REPTILIA. 269 
One of the best known species of Boide is the anaconda (Hunectes 
murinus, pl. 74, fig. 62). It is found in Brazil, and is said to attain to a 
length of 40 feet, although the specimens exhibited in museums and mena- 
geries rarely exceed 10 or 15. Ina wild state it is often found with the tail 
coiled round a tree on the river’s edge, and the body floating in the water, thus 
awaiting the approach of its prey. It feeds on animals of moderate size, 
peccaries, agoutis, &e., which it kills by crushing, and then swallows whole, 
but does not disdain fish, frogs, &c. Little fear is experienced by the 
inhabitants of the country, as it is quite timorous and rarely disposed to attack 
man. 
The Boa Constrictor (pl. 86, fig. 5)is another familiar species from Brazil; 
it is more terrestrial in its habits than the anaconda, keeping in dry desert 
situations, among bushes, trees, and rocks. It readily climbs trees, from 
which it hangs suspended by its prehensile tail, ready to drop upon any 
unlucky animal which may pass beneath. Like the anaconda, it is destroyed 
in various ways, by shooting, lassoing, noosing, &c. The thick skin is fre- 
quently tanned and converted into leather for boots and saddles. The fat is 
made use of for various fanciful purposes, and the dried excrement employed as 
medicine. Another species, Boa, or rather Xiphosoma caninum, from Brazil, 
is represented in pl. 87, fig. 4. The giant snakes of the Old World belong 
chiefly to the genus Python. 
Fam. Colubride. In this, the last family of Ophidia, we find species 
which are very rarely provided with poisonous fangs. The belly is covered 
with broad scales. and there are no rudiments of hind feet as in the last family. 
The tail is conical and tapering, and rarely compressed. The nostrils are open 
and placed at the side of the snout, near the top. ‘The head is most generally 
covered with regular plates, which by their number and shape afford excellent 
distinctive characters. ‘They are distributed all over the world, and are in 
much greater number, both of individuals and species, than in any other family 
of Ophidia. 
This family is especially abundant in the United States, where it occurs 
under two principal types, Coluber and Tropidonotus, with several sections 
of less extent. The genus Coluber embraces most of the larger familiar 
species with the scales smooth and without a longitudinal ridge along the 
centre of each, as in Trropidonotus. The body is generally slender and 
cylindrical, and incapable of being flattened in a horizontal plane like 
Tropidonotus. They are rarely seen in the water, and are mostly oviparous, 
the eggs being depcsited m decayed wood, sand, or other localities. The 
other genus, Jvropidonotus, on the other hand, possesses the power of 
depressing the body, and is generally viviparous, the eggs being developed 
in the oviduct. Coluber constrictor, or the Black Snake, is a familiar 
instance of the American species of Coluber. It is abundant in all parts 
of the country, and sometimes attains the length of six feet. It climbs trees 
with great readiness, and moves over the ground with much _ velocity. 
Numerous stories are current of their pursuing individuals, and thereby 
earning their common name of “ Racers.” It is quite possible that under 
some circumstances they may follow after a person who flies in terror 
473 
