. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . rior part of the head. REPTILIA—BOA CONSTRICTOR. 701 days together, and digest their meal in safety. The smallest effort will mendestroy them; they scarcely can make any resistance; and, equally un-qualified for flight or opposition, even the naked Indians do not fear to assailthem. But it is otherwise, when this sleeping interval of digestion is over;they then issue, with famished appetites, from their retreats, and withaccumulated terrors, while every animal o
. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . rior part of the head. REPTILIA—BOA CONSTRICTOR. 701 days together, and digest their meal in safety. The smallest effort will mendestroy them; they scarcely can make any resistance; and, equally un-qualified for flight or opposition, even the naked Indians do not fear to assailthem. But it is otherwise, when this sleeping interval of digestion is over;they then issue, with famished appetites, from their retreats, and withaccumulated terrors, while every animal of the forest flies from theirpresence. One of them has boen known to kill and devour a darted upon the affrighted beast, (says the narrator,) the serpentinstantly began to wrap him round with its voluminous twistings; and atevery twist the bones of the buffalo were heard to crack as loud as the reportof a gun. It in vain that the animal struggled and bellowed; itsenormous enemy entvmed it so closely, that at length all its bones werecrushed to pieces, like thos? of a malefactor on the wheel, and the whole. body was reduced to one uniform mass; the serpent then untwined itsfolds, in order to swallow its prey at leisure. To prepare for this, and alsoto make it slip down the throat more smoothly, it was seen to lick hewhole body over, and thus to cover it with a mucilaginous substance. Itthen began to swallow it, at the end that offered the least resistance; andin the act of swallowing, the throat suffered so great a dilatation, that ittook in at once a substance that was thrice its own thickness. This animal inhabits India, Africa, and South America. With respect totheir conformation, all serpents have a very wide mouth, in proportion tothe size of the head; and, what is very extraordinary, they can gape andswallow the head of another animal which is three times as big as theirown. To explain this, it must be observed, that the jaws of this animal do notope
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidnaturalistsl, bookyear1851
