INTELLIGENCE, POWER 



The habitat of the python is the swamp and the damp, 

 but not too thick, forest. The python a cold, slippery 

 mechanism a living rope, equipped with strong teeth at 



LION 



ALLIGATOR 



FIG. 3. The adrenal-sympathetic complexes of the lion and of the alligator. 



one end and two strong hooks at the other, has been evolved 

 to encircle the chest of its warm-blooded victims so tightly 

 as to deprive them of oxygen. The python possesses a small 

 brain, a small heart, small thyroid and adrenal glands and 

 requires a minimum of food. How is this low-power mecha- 

 nism adapted to kill ? The special act of the python is to pro- 

 duce asphyxia. Warm-blooded animals are endowed with 

 powerful and sensitive energy systems and require an abund- 

 ance of oxygen to maintain their warm-blooded state. Under 

 danger they rush into a raging metabolism and require 

 accordingly a greater respiratory exchange. 



From the viewpoint of a fair fight or a fair getaway, 

 nature seems to have evolved in the python the technique 



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