SNAKES OF CEYLON. 67 



forty -nine days, an embryo was found within measuring 

 14J inches in length. Eggs deposited in Regent's Park were 

 found, after six weeks incubation, to contain embryos about 

 11 inches long. 



(b) Length of Hatchling: The young that hatched from 

 eggs deposited in Calcutta measured about 2 feet. Other 

 hatchlings from eggs acquired in Travancore were reported 

 to average 2 feet 5 inches. The weight of the Calcutta 

 hatchlings proved to be 4 ounces 2 drachms. 



(c) Early Life: The Travancore brood grew 11 inches in 

 4 months, and it would appear from this that growth in early 

 life is more rapid than later, for Pollock states that a specimen 

 he had that was 12 feet long when acquired grew about 

 3 feet in two years. 



(d) Maturity : The youngest sexually mature specimens 

 I know of are those that mated at Nagpur. The female 

 measured 2,590 mm. (8 feet 6 inches), and the male 1,725 mm. 

 (5 feet 8 inches). A dam shot on her eggs in April near 

 Colombo was 11 feet long. The specimen in Regent's Park 

 was 12 feet long when she deposited eggs. After sexual 

 maturity growth continues for many years. In captivity 

 specimens rarely grow longer than 12 feet. A specimen in 

 captivity in Travancore for 12| years was only 9J feet long 

 when it died. 



(e) Maximum, Length : It is difficult to say with certainty 

 to what length the python may attain. It seems probable 

 that many of the great lengths given by travellers and sports- 

 men were guessed at, and the snake not actually measured. 

 The creature is very thick relatively to its length, perhaps 

 three or four times the girth of a Russell's viper of similar 

 length, and five or six times that of a dhaman (Zaocys mucosus). 

 If a python's length were judged from its girth, the estimate 

 would grossly exceed the real measurement. 



Dr. J. R. Henderson showed me the skin of a python in 

 the Madras Museum in 1917, which measured after death 

 16 feet, though during life its length had been estimated at 

 26 feet. I very much suspect that this was the specimen 

 alluded to by Abercromby as 27 feet in length. (Snakes of 

 Ceylon, p. 65.) 



