22 REPTILE GALLERY. 



the New World. The Anaconda (Boa murina), of which a spe- 

 cimen (F) measuring 29 feet is exhibited in a separate glass case, 

 and represented in the act of seizing a Peccary (which frequently 

 falls a prey to this species), is the largest Snake known, the true 

 Boa constrictor being a much smaller species (Case 24). 



The Erycidce (Case 23) are small Snakes, closely allied to the 

 Boas, but differing by possessing a very short nonprehensile tail; 

 their habits are terrestrial, or even burrowing. Cliftia fusca and 

 Erebophis asper, the latter from New Britain, belong to this family. 



The Acrochordidce are distinguished by their small, wart-like, 

 not imbricate, tubercular or spiny scales. Acrochordus javanicus, 

 from Java and the Malayan peninsula, grows to a length of 

 8 feet. 



The Elapida are poisonous Snakes, with the physiognomy of 

 the harmless Colubrine Snakes : they occur in all the tropical 

 regions, and are most abundant in species in Australia, where they 

 form almost the entire Snake-fauna. The Indian Cobra (Naja 

 tripudians) and the African Cobra (Naja haje) are two of the 

 best known and most dreaded Ophidians. They possess the re- 

 markable faculty of expanding their neck when irritated, by raising 

 the elongated ribs of this region, and thus stretching the skin 

 outwards on each side ; the dilatable portion is frequently orna- 

 mented on the back by a figure resembling a pair of spectacles. 

 The Hamadryad, Ophiophagus elaps, is allied to the Cobra, but 

 attains to a much larger size, and is one of the most dangerous 

 venomous Snakes, as it is well known to frequently attack people. 

 It feeds on other Snakes, and occurs in many parts of the Indian 

 continent and archipelago. A specimen, 13 feet long, is exhibited 

 in a spirit-tank opposite the wall -case. The true Elaps, or Coral- 

 Snakes, are small, brilliantly-coloured Snakes, and their very small 

 mouth renders them much less dangerous to man. 



The Sea-Snakes, Hydrophidce, are inhabitants of the tropical 

 parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and most abundant in the 

 East-Indian archipelago and in the seas between Southern China 

 and North Australia. They pass their whole life in the sea. Their 

 tail, which is compressed and paddle-shaped, answers all the pur- 

 poses of the same organ in a fish, and their motions in the water 

 are almost as rapid as they are uncertain and awkward on land. 



