9508 Reptiles. 



the snake threw itself with irresistible force upon the blindworm, fixed 

 its teeth into its head, and, flinging fold after fold of its body round its 

 victim, held it in a vice-like grip, exactly after the manner of the giant 

 serpents of the tropics ; so tightly indeed did it embrace the unhappy 

 blindworm that the contents of the latter's intestinal canal were 

 violently forced out and scattered over the glass sides. Each 

 desperate struggle of the blindworm was followed by a closer grasp 

 on the part of the Coronella, which looked exactly like a roll of 

 tobacco, through which the extreme end of the blindworm's tail 

 protruded. 



The act of swallowing was very slow at first. Every contraction of 

 the muscles of the throat and jaws was accompanied by a lateral 

 movement of the head, the hooked bent teeth, first of one side, then 

 of the other, catching a fresh grasp of the victim, and gradually 

 drawing it in. The process of deglutition began at 9.30 A. M. and was 

 not cou)pleled until 12.45. The blindworm was eleven inches long. 

 The head alone occupied more than an hour. Even at one o'clock, 

 when the Coronella opened it.s jaws wide, which it continued to do 

 repeatedly after taking its food, I couhl still see the end of the blind- 

 worm's tail. The fact was it was too long to be taken in entirely, and 

 therefore gradually slipped down, as the portion first engulphed was 

 digested. After the meal was quite finished, the Coronella sought out 

 the water, and seemed to take great pleasure in bathing, remaining in 

 it for an hour at a time, no doubt to mitigate the great heat generated 

 by its wonderfully active digestion. 



After the sloughing of the 2nd of .Jidy I placed two blindworms in 

 the cage; one was eleven inches long, the other six inches and a half. 

 The animal looked steadfastly at them for awhile, made a few move- 

 ments, and at once attacked the suialler of the two, killing and swal- 

 lowing it, exactly as it had done the first one. The crushing process 

 was in this instance more complete, because the prey was smaller and 

 unable to offer any opposition. The swallowing occupied two hours 

 and a half. On the 1 1th of the same month (that is, nine days later), 

 the other was devoured. In its first assault on this one the Coronella 

 missed its aim : immediately it drew back its head, raised it aloft, and 

 then delivered a second stroke with incredible swiftness. The period 

 of deglutition was four hours, from 5 P.M. to 9. 



In order to see how it would set to work with a lizard, I placed a 

 middle-sized Lacerta agilis in the cage on the 22nd. The Coronella 

 attacked the little animal, but the latter managed by biting and 

 twisting to throw off its opponent, upon which it seized the lizard by 



