PYTHONS AND BOAS. 
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row of lateral eye-like spots having whitish centres and blackish rims. The 
upper part of the head is dark, and divided by a black streak terminating in a 
point on the muzzle, from the lighter cheeks ; while another oblique black streak 
runs on each side behind the eye; the under-parts being whitish with blackish spots. 
The anaconda (Euneces murinus ) is an inhabitant of the Guianas, Brazil, and 
North-Eastern Peru, and is essentially an inhabitant of tropical forest regions. That 
it is the largest of all living snakes there can be little doubt, but the precise limits 
of size to which it may occasionally attain cannot be ascertained. A stuffed 
example in the British Museum has a total length of 29 feet, and the species is 
commonly stated to reach 33 feet, while, if native reports are to be trusted, 
individuals of much larger size are occasionally met with. Although naturalists 
are generally indisposed to credit the existence of monsters of 40 feet, or even 
more, we confess that personally we are unable to share their incredulity, as it is 
very improbable that the largest specimens have come under European observation. 
From ail accounts, it appears that the anaconda generally spends more of its time 
in the water than on land, frequently floating down rivers with the current, 
and at other times lurking in quiet pools with only its head raised above the 
surface of the water. In such situations, or resting on rocks, stranded tree trunks, 
or sandbanks, it lies in wait for its prey. It, however, frequently leaves the 
water to pass a longer or shorter period on shore, when it may be found either 
in trees, among rocks, or even on hot sand; and it appears that when in a tree 
this snake will often dart down its head from a considerable height to seize a 
passing peccary or other animal. Bates tells us that the anaconda will occasionally 
seize human beings, and this statement is fully confirmed by other observers. In 
Brazil, where water is abundant throughout the year, this snake is active at all 
seasons, although it is stated to display the most activity during the hot months 
of December, January, and February. In other districts, however, according to 
Humboldt, during the dry season, it is in the habit of burying itself deep in the mud 
of the dried-up rivers, where it is sometimes disinterred by the natives in a torpid 
condition. Very little is known with regard to the breeding-habits of the anaconda. 
Since, however, females have several times been killed, containing eggs with embryos 
far advanced inside them, it would seem that the young are born alive. When they 
first make their appearance in the world, the young are reported to take to the 
water, although they soon leave it to pass a large portion of their time in trees. 
Long supposed to be exclusively a tropical and South American 
group, the true boas are common to the hotter regions of America 
and Madagascar. From the anaconda, the boas may be distinguished by the 
whole of the nasal shields being separated in the middle line by small scales. The 
body may be either cylindrical or slightly compressed; and the short and more or 
less prehensile tail may have either the whole or a portion of the shields on its 
lower surface arranged in a single series. In America the genus is represented 
by five species, two of which range as far south as the inland districts of upper 
Argentina. All species are characterised by having the loreal region of the head 
covered either with a single small shield or with small scales, and by the number of 
rows of shields on the under surface of the tail ranging from forty-five to sixty-nine. 
On the other hand, in the Malagasy boas (Boa madagascariensis and dumerili) 
True Boas. 
