418 A DESCRIPTION OF 
With hissings fierce, dire Amphisboenas rear 
Their double heads, and rouse the soldier's fear. 
Eager he flies : more eager they pursue ; 
On every side the onset quick renew ! 
With equal swiftness face or shun the prey, 
And follow fast when thought to run away. 
Thus on the looms the busy shuttles glide, 
Alternate fly, and shoot at either side. 
THE BOA CONSTRICTOR. 
THIS immense animal is frequently nearly twenty feet in 
length, and of proportionate thickness ; the ground colour 
of its skin is yellowish grey, on which is distributed, along 
the back a series of large chain-like, reddish brown, and 
sometimes perfectly red, variegations, with other smaller 
and more irregular marks and spots. It is a native of 
South America, where it chiefly resides in the most retired 
situations in woods and marshes. 
The bite of this snake is not venomous ; nor is the ani- 
mal believed to bite at all, from any other impulse than 
