REPTILES AND THEIR PROGENY 159 



of crocodiles, and one or two species of snakes, do the 

 young receive any parental attention after hatching, and 

 very little before that event. The only other cases worth 

 mention are those of the pythons and the European 

 pond tortoise. The pythons lay from fifteen to one 

 hundred eggs, and these the mother jealously guards by 

 coiling her body round them. From observations made 

 on a captive python of the Indian species {Python molurus), 

 in the Zoological Gardens of Ceylon, this guard was kept 

 for two and a half months, at the end of which time forty- 

 five young snakes emerged from the eggs, measuring from 

 two to two and a half feet in length. 



Most snakes bury their eggs, so that this custom of the 

 python must be regarded not simply as a method of 

 guarding them, but also as the means of incubation. And 

 this view is supported by the fact that every now and then 

 during her brooding- period she would open her coils as 

 though to regulate the temperature. Not until the day 

 before the young hatched out did she relax her vigil and 

 leave the eggs, and during the whole of this long incuba- 

 tion period she never once tasted food, though all kinds 

 of delicacies were offered her. 



The case of the European pond tortoise, to which re- 

 ference has just been made, is one of minor interest, but 

 it may be said to mark the beginning of wider maternal 

 instincts, for while most reptile? simply bury their eggs 

 in the ground, generally choosing a place affording a gentle 

 heat, as from decaying vegetation, or a sun-bathed spot 

 in the open, this tortoise first prepares the ground by 

 watering it from the bladder and certain special accessory 

 water-sacs. Then it stiffens the tail and bores a hole 

 therewith. This is then enlarged by the hind feet, and 

 the work of excavation is carried on until a fairly large 



