Great Snakes , BDz 
With the single exception of a small family of small snakes of partially burrowing 
habits—among which the beautiful coral-snake of tropical South America is the one 
most familiarly known—the boas and pythons differ from all the rest of their kmd 
in retaining distinct vestiges of the pelvis and hind-limbs—certainly a most remarkable 
and, I may almost say, unexpected feature in a group which includes the largest 
members of the whole tribe. Externally, these indications of a descent from four-limbed 
reptiles are displayed by the presence of a pair of claw-like spurs on the sides of the 
vent, but in some cases these are so small as to be extremely difficult of detection, 
if indeed they are not altogether wanting. In other imstances they are, however, 
comparatively large and conspicuous. Internally there are small rod-like bones on 
either side of the backbone representing the pelvis, in addition to which there may be 
other bones corresponding to the thigh-bone, or femur. 
From the aforesaid family of small burrowing snakes—the Ilysiide of naturalists 
_—with vestiges of the pelvis, the boas and pythons are readily distinguished by the 
circumstance that the scales on the under-surface of the body are enlarged so as to 
form transversely elongated shields, imstead of being but slightly superior im size to 
those of the back. 
The Old World pythons and their immediate relatives differ from the boas and 
Photo by A. S. Rudland. MALAY PYTHON. 
their allies by the presence of an additional pair of bones in the skull, known as 
the supraorbitals, as well as by the circumstance that in most cases the scales on the 
under-surface of the tail are arranged in a double instead of a single row. Moreover, 
inthe pythons and their allies the foremost bones of the skull, or premaxille, are 
frequently furnished with teeth, whereas in the boas they are invariably toothless. 
Of the true pythons (in which the aforesaid bones invariably carry teeth), the largest 
representative is the handsomely-coloured Malay python (Python reticulatus). Of this 
species a specimen measuring only one inch short of twenty-five feet is exhibited in 
the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, where there is also a second example 
of something over twenty-one feet (Fig. 2). Both specimens show the bold pattern of 
lozenges of bluish-black, bordered with yellow, characteristic of the species. Another 
characteristic feature of this species is the black line running down the middle of the 
head, flanked by other black lines from the eye to the angle of the mouth. It should 
be mentioned that the brilliant colouring of the Museum specimens is seen in nature 
only for a short time after the reptiles have changed their skin. It is admitted by 
naturalists that this species grows to thirty feet, and it is possible that it may attain 
even larger dimensions. 
