210 BACKBONED ANIMALS. 



cies are known, mostly inhabiting tropical regions. The 

 Python is found in Africa and the East Indies. The rock 

 python is a yellowish-brown color above, and inhabits the 

 rice-fields. It attains a length of twenty-six feet, and de- 

 vours large animals. The female lays about fifteen eggs, 

 coiling about them,* her body increasing in temperature, 

 and in this inclosure the young hatch in about fifty-six 

 days. They frequently find their way into native houses. 

 The natives seize them by the tail and rush off, dashing 

 them against the trees. The boa-constrictor is a native 

 of tropical America, and ranges from ten to forty feet 



FIG. 252. Anaconda, or water-boa. 



in length. According to Wallace, Dr. Gardner measured 

 one of the latter length that had swallowed a horse, and 

 that they devour cattle is, he conceives, not improbable. 

 Some of them have rudimentary hind-limbs, or spur-like 

 hooks, that are used when the snake hangs from trees. 

 The boas burrow in the ground. The anaconda (Fig. 

 252), or water-boa, is common in tropical South America, 

 attaining a length of twenty feet, and preys upon large 

 animals. They enter the water freely, and when hang- 

 ing from the trees so resemble vines, their colors being 

 sombre, that they are perfectly protected. Numbers of 



* This habit was observed at the London Zoological Garden. 



