footing), having no such natural enemy as a large serpent, The author of the foregoing paper, in conclusion, gives to In this instance, the snake fixed itself by its tail to one of the posts of its cage, thus bringing the spurs into action and giving itself greater power. We now proceed to a consideration of the subdivisions of the genus Boa, properly so called, founded on the integuments of their head and jaws, adopted by Cuvier. * Head covered to the end of the muzzle with small scales nately of great blackish stains or spots irregularly hexagonal, and of pale oval stains or spots notched or jagged at either end, the whole forming a very elegant pattern. Shaw, in his lectures, mentions a skin of this species, measuring thirty-five feet, preserved in the British Museum, and adds, that it is probable that many ages ago much larger specimens might have occurred than any at present to be found, the increased population and cultivation of most countries having tended more and more to lessen the number of such animals. The locality of this species, according to the best authorities, is confined to the New World. Daudin, indeed, believed that it was found in the antient continent, but without sufficient grounds for his opinion. Le Vaillant and Humboldt brought it from Guiana, and the Prince de Wied found it in Brazil. Cuvier gives it as his opinion that there are no true boas of large size in the old world. Linnæus, quoting Dahlberg, says that the Boa Constrictor was worshipped by the Americans. Snake-worship,' says Dr. Southey, in his notes to Madoc, was common in America. Berna Dios, p. 3. 7. 125. The idol described, vii. p. 25, somewhat resembles what the Spaniards found at Campeche, which is thus described by the oldest historian of the discoveries. "Our men were conducted to a broade crosse-way, standing on the side of the towne. Here they shew them a square stage or pulpit foure steppes high, partly of clammy bitumen, and partly of small stones, whereto the image of a man cut in marble was joyned, two foure-footed unknown beastes fastening upon him, which, like madde dogges, seemed they would tear the marble man's guts out of his belly. And by the image stood a serpent, besmeared all with goare bloud, devouring a marble lion, which serpent, compacted of bitumen and small stones incorporated together, was seven and fortie feete in length, and as thicke as a great oxe. Next unto it were three rafters or stakes fastened to the grounde, which three others crossed under-propped with stones; in which place they punish malefactors condemned, for proof whereof they saw innumerable broken arrowes, all bloudie, scattered on the grounde, and the bones of the dead cast into an inclosed courte neere unto it."-Pietro Martire. Bullock, in his 'Six Months in Mexico,' speaks of a noble specimen of the great serpent-idol, almost perfect and of fine workmanship, in the cloisters behind the Dominican convent. This monstrous divinity is represented, according to him, in the act of swallowing a human victim," which is seen crushed and struggling in its horrid jaws. That these Mexican serpent-idols were fashioned from boas, there can, we think, be but little doubt. Such were most probably the Tlilcoatl, Temacuilcahuilia, and the Bitis of Hernandez, who describes the latter as of the thickness of a man, and says that it ascends trees, whence it vibrates, being fixed by its tail, and snatches men and boars and other animals of that kind, sometimes devouring them whole. This serpent he mentions indeed as a production of the island Cubu,' and as seen in the island Lutaya by the Spaniards when they were anxious to disburthen their ships. The Tlilcoatl and Temacuilcahuilia appear to have been continental; and of the serpent last named he gives so formidable an account that there appears every reason for supposing it to have been the prototype of the snake-god of the Mexicans. It derives its name, says Hernandez, from its strength, for Temacuilcahuilia is, fighting with five men; it attacks those it meets, and overpowers them with such force that if it once coils itself round their necks it strangles and kills them, unless it bursts itself by the violence of its own efforts; and he goes on to state how its attack is avoided by the man opposing a tree or other object to its constriction, so that while the serpent fancies that it is compressing the man it may be torn asunder by its own act, and so die. The same author states that he had seen serpents as thick as a man's thigh, which had been taken when young by the Indians and tamed, and how 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 tiraes, when they came forth and amicably climbed about the couch or shoulders of their master, who placidly bore the serpent-embrace • Bernard (or Bernal, or Bernardo) Diaz del Castillo. † Besides the name of Constrictor formosissimus, expressive of its beauty, Laurenti, according to Gmelin, gives the following appellations to the Boa constrictor: Constrictor rex serpentum, Constrictor auspex, Constrictor This powerful species is distinguished by a large chain diviniloquus. The two latter plainly indicate the superstitious feeling with extending the whole length of the back, composed alter which it was regarded by the natives, VOL. V.-E (amplexus) of the terrific animal, or how, lying coiled up in folds and equalling a large wheel in size, they harmlessly received the food offered to them. In the description of the Temacuilcahuilia we have, allowing for some exaggerations, the predatory habits of an enormous boa; and in the relation of the manners of the tamed constricting serpents which follows it, we find an engine which might be, and no doubt was, turned to account by the antient Mexican priests. Such a piece of priesteraft is well introduced by Southey, who in the following masterly lines brings before the eye of the reader the priest and his snake-god. 'On came the mighty snake, And twined, in many a wreath, round Neolin, And that strange sight. His girth was as of man, Of Basan, hugest of the Anakim: What then was human strength, if once involved Without entering into the details of Captain Stedman's well-known description of his encounter with one of these serpents at Surinam,-of the power exerted by the reptile in its dying agonies, and of the appearance of his naked and gory negro David, as, clinging to the yet writhing serpent which had been made fast to a strong forked bough, he stripped off its skin as he descended,-we may advert to the alleged length of the snake which, though it was pronounced to be a young one by the natives, is stated to have measured twenty-two feet and some inches in length. The captain says that he obtained from this boa four gallons of fine clarified fat, or rather oil, though there was wasted perhaps as much more. The negroes cut the flesh to pieces for the purpose of dressing it. Captain Stedman however would not suffer them to eat it, although they declared that it was exceedingly good and wholesome. The following extract from a letter dated City of Caracas, and written by Sir Robert Ker Porter, has been published. The letter accompanied a fine specimen of boa, nineteen feet and a half in length, presented by Sir Robert to the United Service Museum, where it is now (1835) pre served. The specimen is exhibited and was probably presented under the name of boa constrictor. It is not well preserved, but it has more the appearance of a Boa Scytale than of the former species:- The name which this colossal reptile goes by in Venezuela is that of "La Culebra de Agua," or "Water Serpent;" and also that of "El Traga Venado," or "Deer Swallower." It is not venomous, nor known to injure man (at least not in this part of the New World); however the natives of the plains stand in great fear of it, never bathing in waters where it is known to exist. Its common haunt, or rather domicile, is invariably near lakes, swamps, and rivers; likewise close to wet ravines produced by inundations of the periodical rains; hence, from its aquatic habits, its first appellation. Fish and those animals which repair there to drink are the objects of its prey. The creature lurks watchfully under cover of the water, and whilst the unsuspecting animal is drinking, suddenly makes a dash at its nose, and with a grip of its back-reclining double range of teeth, never fails to secure the terrified beast beyond the power of escape. In an instant the sluggish waters are in turbulence and foam, the whole form of the Culebra is in motion, its huge and rapid coilings soon encircle the struggling victim, and but a short moment elapses ere every bone is broken in the body of the expiring prey. On its ceasing to exist the fleshy tongue of the reptile is protruded (taking a long and thinnish form), passing over the whole of the lifeless beast, leaving on it a sort of glutinous saliva that greatly facilitates the act of deglutition, which it performs gradually by gulping it down through its extended jaws, a power of extension of them it possesses to so frightful and extraordinary a degree as not to be believed when looking at the comparative smallness of the mouth and throat in their tranquil state. After having completely devoured or rather hidden its prey in the way described, it becomes powerless as to motion, and remains in an almost torpid state for some days, or until nature silently digests the swallowed animal. The snake now sent was killed with lances, when just regaining its powers of action. 'The flesh of this serpent is white, and abundant in fat. The people of the plains never eat it, but make use of the fat as a remedy for rheumatic pains, ruptures, strains, &c. When these creatures are young the colours on the skin are very bright, and gradually lose their brilliancy with age.' There is generally in these descriptions an account of the fleshy tongue of the reptile, and of its application to the dead animal for the purpose of covering it with saliva, previous to the operation of swallowing it. A glance at the tongue of a Boa or a Python will convince the observer that few worse instruments for such a purpose could have been contrived. The delusion is kept up by the mode in which these serpents are sometimes preserved in museums, where they may be occasionally seen with fine artificial, thick, fleshy, vermilion tongues in the place of the small dark-coloured extensile organs with which nature has furnished them. We have frequently watched constricting serpents while taking their prey, and it is almost superfluous to add that they never covered the victim with saliva from the tongue before deglutition. When the prey is dead and the serpent is about to swallow it, the tongue of the destroyer is frequently thrust forth and vibrated, as if indicatory of the desire for food; but the mucus is not poured out till it is required to lubricate the dilated jaws and throat for the disproportioned feast. The Rev. Lansdown Guilding thus records the capability of the Boa to cross the seas:- A noble specimen of the Boa Constrictor,' says that lamented zoologist, was lately conveyed to us by the currents twisted round the trunk of a large sound cedar-tree, which had probably been washed out of the bank by the floods of some great South American river, while its huge folds hung on the branches as it waited for its prey. The monster was fortunately destroyed after killing a few sheep, and his skeleton now hangs before me in my study, putting me in mind how much reason I might have had to fear in my future rambles through St. Vincent had this formidable reptile been a pregnant female, and escaped to a safe retreat." ** Scaly plates from the eyes to the end of the muzzle. EXAMPLE. Boa Scytale and Boa murina of Linnæus, Boa aquatica of Prince Maximilian. This species referred to [Boa Scytale.] by Linnæus under two specific names, according to Cuvier, Brownish, with a double series of roundish black blotches *** Scaly plates on the muzzle; and dimples upon the plates EXAMPLE. Boa cenchria of Linnæus, Boa cenchris of Gme- nches nately m now how mbles een a Boa d to [Boa canina.] Greenish, with white irregular longish spots somewhat annularly disposed. This is the Boa viridis of Boddaert, the Boa thalassina of Laurenti, the Bojobi of the Brazilians, the Tetrauchoatl Tleoa* (a Mexican name) according to Seba, and the Cobra verde of the Portuguese, who relate that these serpents sometimes remain in the houses, doing no harm till irritated, when they at last bite and inflict a wound full of danger, not from injected poison, for the serpent has none, but on account of the injury sustained by the nerves from the very sharp, slender, and long teeth. Great inflammation follows, and the symptoms are aggravated by terror, so that a gangrene is the consequence unless the proper remedies are applied. In the absence of these certain death is said to be the consequence of a severe bite from this serpent. The immediate cause of death is not stated by Seba, but from the long and penetrating teeth of the Boa canina it may be presumed to be often tetanus or locked jaw. Seba says that this species varies in size, adding that the specimen from whien his figure was taken was more than two cubits in length. Cuvier is of opinion that the Roa hipnale is only a young Bojobi or Boa canina. [Boa cenchria.] Yellowish, with a row of large brown rings running the + See ante, p. 26, See ante, p. 25, (A portion of the under part of the tail of Boa canina, showing the hooks • Tleoa,' according to Seba, means 'a fiery serpent. BOADICE'A, BOODICEA, BONDICEA, or BOUNDORICEA (Bovdovika in Dion Cassius), lived in the middle of the first century, and was the wife of Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, a tribe of Britons inhabiting Norfolk and Suffolk. Prasutagus at his death bequeathed his wealth, which was very great, to his two daughters and to the Roman emperor, a device resorted to in those times with the hope that it would confine the emperor to a share of the deceased's possessions, and would rescue the remainder from his officers. Nero was at this time emperor; and Suetonius Paullinus, a general of great skill and energy, commanded in Britain. While Suetonius was occupied in attacking the Isle of Anglesey (then called Mona), Catus, the procurator or collector of the revenue, was guilty of great rapacity among the Britons in the east. He caused Boadicea, on whom the government of her nation had devolved by the death of her husband, to be scourged, and her daughters to be violated. The provocation for this outrage is not recorded. Probably it was the same which instigated the cruelty once inflicted by the English on native princesses in India: the government wanted money. The crime however brought its punishment. The Iceni and their neighbours, the Trinobantes (who dwelt in what is now Essex and Middlesex), flew to arms. They first attacked and destroyed the Roman colony of Camalodunum (Colchester), and defeated a Roman legion which was coming to the relief of the place, under the command of Petilius Cerialis. The insurgents also massacred the Romans at Verolamium (St. Alban's), a considerable municipium [see MUNICIPIUM], and at London, which was then famous for its commerce. Catus fled into Gaul. Tacitus says that the Romans and their allies were destroyed to the number of 70,000, many of whom perished under torture. Suetonius hastened to the scene of this revolt; and abandoning London, which he had no means of defending, posted himself with an army of about 10,000 men in a narrow pass, his rear being guarded by a wood, A.D. 61. The Britons were commanded by Boadicea, who, in a chariot with her two daughters, went from one tribe to another exhorting them to fight bravely. They seem however to have met the usual fate of uncivilized armies. Without combination, encumbered by their very multitude, impeded by their women who surrounded them, and by their unwieldy chariots, they suffered a universal carnage. Tacitus, a nearly contemporary historian, estimates the destruction at 80,000 persons, an incredible number, although he says that the Romans did not spare even the women and the animals, who added to the heaps of slain. Boadicea, he tells us, killed herself by poison. Dion Cassius however (lxii. 12), who lived about a century after Tacitus, attributes her death to disease, if the passage is not corrupt. See Ernesti's note on Tacitus, xiv. 37. (Taciti Annal. xiv. 31, &c.) BOAR. [See HoG.] BOARD, a word used to denote, in their collective capacity, certain persons to whom is intrusted the manage. ment of some office or department, usually of a public or corporate character. Thus, the lords of the treasury and admiralty, the commissioners of customs, the lords of the committee of the privy council for the affairs of trade, &c., are, when met together for the transaction of the business of their respective offices, styled the Board of Treasury, the Board of Admiralty, the Board of Customs, the Board of Trade, &c. The same word is used to designate the persons chosen from among the proprietors to manage the operations of any joint-stock association, who are styled the Board of Directors. In parochial government the guardians of the poor, &c., are called the Board of Guardians, &c. The word bureau in France is an equivalent expression. descriptions of these species we refer our readers to the work above-mentioned. BOAT. [See LIFE-BOAT.] BOAT-BILL (zoology), the English name for the genus Cochlearius of Brisson, Cancroma of Linnæus, Les Savacous of the French. This genus of the family Ardeida (heron-like birds) would approach quite closely, as Cuvier observes, to the herons (genus Ardea, Cuv.), in regard to their bill and the kind of food which it indicates, were it not for the extraordinary form of that organ, which is nevertheless, when closely observed, the bill of a heron or a bittern very much flattened out. This bill is of an oval form, longer than the head, very much depressed, and not unlike the bowls of two spoons placed one upon another, with the rims in contact. The mandibles are strong, with sharp edges, and dilated towards the middle. The upper mandible is carinated, and hooked at its point, which has a small tooth or notch on each side of it. The lower mandible is flatter than the upper, straight, membranous in the centre, and terminated by a sharp point. The nostrils are oblique, longitudinal, and closed. The first quill is short; the five next are the longest. The feet are furnished with four toes, all long, and almost without membranes. Though zoologists have described more than one species, it appears that they may be referred to the only species yet known, Cochlearius fuscus of Brisson, Cancroma cochlearia of Linnæus, Le Savacou of Buffon, the differences on which Cancroma cancrophaga (Linn., &c.) is founded not being allowed to be specific. Leach, in his Zoological Miscellany, figures and describes the common boat-bill' under the title of Cancroma vulgaris, but assigns no reason for altering the specific name given by Linnæus. [Cancroma cochlearia, male.] BOA'RMIA (Stephens, in entomology), a genus of moths of the family Geometrida. All the species of this genus The common boat-bill is about the size of a domestic hen. are of an ashy colour, or white minutely dotted with brown, In the male, the forehead, and upper parts of the neck and and adorned with several fascia of a deeper colour; the breast, are dirty white; the back and lower part of the belly antennæ of the males instead of being pectinated, a cha-rusty-reddish; the bill is black, and the legs and feet are racter common in the Geometrida, are pilose; palpi short, clothed with short scales, three-jointed, the two basal joints of equal length, the terminal joint concealed; antennæ simple in the females; thorax small, velvety; wings, when at rest, placed horizontally; body slender in the males, in the females shorter and more robust. Mr. Stephens, in his Illustrations of British Entomology, enumerates seven species of this genus, most of which are found in woods in the neighbourhood of London. For brown. From the head depends a long crest of black feathers, falling backwards. The female has the top of the head black, without the elongated crest, the back and the belly rusty-reddish; the wings grey; the forehead and rest of the plumage white; and the bill, legs, and feet brown. This species,' says Latham in his Synopsis, for I refer all that has been treated of above to one only, inhabits Cay enne, Guiana, and Brazil, and chiefly frequents such parts as are near the water. In such places it perches on the trees which hang over the streams, and, like the kingfisher, drops down on the fish which swim beneath. It has been thought to live on crabs likewise, whence the Linnæan name; but this is not clear, though it cannot be denied; yet we are certain that fish is the most common, if not the only food.' Lesson, in his Manuel (1828), says, 'the boat-bill perches on trees by the side of rivers, where it lives on fish, and not on crabs, as its name indicates; and speaks of it as inhabiting the inundated savannahs of South America, and as being especially common in Guiana. Leach, in his Zoological Miscellany (1815), says that it inhabits Southern America, and feeds on fishes, vermes and crustacea, in quest of which it is continually traversing the borders of the sea. Cuvier, in his Règne Animal (1829), says that it inhabits the warm and moist parts of South America, and perches on trees by the side of rivers, whence it precipitates itself on the fish which afford its ordinary nourishment. We saw this bird alive in Exeter Change some years ago. In captivity it had the melancholy air and gait of the herons and bitterns, which it has also, according to authors, in a state of nature. The food of this captive bird was principally fish. BOATSWAIN, a warrant officer in a ship of war who has the care of the rigging, cables, cordage, anchors, sails, boats, flags, colours, and other stores, which are committed to his charge by indenture from the surveyor of the navy. He has particular charge of the long boat and its furniture, and it is his duty to steer it, either himself or by his mate. One of the chief duties which devolve upon this officer is to attend to the rigging of the vessel, which he is charged to inspect every morning; not only to observe that everything is properly fitted and arranged in its place, but to see that all things are in good condition, to remove whatever may be judged unfit for service, and to supply whatever may be deficient. He cannot however cut up or otherwise appropriate any cordage or canvass for the public uses of the ship without a written order from the captain, and under the inspection of the master. His instructions inculcate the utmost frugality in the use of the stores intrusted to him; and at the end of a voyage he must present to the surveyor of the navy minute accounts, previously audited and vouched by the captain and master, of the purposes to which all the stores in his department have been applied, or of the circumstances under which they may have been lost, stolen, misapplied, or returned to the dock-yard. He cannot receive his pay till his accounts have been approved. In this department the boatswain is much under the con- BOBER, THE, a large river in Prussian Silesia, has its course to its junction with the Oder at Krossen, or Crossen. Its waters are increased by several small rivers and streams, the most considerable of which are the Zacken, which issues from the Zackenfall, one of the Bohemian Giant Mountains, about 2150 feet in height, and falls into the Bober near Hausberg; and the Queiss, which rises near Giehren, and empties itself into the Bober, on the left bauk, at Machen above Sagan. The Bober is about 140 miles in length, and flows through the towns of Hirschberg and Bunzlau in Prussian Silesia, and through Bobersberg and Krossen in Brandenburgh. It contains pearls. BOB-O-LINK, or BOB-LINK (Zoology), the usual name by which the ' rice-bird,' or 'reed-bird-the skunkbird (Seecawk-petheesew) of the Cree Indians, the ricebunting of Pennant and of Wilson, rice-troopial of authors, Hortulanus Carolinensis of Catesby, Emberiza orizyvora of Linnæus, Icteris agripennis of Bonaparte, Dolichonyx orizyvorus of Swainson-is known in the United States. Catesby, Wilson, Audubon, and Nuttall give the most complete accounts of this well-known bird:-The whole continent of America,' says the latter, from Labrador to Mexico, and the great Antilles, are the occasional residence of this truly migratory species. About the middle of March, or beginning of April, the cheerful bob-o-link makes his appearance in the southern extremity of the United States, becoming gradually arrayed in his nuptial livery, and accompanied by troops of his companions, who often precede the arrival of their more tardy mates. (Bartram's Travels, p. 295,edit. Lond.) Their wintering resort appears to he rather the West Indies than the tropical continent, as their migrations are observed to take place generally to the east of Louisiana, where their visits are rare and irregular.' (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, vol. i. p. 283.) At this season also they make their approaches chiefly by night, obeying, as it were, more distinctly the mandates of an overruling instinct, which prompts them to seek out their natal regions; while in autumn their progress, by day only, is alone instigated by the natural quest of food. About the 1st of May the meadows of Massachusetts begin to re-echo their lively ditty. At this season in wet places, and by newly ploughed fields, they destroy many insects and their larvae, but, while on their way through the southern States, they cannot resist the temptation of feeding on the early wheat and tender barley. According to their success in this way, parties often delay their final northern movement as late as the middle of May, so that they appear to be in no haste to arrive at their destination at any exact period. The principal business of their lives, however, the rearing of their young, does not take place until they have left the parallel of the 40th degree. In the savannahs of Ohio and Michigan, and the cool grassy meadows of New York, Canada, and New England, they fix their abode, and ob |