OPHIDIA. 



47 



BOA CONSTRICTOR. 



enveloping it in enormous folds, with the speed of 

 thought, crush the bones by a powerful and irre- 

 sistible muscular contraction. When assured that 

 their victim is dead, they slowly relax their pres- 

 sure, and having covered the whole animal with a glu- 

 tinous saliva, proceed to swallow it entire. In this 

 operation, if the prey be large, the jaws and throat 

 are enormously dilated, and the horns or other pro- 

 minences may be seen for days, as if ready to burst 

 through the distended skin. After a meal of this 

 kind, the Reptile remains in a state of helpless 

 lethargy until digestion is completed, and hunger 

 again rouses it to exertion. 



