SNAKES OF CEYLON. 61 



or when the back doors are moved, and in the words of the 

 keeper " they are asking for food."* 



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 saUva 

 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 ingested 

 is coated with saHva. 



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 

 aU movable — work alternately over the head, one or more 

 at a time relaxing their hold to be pushed further foi'ward 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 peculiarity 

 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 disinclination of the snake to move in such circum- 

 stances, 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 where a dead snake 

 was found with the quiUs of a porcupine it had devoured 

 penetrating its flanks between the ribs, it is probable that the 



Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, P.Z.S., 1907, p. 785, et seq. 



