210 BACKBONED ANIMALS. 
cies are known, mostly inhabiting tropical regions. The 
Python is found in Africa and the East Indies. The rock 
python is a yellowish-brown color above, and inhabits the 
rice-fields. It attains a length of twenty-six feet, and de- 
vours large animals. The female lays about fifteen eggs, 
coiling about them,* her body increasing in temperature, 
and in this inclosure the young hatch in about fifty-six 
days. They frequently find their way into native houses. 
The natives seize them by the tail and rush off, dashing 
them against the trees. The boa-constrictor is a native 
of tropical America, and ranges from ten to forty feet 
Fic. 252.—Anaconda, or water-boa. 
in length, According to Wallace, Dr. Gardner measured 
one of the latter length that had swallowed a horse, and 
that they devour cattle is, he conceives, not improbable. 
Some of them have rudimentary hind-limbs, or spur-like 
hooks, that are used when the snake hangs from trees. 
The boas burrow in the ground. The anaconda (Fig. 
252), or water-boa, is common in tropical South America, 
attaining a length of twenty feet, and preys upon large 
animals. They enter the water freely, and when hang- 
ing from the trees so resemble vines, their colors being 
sombre, that they are perfectly protected. Numbers of 
* This habit was observed at the London Zodlogical Garden, 
