5*5 



BOID^E. 



BOID^E. 



516 



disposed. This is the Boa riridis of Boddaert, the Boa thalaseina of 

 Laurenti, the Bojobi of the Brazilians, the Tetrauchoatl Tleoa (a 

 Mexican name) according to Seba, and the Cobra Verde of the 

 Portuguese, who relate that these serpents sometimes remain iu the 

 houses, doing no harm till irritated, when 

 they at last bite and inflict a wound full of 

 danger, not from injected poison, for the 

 serpent has none, but on account of the 

 injury sustained by the nerves from the very 

 sharp, slender, and long teeth. Great in- 

 flammation follows, and the symptoms are 

 aggravated by terror, so that a gangrene is 

 the consequence unless the proper remedies 

 are applied. In the absence of these, certain 

 death is said to be the consequence of a 

 severe bite from this serpent. The imme- A portion of the under 

 diate cause of death is not stated by Seba, P art f the tail of *->Pl">- 

 but from the long and penetrating teeth of ' oma "''". .Coving the 

 the Bojobi it may be presumed to be often * 

 tetanus or locked jaw. Seba says that this scuta 

 species varies in size, adding that the spe- 

 cimen from which his figure was taken was more than two cubits in 

 length. Cuvier is of opinion that the Boa hipnale in only a young 

 Bojobi or Boa canina. 



Living specimens of this snake are in the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society, Regent's Park. 



8. CortUltu. Forehead and crown scaly ; muzzle with regular shields; 

 labial shields short, hinder ones pitted. There is but one species : 



C. hortulanus, the Cencoatl. It is most extensively distributed in 

 South America, and amongst the specimens in the British Museum 

 several varieties can be distinctly observed. This snake, which is the 

 Coluber hortulanus and Boa hnrtu.la.na of Linnaeus, has been extensively 

 observed, and has numerous synonyms. 



9. Sanzinia. Forehead and crown scaly ; muzzle with regular shields ; 

 labial shields elongate prismatic. 



S. MadagOKariensis, the Sanzin of Madagascar, is the only species, 

 and of this a specimen exists in the Museum at Paris ; there is none in 

 the British Museum. 



10. Cliftia. Forehead and crown scaly; muzzle with regular shields ; 

 labial shields broad, low. Dr. Gray remarks of this genus that it 

 may be the same as Casarea, " but the scales in the dry specimens are 

 not keeled ; and the front upper labial shields appear to be pitted, 

 and the tail is short." 



C. fiisca, a native of India, is the only species. 



** Scales smooth ; labial shields smooth, not pitted. 



11. Boa. Crown covered with scales ; nostrils lateral, between two 

 plates. There are four species of Boa, all of which have been described 

 as the Boa Constrictor, and it is always difficult to identify the 

 particular species of snake referred to by travellers, on account of the 

 loose manner in which the name is generally employed. 



B. Constrictor of Linnaeus (the Boa Const rictrix of Schneider, Con- 

 strictor formosissimus of Laurenti), the Boiguacu, is characterised by the 

 scaly circle of the orbit being separated from the upper labial plates 

 by one or two series of scales. It is also distinguished by a large 

 chain extending the whole length of the back, composed alternately 

 of great blackish stains or spots irregularly hexagonal, and of pale 

 oval stains or spots notched or jagged at either end, the whole forming 

 a very elegant pattern. Shaw, in his lectures, mentions a skin of 

 this species measuring 35 feet, preserved in the British Museum, and 

 add*, that it is probable that many ages ago much larger specimens 

 might have occurred than any at present to be found, the increased 

 population and cultivation of most countries having tended more and 

 more to lessen the number of such animals. The locality of this 

 species, according to the best authorities, is confined to the New 

 World. Daudin, indeed, believed that it was found in the ancient 

 continent, but without sufficient grounds for his opinion. Le 

 Viiilliint and Humboldt brought it from Guyana, and the Prince de 

 Wied found it in Brazil. Cuvier gives it as his opinion that there 

 are no true boas of large size in the Old World. All the specimens 

 in the British Museum are from tropical America. 



Linnams, quoting Dahlberg, says that the Boa Constrictor was 

 worshipped by the Americans. 



" Snake-worship," says Dr. Southey, in his notes to Madoc, " was 

 common in America." (Berna Dios, p. 3, 7, 125.) The idol described, 

 vii. p. 25, somewhat resembles what the Spaniards found at Cam- 

 peche, which is thus described by the oldest historian of the 

 discoveries: "Our men were conducted to a broade crosse-way, 

 standing on the side of the towne. Here they show them a square 

 stage or pulpit foure steppes high, partly of clammy bitumen, and 

 partly of small stones, whereto the image of a man cut in marble 

 was joyned, two foure-footed unknown beastes fastening upon him, 

 which, like madde dogges, seemed they would tear the marble man's 

 guta out of his belly. And by the image stood a serpent, besmeared 

 all with goare blond, devouring a marble lion, which serpent, com- 

 pacted of bitumen and small stones incorporated together, was seven 

 uTi'l f'irtie feete in length, and as thicke as a great oxe. Next unto 

 it were three rafters or stakes fastened to the grounde, which throe 



HAT. HIST. DIV. VOL. I. 



others crossed under-propped with stones ; iu which place they punish 

 malefactors condemned, for proof whereof they saw innumerable 

 broken arrowes, all bloudie, scattered on the grounde, and the bones of 

 the dead cast into an inclosed courte neere unto it." Pietro Martire. 

 This serpent appears to have been the TlicoatI and Temacuilcahuilia 

 of the Mexicans. " It derives its name," says Hernandez, " from its 

 strength, for Temacuilcahuilia is, ' fighting with five men ; ' it attacks 

 those it meets, and overpowers them with such force that if it once 

 coils itself round their necks it strangles and kills them, unless it 

 bursts itself by the violence of its own efforts ;" and he goes on to 

 state how its attack is avoided by the man opposing a tree or other 

 object to its constriction, so that while the serpent fancies that it is 

 compressing the man it may be torn asunder by its own act, and so 

 die. The same author states that he had seen serpents as thick as a 

 man's thigh, which had been taken when young by the Indians, and 

 tamed, and how they were provided with a cask strewn with litter, 

 in the place of a cavern, where they lived, and were for the most part 

 quiescent except at meal times, when they came forth, and amicably 

 climbed about the couch or shoulders of their master, who placidly 

 bore the serpent-embrace (amplexus) of the terrific animal ; or how, 

 lying coiled up in folds, and equalling a large wheel in size, they 

 harmlessly received the food offered to them. In the description of 

 the Temacuilcahuilia we have, allowing for some exaggerations, the 

 predatory habits of an enormous Boa ; and in the relation of the 

 manners of the tamed constricting serpents which follows it, we find 

 an engine which might be and no doubt was turned to account by 

 the ancient Mexican priests. 



, . 



Jtfia Constrictor, 



Specimens of this and the following species are living in the 

 Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park. 



B, diviniloqua (Constrictor i/iriniln:/iius, Laurenti), the Lamanda, 

 is an inhabitant of Santa Lucia, and the specimen in the possession 

 of the Zoological Society appears to be the only one in Europe. 



B. Imperator, the Emperor Boa, is a native of Mexico and 

 Honduras. 



B. r'ques, the Chevalier Boa, is an inhabitant of Peru. 



12. Pdophileut. Crown covered with irregular plates; nostrils lateral, 

 between two scales. 



P. Madagascarensis, the Pelophile, a native of Madagascar, is the 

 only species. 



13. Eunrctes. Crown covered with irregular shields ; nostrils vertical, 

 between three plates. 



/;'. inuriimn (Una Sci/tale and Boa mnrina, Linnscus, Boa aquatica, 

 Prince Maximilian, Boa yiyati, Latreille, Boa Anaconda and Boa 

 Aboma, Daudiu), the Anaconda. It is a native of tropical America. 



Mr. Bennett observes in the ' Tower Menagerie ' that the name of 

 Anaconda, like that of Boa Constrictor, has been popularly applied to 

 all the larger and more powerful snakes. He adds that the word 



2 N 



