4 
THE ORDER OF SHAKES —OPHIDIA. 
The harmless Ground Snakes, the Fresh Water Snakes, and the 
venomous kinds generally, attack the smaller animals, such as frogs, 
lizards, and mice; they seize their prey and begin to swallow it at once. 
The arboreal species, and particularly the Pythons, kill theirs by pressure. 
As a rule, venomous snakes bite and then let go, but the Pythons 
retain their hold ; thus, it is hard to disengage one’s finger from between 
the jaws of a Rock Snake, for if main force be used the flesh will be torn 
to shreds, as all its teeth are curved backwards. 
Much as has been said and written about the size and power of Boas 
and Pythons, little can be relied on. The largest specimens seldom exceed 
20 feet in length, and an Australian Rock Snake of 10 or 11 feet must 
be considered a monster. The swallowing power of these reptiles has 
also been greatly exaggerated; so that the accounts we read in certain 
old travellers’ journals, of snakes devouring stags and he-goats, horns and 
all, may he taken for what they are worth. Persons conversant with their 
habits will be aware that the quarry is always swallowed by them head 
first, so that engulphing a creature with horns of even moderate size 
would be next to impossible. Such stories as Waterton tells of his Dutch 
friend, who killed a Boa 20 feet long, that had a pair of stag’s horns 
in its mouth, and was apparently waiting for the body just swallowed 
to be digested, are nothing but canards. The same author has treated 
us to other stories about the Alligators and Boas with which he engaged in 
comhat; these are probably quite true, but those who know what a fat Boa 
or Python 12 or 14 feet long is like, will not think much of the feat of 
despatching it. Du Chaillu and other sensational authors have followed 
in his footsteps ; the illustrations given by them of African Pythons are 
on about a par with the weU-known engraving representing a Boa, 
apparently 10 feet long, being ripped up by a negro while it is swinging 
from the branch of a tree. The present generation will not believe such 
exaggerations; for when the foot-rule is applied to the monsters in question 
they dwindle down to the ordinary size. Snakes from 10 to 14 feet long are 
considered very large now-a-days, and in former ages may have kept armies 
at hay, but our better acquaintance with their habits enables us to treat them 
with the contempt they deserve. We remember a gallant Commander 
of the Royal Navy, who (taking a stroll after lunch at the back of a 
