in his “Description of Guinea and the Gold Coast,” 
informs us tliat thougli the largest he saw himself was 
twenty feet, that there existed many much larger in 
the interior, where his countrymen often found in their 
stomachs not only whole animals, hut men entire. 
Labat tells us that on the river Kurbali, on the west 
coast of Africa, serpents are to be seen thirty feet long, 
and capable of swallowing an ox ; and in the Moluccas 
we are told of serpents upwards of thirty feet in length 
and one foot in circumference. Schlegel, however, a 
cautious and conscientious author, remarks upon this 
subject, that though the Boa constrictor is generally 
held up as of an enormous size, he is perfectly satisfied 
that it rarely attains a length of nine or ten feet ; that 
the largest Pythons seldom exceed eighteen or twenty; 
and that the Anaconda itself (the largest species of the 
family) is now-a-days never met with exceeding twenty 
or twent\’-five feet, and of the circumference of a man’s 
thigh. M. Boie, who in his travels in India had many 
opportunities of observing these animals, tells us that in 
spite of his assiduous researches he was never able to 
procure Pythons even of the size we have mentioned.* 
It is said that after having killed their prey, they 
lubricate the body all over with a thick layer of saliva, 
in order to accelerate its putrefaction and facilitate its 
deglutition. Now, says Schlegel, the mouth of the 
Boas is really not wider than in many other serpents, 
the jaws are not more dilatable, and the salivary glands, 
which ought to be able to secrete such a prodigious 
quantity of saliva, and therefore ought to be very large, 
are on the contrary much less developed than in a 
great number of other serpents. Mr. Broderip, in the 
article Boid(v in the English Cyclopaedia says, “ There 
is generally in these descriptions an account of the fleshy 
tongue of the reptile, and of its application to the dead 
animal for the purpose of covering it with saliva previous 
to the operation of swallowing it. We have fre- 
quentlj' watched constricting serpents while taking their 
prey,and it is almost superfluous to add that they never 
covered their victim with saliva from their tongue before 
deglutition. The mucus is not poured out till it is 
required to lubricate the dilated jaws and throat for the 
disproportioned feast.” M. Boie, quoted above, in 
India, and the Prince of Neuwied, in America, agree in 
stating that these large reptiles only prey in general ui)on 
mammalia of a small size, adult individuals alone being 
able to master young pigs and those small deer known 
by the name of Muntjac. Large mammalia and man, 
they affirm, are never in danger , of being attacked by 
these creatures, and the natives could not inform them 
of even a child having ever run any risk. Enough of 
sober truth, however, remains to make the study of 
these large serpents exceedingly interesting. The body 
diminishes in size gradually towards the two extremities, 
being much thicker in the middle. It is always con- 
siderably compressed. The tail is short, somewhat 
conical, and most frequently terminated in a short, blunt 
point. It is always prehensile — that is, owing to the 
direction of the articular surfaces of the vertebrae it can 
* Tlie l.^rp:est specimens of stuffed snakes in the collectinn 
oi tlie British Museum are as follows ; — Python Schw, tifieen 
feet; Boa ccnstricto?', thirteen feet; and Anaconda, twelve 
t'eet. 
permit themselves to be laid hold of, and is thus able 
to sustain the weight of the whole body without the 
serpent being obliged to emjiloy much force for that 
pnipose. The head is always distinct from the trunk, 
broad, rather long, conical, dejiresscd, and terminated 
by a muzzle, which is most frequently elongated and 
blunt at the tip. The plates or scales which cover 
the edges of the lips (the labial jilalcs) are in a number 
of species (more particularly the Pythons) hollowed 
out in the form of more or less deep pits, an organiza- 
tion peculiar to these animals, and of which we do not 
know the use. The bones of the head are exceedingly 
strong. The teeth are pretty large, all solid, close set, 
and pointing backwards, and increase in size as they 
approach the tip of the muzzle. The palate is in 
general provided with teeth also, nearly as well 
developed ns those of the jaws. The ribs are robust, 
long, and curved ; and the articulating surfaces of the 
vertebrae are directed in such a way that the body 
of the serpent can easily be rolled spirally inwards. 
We have already alluded to the existence of rudi- 
mentary hinder extremities in this family. These 
consist of a legbone, or tibia, two tarsal bones, and 
a metatarsal bone, all developed under the skin, and 
to the last of which is attached a horny spur, or nail, 
which penetrates the skin and projects externally. — See 
Plate 8, fig. 18. These spurs are moved by small 
muscles attached to the bones, and are useful to the 
animal in climbing trees and perhaps in holding fast its 
prey. Boas are endowed with prodigious muscular 
force, and though this may be also exaggerated, we 
may yet conceive, from an inspection of the muscles 
attached to the l ibs, of what amazing power a serpent 
twenty feet long, and as thick as a man’s thigh, may 
really possess. 
They are very rarely seen, however, to use this 
power in captivity. Such as have been seen in Europe 
are generally very gentle, no provocation being able to 
incite them to put forth their strength, and their move- 
ments are very slow. They are, many of them, ot 
brilliant colours, though these disappear after death. 
Unlike the generality of serpents, their colours do not 
become pale with age, but, on the contrary, become 
more vivid, the design remaining very distinct at all 
periods of their life. “As far as our experience goes,” 
says Schlegel, “ the females appear to be thicker in the 
body than the males, while the rudimentary legs, on the 
other hand, appear to be more strongly develoj)ed in 
the male than in the female.” The Boas are well known 
to take their prey by stratagem. “Hot steaming 
morasses, the swampy margin of rivers, the borders of 
lakes, the tangled underwood that skirts the dark and 
marshy forest — tliese are their favourite abodes;” and 
there, with its prehensile tail twisted round some 
aquatic shrub or tree, the huge reptile lies in wait 
silently and patiently, stretched on the bank, or half 
floating in the water, till some unfortunate animal 
chance to pass that way, or ventures to the water to 
quench its thirst, when, with amazing velocity, it darts 
upon its victim, seizes it with its sharp strong teeth, 
and, with the quickness of thought, twists its huge bulk 
in many folds round the body of its prey, and crushes 
Boas. REPTILES. Boas. 53 
easily roll itself inwardly, fasten itself to objects which 
