTOR.. 



On the 6th of March last, there was killed at Sandy Bay, Ja- 

 maica, a large serpent of the species of the Boa of Cuvier. "'it is 

 thus described by a writer in the Kingston Gazette :— The jaw- 

 bone, the palate bones, and the other bones of the mouth, are 

 attached to each other and to the cranium by elastic ligaments, 

 which, by stretching, allow tlie dihuable throat to receive bodies 

 of dimensions larger than the mouth in its ordinary or quiescent 

 state. Each upper and lower jaw-bone, and each j)alate-bone, 

 IS furnished with a row of sharp, fixed, unpierced teeth, curved 

 backwards, so that the mouth contains six nearly parallel rows 

 of teeth, four above and two below. The windpipe is very long, 

 and there is but one lung. The tail is prehensile, and has at its 

 root two horny hooks or claws,something like the spurs of a cock. 

 Along the back there runs a broad chain, formed of large, irre- 

 gular, hexagonal, blackish spots, alternately with others which 

 are pale, and of an oval shape. Scales under the body and tail, 

 single and transversal. Such is the Eoa, as described by Cuvier, 

 and such exactly is the description of the animal found at Sandy 

 Bay. It was fourteen feet long, and its greatest diameter when 

 jejune was seven inches: when killed, it' was gor-ed anparently 

 with a kid or a lamb. == » i i ) 



This species of snake is very common in the southern continent 

 ot America, where it sometimes grows to the iciigtli of ^JO or 40 

 feet, and is a formidable foe to sheep, deer, goats, and (accord- 

 ing to some accounts) even to cattle. 



I-'ST OK PATKNTS FOR NKW INVKNTIONS. 



To William Thomas, of Sithnev, Cornwall, merchant; and 

 Joseph Lobb, ofSithney, farmer, 'for a machine or instrument 

 or cutting and preparing lay or sea ground for tillage at much 

 less expense and in a shorter space of time than are required by 

 the present mode of pkjughing ; and aNo for renewing grass land, 

 lay or sta ground, with seeds, without destroying or tearing up the 

 whole of the surface thereof.— Dated 1st May 1821.— 2 montlu 

 allowed to enrol specification. 



To Alexander Law, ofi he Commercial Road, Mile End, founder, 

 for improvements in the formation of bolts and nails for ship and 

 other fasu-niiigs.— 1st May.— 2 months. 



To Robert Delap, of lielfast, merchant, f«.r certain improve- 

 nieiits 111 producing rotatory motion,— 1st Mav.— (i months. 



To 



