so that while the serpent supposes itself to be crushing the man, it
may be torn asunder by its own act, and so die. We do not ask our
readers for their implicit faith in this. He adds, that he has himself
seen serpents as thick as a man's thigh, which had been taken young by
the Indians and tamed; they were provided with a cask strewn with
litter in the place of a cavern, where they lived, and were for the
most part quiescent, except at meal-times, when they came forth, and
amicably climbed about the couch or shoulders of their master, who
placidly bore the serpent's embrace. They often coiled tip in folds,
equalling a large sized cartwheel in size, and harmlessly received
their food.

In most accounts current respecting the mode in which boas and pythons
take their food, the snake, after crushing its prey, is described as
licking the body with its tongue and lubricating it with its saliva,
in order to facilitate the act of deglutition. It has been observed
with justice that few worse instruments for such a purpose than the
slender dark forked tongue of these snakes could have been contrived:
and that, in fact, the saliva does not begin to be poured out
abundantly till required to lubricate the jaws and throat of the
animal straining to engulph the carcass. We have seen these snakes
take their food, but they did not lubricate it, though the vibratory
tongue often touched it; we must, therefore, withhold our credence
from the common assertion.

The size attained by the boa is often very great, and larger
individuals than any now seen occurred formerly, before their ancient
haunts had been invaded by human colonization.

The Anaconda, (_Boa Scytale_), called by Linnaeus, Boa Murina, and by