8038 



Reptiles. 



conditions. They were in the same compartment, each with moss 

 under and a blanket over it. 



Date. 



Temperature on the surface. 



Temperature between coil9. 



Air in den. 



Mar. 9 



Male. Female. 



71 6 84 



72 8 79 5 



Male. Female. 



58° 6' 



65 4 



60 



61 



66 



It will be observed that every experiment showed an excess of 

 temperature in the female python over the male, and especially between 

 the coils. On the 2nd of March the excess was as much as 20° ; but, 

 at that time the appearance of the female showed that she was about 

 to cast her skin, and two days after she left her eggs at 9 p. m., and 

 remained off until seven the next morning. During the interval her 

 skin came off in shreds — always an unhealthy symptom in snakes; the 

 process lasted nearly ten, instead of the usual three or four hours. 

 She then took up her old position on the eggs, but before she did so 

 they were found to be nearly cold, and in the course of a day or two 

 there was a great change in their appearance. 



The temperature of the snake now became reduced to about the same 

 as in the week previous to moulting, and remained so up to the last 

 trial on the 16th of March. The python still kept closely on the eggs, 

 but was very irritable and dangerous. By the end of the month it was 

 thought advisable to remove the eggs, as they were evidently decom- 

 posing. Taking them away was no easy task, but at last it was 

 accomplished, the snake fighting desperately to preserve her long- 

 expected progeny. She had certainly not lost heart, or given up all 

 hopes of bringing out her young family, as I have seen stated. The 

 annual number of moults which snakes undergo, and the particular 

 seasons at which they occur, are found to vary with the age, size, 

 health and appetite of the species. As a rule, small snakes eat more 

 frequently, and cast their skins at shorter intervals, than large ones. 

 This applies to small species as well as to the young of larger ones. 

 With this python the moult usually takes place twice in the year, — in 

 the spring and autumn, — and it occurred this year at about the usual 

 time. What 1 have just mentioned with regard to the moulting of 

 snakes refers to what has been observed of these reptiles whilst in con- 

 finement ; but as the observations have been made on numerous 



