LECTURE Vn. 
39 
but without any rattle. Very few of this genus 
are poisonous, but some of them are remarkable 
for their enormous size ; in particular a species 
found in Africa and dialled the Boa Comtrictoj\ 
which grows to the length of thirty-five feet, and 
is said to destroj^ even Deer and Antelopes, by 
writhing itself round their bodies, so as to break 
or crush their bones, and then swalldwing them 
very graduallj^, for all Serpents are capable, from 
the particular organization of their jaws, of swal- 
lowing animals of much greater diameter than 
their own bodies. 
This is supposed to be the species which ter- 
rified the army of Regulus near the rivver Bagrada 
in Africa, and which is said to have measured 120 
feet in length. This perhaps was an exaggera- 
tion. In the British Museum is a skin measuring 
thirty-five feet, and it is probable that many ages 
ago much larger specimens might have occurred 
than any at present to be found, the increased po- 
pulation and cultivation of most countries having 
tended more and more to lessen the number of 
such animals. Some of the Bose are remarkable 
for the elegance of their colours and the beautiful 
disposition of their pattern. 
