by its prey there it continued to lurk, in patient expectation, and would have remained for weeks together, had it not been disturbed by the natives.

As the body is long, slender, and capable of bending in every direction, the number of joints in the back bone, are numerous beyond what one would imagine. In the generality of quadra. peds, they amount to not above thirty or forty; in all animals of the serpent kind, as well as in this, they amount to an hundred and forty five from the head to the vent, and twenty five more from that to the tail. They serve to give the back-bone a surprising degree of pliancy; but this is still increased, by the manner in which each of these are locked into the other. In man and qua. drupeds, the flat surfaces of the bones are laid one against the other, and bound tight by sinews; but in serpents, the bones play che within the other like a ball and socket, so that they have full motion upon each other in every direction. Thus, if a man were to form a machine composed of so many joints as are found in the back of a serpent, he would find it no easy matter to give it such strength and pliancy at the same time. The chain of a watch is but a bungling piece of workmanship in comparison.

Though the number of joints in the back-bone is great, yet that of the ribs is still greater; for there are two hundred and ninety in all.

These ribs are furnished with muscles; four in number; which being inserted into the head, run along to the end of the tail, and give the animal great strength and agility in all its

motions.

There is much geometrical neatness in the disposal of the serpent's scales, for assisting the animal's sinuous motion. As the edges of the foremost scales lie over the ends of their following scales, so those edges when the scales are erected, which the animal has a power of doing in a small degree, catch in the ground, and so promote and facilitate the animal's progressive motion. The erecting of these scales, is by means of a multitude of distinct muscles, with which each is supplied, and one end of which is tacked in each to the middle of the foregoing.

As a proof of the great size at which these animals arrive, a gentleman, who had some large concerns in America, informs us, that he one day sent out a soldier, with an Indian, to kill some wild-fowl; and in pursuing their game, the Indian, who generally went before, sat down upon what he supposed to be the fallen trunk of a tree. But the monster beginning to move, the poor fellow perceived what it was that he had thus approached, and dropped down in an agony. The soldier, who at some distance saw what had happened, levelled his piece at the serpent's head, and, by a lucky aim,

shot it dead; and, going to the relief of his com panion, found that he was also dead from his fright. On his return, he related what had happened; the animal was ordered to be brought, and it was found to be thirty-six feet long. The skin was stuffed, and sent to the cabinet of the Prince of Orange.

The Boa however is not confined to America, it is also a native of the larger Indian Islands, and of the burning deserts of Africa. In those countries where the sun dries up every brook, and that which had the appearance of a great river in the rainy season, becomes, in summer, one dreary bed of sand; a lake that is never dry, is consi dered by every animal as the greatest convenience of nature.. As to food, the country supplies that in sufficient abundance, or else they are furnished by nature with a wonderful capacity for enduring hunger; it is the want of water that all animals endeavour to remove. When they have discovered this, no dangers can deter them from attempting to slake their thirst. Thus the neighbourhood of a rivulet, in the tropical countries, is generally the place where all the hostile tribes of nature draw up for the engagement. On the banks, thousands of animals of various kinds are seen venturing to quench their thirst, or preparing to seize their prey. The elephants are perceived in a long line, marching from the darker parts of the forest; the buffaloes are

there depending upon numbers for security: the gazelles relying solely upon their swiftness, the lion and tiger waiting a proper opportunity to seize, but chiefly the larger serpents are upon guard there, and defend the accesses of the lake. Not an hour passes without some dreadful combat; but the serpent defended by its scales, and naturally capable of sustaining a multitude of wounds, is of all others, the most formidable. It is the most wakeful also; for the whole tribe sleep with their eyes open, and arc, consequently, for ever upon the watch; so that, till their ra. pacity is satisfied, few other animals will venture to approach their station.

In the island of Java, we are assured, that one of these monsters has been known to kill and devour a buffalo In a letter printed in the German Ephemerides, we have an account, by a person who, assures us that he was himself a spectator of a combat between an enormous serpent and a buffalo. The serpent had for some time, been waiting, near the brink of a pool, in expectation of its prey; when a buffalo was the first animal that appeared. Having darted upon the affrighted beast, it instantly began to wrap him round with its voluminous twisting; and at every twist, the bones of the buffalo were heard to crack almost as loud as the report of a gun. It was in vain that the animal struggled and bellowed; its enormous enemy entwined it