THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 463 



certainly agree that there is no attempt to crush with the intention 

 of breaking bones, and so making the mass more easy to deal with, 

 but if the victim is not suffocated how is it killed ? My belief is 

 that the vigour of the embrace is such that the victim's chest is- 

 incapable of expansion, and asphyxia results, or what amounts to 

 the same thing the heart cannot beat against the pressure to- 

 which it is subjected. 



In swallowing a small animal the mouth is widely opened, and 

 the jaws fixed beyond the head of the victim which is easily 

 engulfed. Prior to the actual seizure of the head, the python 

 plays about over it with quivering tongue. It does not slaver over 

 it as is commonly supposed, but the saliva flowing freely under 

 the stimulus of food wets that part which has been received in the 

 mouth, so that if the victim has been disadvantageously seized, 

 and the snake rejects it to make a second attempt, the part of the^ 

 quarry previously injested is coated with saliva. 



When the animal is large, the snake seizing the head strives to- 

 fix its teeth as far back as possible over the victim, when, having 

 got a firm purchase, the jaws — six in all and all moveable — work 

 alternately over the head, one or more at a time relaxing their 

 hold to be pushed further forward and obtain an extended purchase 

 while the others retain the hold already gained. The process is 

 sometimes a tardy one, and if so the snake is frequently observed 

 to protrude its wind pipe, so that an inch or even two may be 

 seen beyond the mouth, beneath the mass that is engaged within 

 the jaws. This extension of the glottis is however not a peculi- 

 arity confined to the python, for it has been noticed in several 

 other snakes, colubrines and vipers. 



It is popularly supposed that after a large meal, the python lies 

 torpid, in a condition of satiety, until digestion has far advanced. 

 I very much doubt if this is the true explanation of the disinclina- 

 tion of the snake to move under such circumstances, a disinclination 

 even greater than it displays at other times. I think it is 

 much more likely that in many cases the snake is so distended 

 that it is afraid to move on account of internal injuries it may 

 receive in the attempt. Undoubtedly accidents do occur which 

 must end fatally. In the case already referred to wh^re a dead 



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