SOME ORIGINAL INVESTIGATIONS UPON THE 
PYTHON MOEURUS. 
By J. Leffingweee Hatch, B.S., M.D., 
Lecturer on Bacteriology, and Assistant Demonstrator of Pathology 
in the University of Pennsylvania ; Assistant Pathologist 
to Philadelphia Hospital, etc. REPRINTED FROM 
The Journal of Comparative Medicine 
and Veterinary Archives, 
August, 1890. 
SOME ORIGINAL INVESTIGATIONS UPON THE 
PYTHON MOLURUS. 
By J. Leffingwell Hatch,Mj.S., M.D., 
Lecturer on Bacteriology, and Assistant Demonstrator of Pathology 
in the University of Pennsylvania ; Assistant Pathologist 
to Philadelphia Hospital, etc. 
The visceral anatomy of the pythonidae, as far as its ulti- 
mate cellular nature is concerned, has not been thoroughly 
studied, or if it has been, was not described in any of the more 
prominent scientific works of either Europe or America. I have 
made a careful search of the literature from the works of Aristotle 
and Pliny up to the memoirs of the present day, and in none of 
them is the histology of the parts under consideration described. 
My main object in this paper will be to point out the probable 
meaning of a diverticulum of the stomach upon histological and 
morphological reasons ; yet, for the sake of clearness in my line 
of thought and for the sake of comparison with other forms, I 
shall describe the histology of both the oesophagus and the 
stomach. 
As it was through the meditation of a pathological inquiry 
that these studies were made possible, I shall devote a short 
space to a description of the lesion observed. 
The pathology of this animal, even like the histology, has 
been sadly neglected. Comparative pathology has as yet done Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
2 
very little to help the showman, and those who have large col- 
lections of wild animals, to understand and judiciously treat the 
affections * to which such animals are prone. It is true that 
veterinary medicine has made great advances and thrown much 
light on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the domestic 
animals, and thus saved much live stock that would otherwise 
have perished, but outside of the horse, cow, pig, sheep and dog, 
it has not as yet ventured. It is also true that M. Louis Pasteur, 
that great good man of France whose praises cannot be sung too 
often, has saved much money for the French Government and 
nation by teaching them the exact nature of the disease of the 
silkworm, of chicken cholera, and how to treat them; but just 
how far down in the animal kingdom we can trace pathological 
processes we know not. 
It is a patent fact that the tendency to recovery from disease 
or the healing of a wound is the innate property of the organism 
to reproduce itself by cell multiplication when jostled from a state 
of stable equilibrium or fractured in the continuity of structure. 
It is a fact well known to naturalists that the crab, one of the 
class of crustaceans, if it receives an injury to a portion of its 
limbs promptly breaks the limb off at a point higher up. This is 
accomplished by means of the extensor muscles, which pull the 
limb forcibly against the carapace, thus fracturing it at that point. 
The distal cells are then thrown into a state of proliferation by 
means of an active hypersemia induced by the traumatism, and 
soon an entire new member is reproduced on the same plan and 
after the old pattern. The crab also undergoes a true ecdysis 
every year, throwing off the epithelial membrane of its alimentary 
tract from oral cavity to anus, save for the stomach, which pre- 
serves it in its pristine condition, so that here a pathological pro- 
cess due to cell outwandering and proliferation would be next to 
impossible, for after it was once nicely established it would be 
thrown off in toto and leave the crab with a clean new membrane 
throughout its entire tract. 
Is it not then a difficult task to say just where the line be- 
tween the possibilities of pathological processes or the harboring 
of “ materies pecans ” and conditions of complete exemption by 
means of a more perfect cell activity or individual assertion is to 
be drawn ? To find out in just what forms of life complete im- Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
3 
munity from these morbid changes exist and exactly to what their 
evolution is due, is a study that ought to go hand in hand with 
that of the “mechano-physiological philosophy of biology,” 
which endeavors to point out the mechanical forces which brought 
about those changes that have adapted the organism to best sur- 
vive in the struggle for existence. 
The life of a cell depends upon eight fundamental principles, 
and it is the sum total of these which resist death, according to 
Bichat. Now, if disease is imperfect organization in imperfect 
action, the imperfect action must be due to the way in which 
some one or more of these fundamental conditions play their role. 
Accordingly, if we would understand the phenomena of perverted 
organic action, we must go to the ultimate source of trouble, the 
relation of the eight fundamental principles to the cell, and they 
are represented by its environment. As the lower forms of life 
are made up of fewer cells than their more cumbersome and com- 
plex relatives, the life history of the individual cell can be best 
studied among them, so that it seems to me that comparative 
pathology, or a science of disease that is based upon a knowledge 
of the different phases of a cell unit from the lowest forms up, is 
to be a science that will not only enlighten the student in biology 
but will aid the practical clinician of medicine. 
In accordance with the above exposition I shall treat of 
ophidian life in general, the pythonidse in particular, and study 
the anatomy and histology of the cells forming the parts diseased 
before endeavoring to reconcile the effect to any probable cause. 
History of Ophiology. 
The first descriptions of serpents that we find anywhere in 
literature are those left to us in the precious works of Aristotle, 
but they are so marred by the prejudices and superstitious ideas 
of his time that they are worthless as an accurate description of 
the species that he chanced upon, and he speaks in a vague way 
of the aspic, the viper and serpents in general. 
Pliny has also many curious stories to tell us about serpents, 
but as in his history generally, he has distorted the truth to please 
and occupy the reader with strange things, likewise in his ac- 
counts of snakes his elastic imagination has not disdained to Original Investigations tipon the Python Molurus. 
4 
stretch the truth. Nevertheless, he is the first to mention the 
principal species known at the epoch when he lived. 
Then we have following close upon Pliny, whose 
errors in description only exceeded those of Pliny by their number. 
The other relics of classic ophiology were left to us by such 
writers as Nicander, Virgile, Lucian, etc., who speak more or less 
directly about serpents in their works. 
The Greeks comprehended indifferently all serpents under the 
two names, and d<t>ts, which were derived from the verbs 
SepxtLv and (bn-av, both meaning to see. The German “schlange” 
comes from the verb schlingen, to turn or wind, and is analogous 
to the Latin serpens, from serpere, from which comes the French 
serpent that has been brought directly into English. 
The word snake is of different etymology. It comes from A. 
S., “ snaca” a snake (perhaps originally snaca).-(-Icel., sndkr, 
snokr; Dan., snog ; Swed., snok. —(-Skt., ndga, a snake. Orig., 
“ a creeperallied to the word sneak, which can be traced back 
through the Icel., Swed. and Dan. to the Gael, and Irish snaig, 
snaigh, to creep. , 
Concerning Deglutition in Serpents. 
Deglutition in the ophidians especially the pythonidae, is a 
long and tedious process. They catch their prey alive and, if of 
the constrictor species, squeeze it into a pliable mass. They then 
force the animal far back into their throat, which is facilitated by 
the manner in which the lower jaw is articulated with the upper, 
a long narrow bone called the quadrate intervening between the 
two maxillae; this allows the under jaw to open until it is parallel 
with the neck. The sharp recurved teeth keep the animal from 
slipping out, then the lower jaw advances while the upper holds 
on firmly, and thus by a play of the jaws, particularly the lower 
one, accompanied by a muscular effort known as swallowing, the 
mass is moved along the very long oesophagus, which is lubri- 
cated by a slimy mucus thrown out by numerous glands along its 
entire extent. In this manner small pigs, rabbits and birds are 
disposed of with comparative ease, and during not a very great 
length of time. Sometimes, however, a serpent will attempt to 
swallow too large an animal, and a portion will remain protruding 
from the mouth. Serpents found in this condition are very Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
5 
hideous, and their appearance, taken in connection with the 
mephitic odors which they exhale from the already decaying 
flesh, fills one with disgust. It is probably from ophidians found 
in this condition that material for the numerous fables has been 
gathered, a material which the poet has not been slothful in em- 
bellishing. 
All serpents eat in the manner described above, save that the 
venomous ones hide their fangs in their sheaths during this act 
in order to protect them from injury. 
The Digestion of Ophidians. 
Digestion among the ophidians takes place with great slow- 
ness, notwithstanding the activity of the stomach during diges- 
tion and the strength of the gastric juice. This fluid, however, 
is not secreted in great abundance, and many authorities, such as 
M. Lenz, supported by Schlegel, are of the opinion that macera- 
tion and chymification take place only at the pyloric end of the 
• stomach. They bring forward as proof of this that on opening an 
animal some time after feeding the portion in the pyloric end will 
be found to have undergone great changes, while that at the car- 
diac end will scarcely be altered. I have never had the oppor- 
tunity of opening a snake in this condition, so necessarily cannot 
vouch for the above statement. During captivity the ophidians 
will disgorge the undigested parts, such as feathers, hair, nails 
and claws. Also if one happens upon a snake that has just been 
feeding it will immediately empty itself that it may be more alert 
and escape more readily from enemies. This is a notable fact 
occurring in many birds. The digestive tract is not overtaxed in 
the pythonidae, as they are dormant during the Winter season and 
refuse food, and even during the warmer season of the year they 
feed less largely than the carnivora. 
The Gross Anatomy and Description of the Oesophagus 
and Stomach. 
The entire alimentary tract in the pythonidae admits of two 
grand divisions, an cesophago-gastrial and an intestinal. The 
first is, in the average size adult python, 2.75 m., the second 1.75 
m. long. The first division, composed pf the oesophagus and 
stomach, extends as far down as the position of the right supra- 6 
Original Investigations upon the Python Molums. 
From a Photograph of the Mucous Membrane of the Stomach of a Python (python molorus) showing (a) Termination of Oesophagus, 
(b) Cardiac portion, (c) Pyloric portion, (d) Entrance of Gastric Diverticulum, (e) Ulcer and surrounding Hyperplasia. Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
7 
renal capsule. The second division, joined to the first by a short 
transverse canal, the pylorus, is composed of the small and large 
intestines, which terminate in a cloaca on the under side of the 
body about 20 cm. from the end of the tail. 
The oesophagus is quite capacious, having a circumference of 
30 cm. throughout its entire length, and admitting easily the 
closed fist. It is highly elastic and expansible, is quite thin in 
structure, and translucent. In the recent condition it is collapsed 
on account of its property of elasticity. As it approaches the 
stomach it gradually becomes thicker and more opaque, on ac- 
count of the increase of muscular fibres in the media. Its general 
course is in the median line and posterior to the trachea, to which 
it is adherent by loose connective tissues, but at a point in about 
the region of the heart it is deflected a little to the left and occu- 
pies a space between the left lung and the costal parieties ; this is 
evidently to favor respiration while deglutition is taking place, as 
aeration of the blood depends more upon the right lung than the 
left, the former being the larger and reinforced by an extensive 
air chamber at its extremity, while the latter is very small and 
often atrophied. The mucous lining throughout its entire length 
is smooth and presents a peculiar reticulated appearance. Numer- 
ous glands can be seen microscopically that empty upon its 
surface and keep it moist with a glairy mucous secretion, evidently 
for the purpose of aiding the passage of a large bolus of food. 
Provision against completely shutting off the supply of air 
from pressure on the trachea is made by means of small muscles 
attached to the trachea, which not only enable it to be moved 
from side to side, but allow it to be projected from the mouth 
during the agt of deglutition. There is scarcely any difference in 
size between the lower end of the oesophagus and the cardiac end 
of the stomach, the one gradually blending into the other, the 
shade of color and the tendency to the formation of minute longi- 
tudinal rugse together with the increasing thickness pointing out 
the transition. (Vide photograph.) 
The stomach rather than being a dilatation of the gut, as in 
many ophidians, is rather a continuance of the oesophagus for part 
of its course (so far as the measurement of its diameter is con- 
cerned, though in structure there is a great difference), then a 
marked narrowing takes place before it passes into the pylorus. 8 
Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
It is an elongated affair, having a total length of 1.50 m. and 
a diameter of 30 cm. at its widest part. It admits of division into 
two distinct parts in accordance with its form and structure. The 
first division commences at the cardiac orifice and extends for a 
distance of 1 m., the second is represented by that portion of the 
stomach between the point of termination of this first part and the 
pylorus. The first portion is musculo-membranous, and contains 
many longitudinal rugae, which are entirely effaced when the 
stomach is greatly distended. The second part is narrow and 
thicker, the increase in thickness being due to an increase or 
super-addition of muscular fibres that from here on run in a longi- 
tudinal direction. The rugae in the mucosa are less numeious, 
but are thicker and cannot be effaced by distention. The thick- 
ness of the walls, the size and number of the rugae, together with 
the contraction of its circumference go to point out a definite line 
of separation between the two parts, which M. Duvernoy has pro- 
posed to call respectively ‘ ‘ sac stomacal ’ ’ (gastric sac) and 
“ bayau pylorique ” (pyloric bay).1 
This division can readily be seen in the picture (vide plate), 
and when I come to speak of the histology of the stomach there 
are other differences to be observed that further aid us in the sepa- 
ration of the stomach into two portions. 
On the outside of the stomach in the first portion, near the 
cardiac end, there is an oval body about the size of the gall 
bladder in man. It is a cyst or diverticulum of the stomach, into 
which it opens by means of a narrow duct. The walls are quite 
thick, and the cavity contains some sebaceous matter. The 
mucous surface corresponds exactly with that of the stomach, as 
does also its cellular elements, as will be seen in the chapter de- 
voted to the histology of the stomach. The point of opening may 
be seen in the plate. This diverticulum, according to C. 
Poelman, is not always to be found in the same location, but may 
occur at the end of the “sac stomacal.”2 
It was considered by some of the earlier writers as the spleen, 
1 Fragments d’Anatomie sur l’organization des serpents. Memoire lu &. l’Academie 
des Sciences de Paris, le 18 Juin, 1832, Annales des Sciences Naturalles de Paris, t. XXX, 
p. 135.- 
2 Vide mem. cour. et mem. d. Sav. Etrong. de PAcad. de Belg., Tom. 22, 1848, p. 5. 
Vide also J. P, Hopkinson and J. Pancoast. On the Visceral Anatomy of the Python, 
described by Daudin as the boa reticulata. Mit 1 taf. In Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., N. S. 
vol. 5, 1837, pp. 121-134. Original Investigations upon the Pytho?i Molurus. 
9 
as that organ was for a long time overlooked, but Schlegel has 
pointed out the existence of a spleen in close proximity to the 
pancreas, with which organ it is intimately adherent.1 Other 
writers have considered it either as anomalous or pathological.2 
No one has as yet pointed out its true nature, although M. 
Duvernoy, in the same article in which he comes to the conclusion 
that it is anomalous, speaks of it as a sort of rudimentary second 
stomach. This I believe to be the true nature of it, and in the 
chapter devoted to the discussion of its probable meaning I shall 
endeavor to prove it upon morphological and histological grounds. 
The Histology of the CEsophagus and Stomach. 
I also made careful microscopical studies on the python which 
came under my observation. The results are briefly as follows : 
The oesophagus consists of four coats, which, enumerated 
from without in, are as follows, viz : First, a fibrous covering 
which is eminently white fibrous elastic connective tissue ; second, 
a muscular coat; third, an alveolar connective tissue, and fourth, a 
lining mucous membrane. 
The muscular coat is quite regularly arranged, and is com- 
posed of striated muscular fibres. There are two layers of these 
muscles, one, the outer, running in a longitudinal direction, the 
other, inner, encircling the tube at right angles to the outer. The 
mucosa is made up of stratified epithelium, which rests upon a 
basement membrane and is encroached upon by numerous papillae 
from the corium below. These papillae are very close together, 
and under a high power show themselves to be made up of a core 
of areolar connective tissue in which courses bloodvessels, the 
whole being covered with columnar epithelium. The corium is 
separated from the rest of the alveolar coat by a thin layer of 
plain muscular fibres, the so-called muscularis mucosae. The 
alveolar coat proper is between this and the internal muscular 
coat, and contains the larger branches of the bloodvessels and 
lymphatics, and also the mucous glands of the membrane, which 
are very large and which probably play a great part in the act of 
deglutition. 
1 Vide Ess&i sur la Physiomonie des Serpens, par H. Schlegel-La Haye, 1837, vol. I, 
P- 43- 
2 Fragments l’Anatomie sur l’organization des serpents. Memoire lu 4 l’Academie 
des Sciences de Paris, le 18 Juin, 1832, Annales des Sciences Naturalles, t. XXX, p, 133, par 
G. L. Duvernoy. 10 
Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
The above description holds good for the entire tract; at the 
point where the oesophagus merges into the stomach, however, 
the coats become thicker, and the papillae are gradually evolution- 
ized into gastric glands. 
The stomach, even like the oesophagus, has four coats, and 
they may be respectively called, following an order from the ex- 
terior to the interior, serous, muscular, areolar or submucous, and 
mucous membrane. 
The serous coat is derived from the peritoneum and is endo- 
thelial in composition. 
The muscular coat is divisible into three layers, a longitu- 
dinal, transverse and oblique. 
The areolar or submucous coat serves to unite the mucous 
membrane with the muscular coat; it is very loose in texture and 
in it ramify the larger branches of the bloodvessels and the lym- 
phatics. 
The mucous membrane is very thick and thrown into large 
longitudinal rugae. The thickness is due to long tubular glands 
which empty into the interior by means of ducts. The papillae 
between these glands is made up of areolar tissue containing 
capillaries. The mucous membrane is bounded below by the 
muscularis mucosae, which consists of an external longitudinal 
and an internal circular layer of plain muscular fibres. The glands 
consist of a basement membrane lined with columnar epithelium. 
Those glands nearest the pylorus in the second portion of the 
stomach have larger cells, and also superadded parietal cells, the 
so-called oxyntic cells of Langley. It is these latter cells that 
secrete the powerful gastric juice of the ophidian stomach. 
The bloodvessels reach the mucous membrane in the stomach 
in the usual way, along its curvatures, piercing the muscular coats 
and ramifying in the areolar structure. The capillaries penetrate 
clear up to the mucous membrane, passing between the glands in 
the papillae ; at this point the arterioles terminate in a plexus of 
minute veins which encircle the mouths of the glands. These 
veins give rise to straight venous radicals, which pass back 
through the muscularis mucosae and terminate in efferent veins, 
which leave the stomach in company with the efferent artery. 
The lymphatics occur in the mucous membrane in the form 
of a plexus or stomata ; these gaping mouths take the lymph, Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
11 
wThich is carried by means of larger valved vessels in the sub- 
mucous coat, and efferent vessels which pass through the muscu- 
lar coat to reach the serous membrane, beneath which they leave 
the organ. 
The nerves are poorly represented, yet they occur in fine non- 
medulated fibres, which form a plexus situated between the mus- 
cular coats, and giving off fine branches to the submucous coat. 
The gastric diverticulum, described in the previous chapter, 
has the same structure as the stomach, as may be seen from the 
cuts. 
The mucosa consists of tubular glands ; these glands, how- 
ever, do not possess parietal cells. The columnar cells on the 
Borders of the papillae are also smaller and less granular, probably 
from want of use. 
The Probable Meaning of the Gastric Diverticulum. 
There have been a great many theories expressed about this 
pouch, from that of its being anomalous or pathological, to that of 
its taking the place of the spleen, but no one has analyzed it 
histologically before this time or I am sure it would have been 
better understood. As early as 1833 C. Poelman pointed out its 
existence, and as at that time the spleen had been overlooked he 
thought, from gross morphological appearances, that this must be 
that organ, and so described it in speaking both of the stomach 
and the spleen.1 
He mentions the fact of its communicating with the stomach 
by means of a narrow orifice, that the walls are thick and that it 
contains a small quantity of sebaceous matter. The locality of 
this sac seems to be variable, for Poelman found it at the pyloric 
end, Hopkinson and Pancoast found it existing at both ends at 
the same time, while Schlegel, Duvernoy, Dujardine and Brown 
have found it constant, in numerous species examined, at the 
cardiac end, a place which it occupies in the python which I dis- 
sected. Poelman is held out in his views by Duvernoy, Hopkin- 
son and Pancoast, the latter two gentlemen claiming two spleens 
for the reptile. Schlegel, however, in 1837, described some 
lobular bodies in connection with the pancreas, which he believed 
1 Vide Mem. Cour. et mem L. Sav. Etraug. de l’Acad. de Belg., Tom. 22, 1848, p. 5 et 
111. 12 
Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
to be the spleen, and since that time his results have been verified 
by W. Muller, who worked up its histology in 1865 and described 
it in his work entitled “ Ueber den feineren Bau der Milz.” 
In the latest work which we have on ophidians, i. e., Bronn’s 
“ Klassen und Ordnung des Thiers-Reichs,” we read that the 
spleen is usually bound more or less intimately to the anterior 
portion of the pancreas.1 
I think from the foregoing exposition we are justified in con- 
cluding that this diverticulum does not play the role of a spleen, 
as that organ exists intact elsewhere ; that it is not anomalous 
nor pathological seems patent from the fact of its invariable oc- 
currence in every animal examined. Having thus knocked down 
the prop from the older hypotheses, what have I to offer in their 
place ? In structure the walls are identical with those of the 
stomach ; they have a serous, a muscular, an alveolar and a 
mucous coat, and the mucous membrane is made up of glands 
identical with gastric glands, save that there are no parietal cells. 
From its morphology, size and histology, I am confident that 
this diverticulum is the remnant of a rumen, or, in other words, 
that it is a rudimentary second stomach. It probably plays a 
very unimportant role in the ophidian digestion, which would ac- 
count for its atrophied condition. 
The Pathology of the Pythonid^e. 
In the early part of February, this year, I was asked to ex- 
amine a python that died while in confinement at the Zoological 
Garden in this city. From the symptoms before death Mr. 
Brown, the superintendent, concluded there was some gastric 
trouble, but of exactly what nature he was uncertain. 
A systematic description of the morbid anatomy of the dis- 
eases to which these animals are prone seems to be veiled in the 
shadows of uncertainty and doubt. I have made an exhaustive 
search through the following works without finding a single paper 
upon the subject: Index Meditus, Virchow’s Archives, Zoological 
Record, Zoologischer Jahresbcricht (Berlin), Zoologischer Anzeiger 
(Leipsic), Bibliotheca Zoologica (Berlin), Bibliotheca Zoologica 
(Leipsic), Verzeichniss der Schriften uber Zoologie. 
In a small handbook entitled “An Introduction to General 
'Vide Bronn’s “ Klassen And OrdnAng des Thiers-Reichs,” vol. I., S., 1883. Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
13 
Pathology,” by John Bland Sutton, P'.R.C.S., however, I found 
a short account of a case of cancer in the stomach of the python, 
and as the python I posted was thought to have cancer of the 
stomach, before the autopsy, I shall give the case in full for the 
sake of comparison. (Compare p. 319 of the above-quoted 
book.) 
“ A python (python sebae) which had lived in the Zoological 
Society’s garden for fifteen years was found to be ailing, and as it 
grew worse it was deemed advisable to kill it. On making the 
post-mortem examination the viscera was found to be the seat 
of an enormous number of secondary growths. The liver meas- 
ured three feet in length, and was studded with hard, yellowish- 
white nodules, varying in size from a pea to that of a large 
walnut. The lung contained twenty similar nodules of the size 
of peas. The kidneys had each a mass of new growths at their 
posterior ends, of the dimensions of a walnut. The ovaries had 
several deposits of the size of an orange, some being rather 
smaller. The nodules in all the organs were of a yellowish-white 
color, exceedingly hard to the touch, and many on being cut into 
exuded a greenish colored fluid. This was most obvious in the 
ovarian masses. I11 histological details they conformed to medul- 
lary cancer, being made up of alveoli containing masses of ir- 
regular cells. The alveolar walls are exceedingly thin, and in 
places difficult to distinguish. None of the growths were vascu- 
lar, and the larger masses showed cavities, the result of disinte- 
gration of the morbid growths. 
” It was impossible to decide as to the original seat of the 
growth, but, taking into consideration the size of the ovarian 
tumors and the relation of the blood stream to the other organs, 
it seems probable that the ovaries were the starting place of the 
mischief. 
‘ ‘ The specimens are preserved in the museum of the Royal 
College of Surgeons, and figures of the cancerous nodules are 
given in the “Journal of Anatomy and Physiology,” vol. xix.” 
From what I am able to gather from those who have the care 
of such animals, it seems that they invariably die of some gastro- 
intestinal trouble. Whether it is due to the effects of confinement 
or not can only be decided when we shall have had opportunity 
to study the lesions of those that die in their natural habitat and 14 
Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
in a free state. This, it seems to me, could readily be done by 
those living in the regions where the python abounds. 
The species, as we have seen, are limited and are not widely 
distributed, and if well worked up their pathology would be of 
great economic value. The question of mal-nutrition at once 
suggests itself to us in connection with disturbances of the ali- 
mentary tract, but the habits of the python have been so closely 
noted by many acute observers, that a mistake in the choice of 
pabulum is practically out of the question. If it be bacteridian, 
then here is a chance for the bacteriologist to spread himself and 
not only work out the cause, but search as well for a cure. 
I found a number of parasitic worms in the pyloric end of the 
stomach in the python which I examined. That this is not an 
unusual occurrence I am confident, for Sehlegel says that he has 
often found the pyloric end of the stomach completely filled with 
worms, which caused continued obstruction, and he believes were 
often the cause of death.1 
These parasites encroach upon the walls of the stomach, and 
are sufficient cause to set up an inflammatory process. 
The following genera have been met with in the stomach of 
the various species of ophidians : Ascaris, distoma, filaria, echino- 
rhynchus, trenia, strongylus, trichosotna, pentastoina and cucul- 
lanus. For this information I am indebted to M. Rudolph.* 
The Ci.inicae History of the Case:. 
In the snakes, as in the reptilia generally, the nervous system 
is of such a low grade that their sensations must obviously be very 
obtuse ; hence any painful process might exist without their 
manifesting any inconvenience from it, and suppuration go on 
almost to the entire destruction of a part without anything un- 
usual being observed in the life habit of the animal. From this 
it will be seen how difficult it must necessarily be to elicit symp- 
toms and make a diagnosis before a process of disease shall have 
advanced so far as to render interference useless. 
For the few facts in the clinical history of the case under our 
consideration I am indebted to Mr. Brown, the superintendent of 
the Zoological Garden of this city. 
■Vide Kssai sur la I’hysionomie des Serpens, par H. Schlegel-I.a Haye, 1837, vol. I, 
p. S3. 
2 Vide >4)tozoorum, synopsis, p. 762, Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
15 
About twelve months or so ago he noticed that the mucous 
membrane of the mouth showed foci of inflammation, these centres 
soon spread in a radiating manner and attacked the gums around 
the teeth, where the inflammatory process was followed by a 
caseous degeneration. There was also an excessive secretion of 
mucus, which the snake would blow sometimes from the mouth, 
then again from the nasal cavities ; mucus was also passed per 
anum. There was marked anorexia even during the season 
when the python feeds best. 
The snake was otherwise in good condition up to the time of 
death, and no other symptoms could be elicited. I have since 
seen the consort of the python that died, and it is evidently suffer- 
ing from the same malady, if any reliance is to be placed upon the 
inflammatory process in the mouth as indicating a further 
ulcerative condition of the stomach. 
How long this process is under way before it manifests itself 
thus it is hard to say, but all pythons that die in captivity, and 
all boas, if they live long enough before they die, are found to 
have this condition of the stomach. 
The python I examined was probably over ioo years old. 
Reptiles grow very slow, and those of this species reach an 
enormous size. There are reports of pythons thirty feet long, and 
Pliny tells us that a python 120 feet long was killed on the shore 
of the river Bagrada by the soldiers in the army of Regulus during 
the Punic War. This was probably a species of the sub-family 
Pythonicus holodontes, and if 100 feet were taken off from the 
figures given a nearer approach to its exact length would be 
reached. 
The largest snake I {hink we have any authentic record of 
was one sent to this country from Holland a few years ago, and 
measured a few inches over eighteen feet. A python eleven feet 
in length grows so slowly that in a period of two years from the 
time of measurement an increase in length is not perceptible. It 
takes an alligator from seventy-five to one hundred years to reach 
its full size and complete development, and as the rate of growth 
in the two animals is comparable, it certainly will take as long, if 
not longer, for a python to reach complete development as it 
does an alligator. 16 
Original I vestigations upon the Python Molnrus. 
Some of the other colubers are prone to this affection. Mr. 
Brown says he has seen it iu our common black snake. 
I intend to carry on some experiments with this latter snake, 
and watch carefully the life history of this affection from as early 
a stage as possible, and thus try and throw some light on its 
clinical history, which is comparatively overshadowed with ignor- 
ance. 
In order to preserve the skin for the museum, it was carefully 
removed, a process which took two days, so it was about three 
days after death before I could examine the organs. 
The body was that of a well-nourished python (species 
molurus), 4.30 m. in length and 50 cm. around its thickest por- 
tion. The skin was covered with large imbricated scales, made 
up of a chitinous-like substance. The ventral portion was of a 
yellowish hue, the dorsal surface being mottled gray and black, 
following a fanciful design. 
Around the pillars of the soft palate, at the side of the isthmus 
of the fauces, was a collection of mucus. I made some cultures 
from this on agar-agar and on gelatin, and obtained some growths 
which under the microscope proved to be micrococci. There was 
no inflammatory process in the mouth nor in the oesophagus. 
The lungs were crepitant and contained no diseased foci either of 
a primary or .secondary nature. The heart was normal, having 
two auricles and one ventricle, with an incomplete septum. The 
liver was firm, of a dark-red color, and about 1 m. in length. It 
also showed no signs of a secondary deposit of any kind. The 
kidneys, as in all the lower forms of life, were lobulated, and, as 
is usual in ophidians, were long and narrow. 
The supra-renal capsules were quite a long distance from 
them, about 20 cm. The ovaries and uterus were in good con- 
dition, opening into the cloaca in common with the intestine. 
The intestine was also free from disease. The stomach was the 
main point of interest. From the exterior, even before I had 
opened it, I could feel a hard mass as large as a small orange, and 
an external ulcer was also apparent on the serous surface directly 
over this mass. On opening the stomach it, like the rest of the 
The Post-Mortem—Some Details of My Case. Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
17 
alimentary tract, was found to be entirely devoid of food, the only 
matter present being a little mucus and a few parasitic worms. 
The mucous membrane was quite moist and covered with a 
glairy and viscid mucus, through which the reticulated structure 
of the tissue could be seen with facility. The stomach measured 
48 cm. in length and was 35 cm. at its broadest part. 
The hard nodule that had been felt from without was situated 
at the cardiac end, and nearer the small rather than the large 
curvature. It was oval in shape, and considerably elevated above 
the surface of the stomach. It measured 14 cm. in length, 8 cm. 
in width, and was 2 cm. thick. There was a crater-like ulcer, 
10.5 cm. in length, running along its greatest axis. There also 
appears in the picture a fissure at right angles to this, but this is 
merely an incision that I made in order to obtain sections to study 
microscopically, and close scrutiny will reveal the stitches where 
I sewed it together before photographing. 
The free surface of the ulcer showed little granules that 
looked like tubercles ; they were not tubercles, however, as I 
proved afterwards by my microscopical studies. 
The Histological and Bacteriological Studies Upon 
the Growth. 
The neoplasm was firm to the touch and cut much like 
lymphoid tissue. I immediately made frozen sections and stained 
them with Bismarck brown and /osin. From these sections I was 
enabled to decide that it was not cancer, and that the bulk of its 
substance was lymphoid in nature. 
The free surface of the ulceration showed little granules upon 
it that resembled in no small degree tubercles. Thinking that a 
specific granulomata might have to do with the growth, I made a 
culture from one of these on acid agar-agar, and obtained a 
luxuriant growth in a few days. I made cover-glass preparations 
from these and found them to be micrococci, 2.5// in diameter. 
And I may here state that they corresponded, both in form and 
measurement, with those cultivated from the mucus found in the 
mouth. 
I put the stomach in alcohol, and after it had become suf- 
ficiently hard made sections. Those from the different regions of 18 
Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
the stomach have already been described, so I will now merely 
add the histology of the neoplasm. 
I embedded them in celoidin, and cut them in the usual 
manner after such embedding. I stained some with carmine, 
others with haematoxalyn, and still others after the manner of 
Gram for bacteria. 
I found the new growth to be made up of lymph cells, fibrous 
tissue and some mucous tissue. The lymphoid cells seemed to 
preponderate over the other elements, the fibrous tissue acting 
merely as a stroma. It appeared quite vascular, and resembled 
in a high degree granulation tissue. 
The lymph spaces, as well as some of the capillaries, con- 
tained micrococci, which were identical with and measured the 
same as those described above. 
The Prorable Nature of the Growth and Its Cause. 
From the foregoing description of the histology of the growth 
it will at once be seen that we have here to do with an ulcerative 
process, and from the hyperplasia that it has been of long stand- 
ing. 
That it is probably septic the micro-organisms go to show, 
since they are found in the lymphatics and bloodvessels, as well 
as in the free surface of the growth. 
Just how, where and when these bacteria entered the organ- 
ism, and from whence they came, would be hard to predict. They 
are not evidently the forms of putrefaction or suppuration, being 
larger and having a different individual arrangement. 
As has before been hinted, the kind of food could play but a 
very small role in the cause of a process like the above. It is true 
that the python swallows its food alive, or almost before it is dead, 
still a rabbit or a rat would be so paralyzed by the great pressure 
it must needs submit to before deglutition that it could do very 
little injury after it reached the stomach, even if it were not 
smothered to death during the long and tedious process of swal- 
lowing, as it probably is. 
I have it from good authority, however, that sparrows have 
been heard to chirp after being for some time in the stomach of a 
boa. The feathers and claws and the undigested portions are as 
a rule vomited, thus showing that they act as foreign bodies there, Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
19 
stimulating the stomach to this reflex act. Very large bodies, 
however, I do not think could be cast up on account of the teeth, 
which are set in such a manner as to prevent the regurgitation of 
food while swallowing. 
A boa constrictor has been known to swallow a blanket 
through sheer necessity, it having become entangled in the mouth 
of the boa. The teeth held it so firmly it could not be spit up, 
and the only way out of the difficulty was to swallow it.1 The 
blanket was passed front the bowel some three weeks later in a 
cylindrical mass that tapered at each end. 
Haemorrhagic infarction is one of the great sources of ulcer 
in man. We have first a conical area of pigmentation due to a 
precipitation of haemosiderine from the blood ; this is acted upon 
by the gastric juice of the stomach, which causes a gradual 
erosion, and finally we get an ulcer, which, in accordance with 
the length of the process, may or may not have extended clear 
through the wall of the stomach, and has sharp and defined edges, 
as though it had been punched out with a conductor’s punch. 
In this form of ulceration, however, we do not meet with a 
bacterium, which puts this as a theory of cause beyond the pale 
of possibility. 
The worms found in the stomach probably caused a great 
deal of irritation, and though they were found “ en masse” at the 
pyloric end, nevertheless they could have originated the inflam- 
matory process that went on to ulceration. And it seems to me 
a more rational idea to consider them as the exciting cause rather 
than accept without further proof a hypothesis of general cause. 
To settle this, two experiments can be performed, viz : Give a 
python suffering with the earliest symptoms a vermifuge, and 
watch the results. If the inflammation is due to the presence of 
the worms it will be alleviated by their removal. Then, if this 
does not suffice, a germicide may be given, such as powdered 
naphthaline dusted over the feathers of a bird, or can be given by 
means of a tube passed into the stomach. The circulation of rep- 
tiles is too sluggish to serve the purpose of a hypodermic injec- 
tion. 
1 For the authenticity of this I am dependent upon no less an authority than Joseph 
I.eidy, M.D., Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Zoology in the University of Penn- 
sylvania. 20 
Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
Mr. Brown and I propose experimenting in this direction at 
the Zoological Gardens, and it will give us great pleasure to pub- 
lish the results of ottr work at the earliest possible moment. 
The evidence of the present case goes to show that the cause 
lies between these two factors, and it remains but to eliminate one 
of these factors from our equation to find the unknown quantity. 
Bibliography. 
Blainville, //. de.—ObservationssurplusieursSerpents du genre Python 
vivants a Paris, in Bull. Science, Soc. Pliilom., 1823, pp. 49-53. Tom. 96, 
1823, pp. 271-277. P'ror Nat. Bd., 5, No. 91, 1823, pp. 33-38. 
Cleyer, Andr.—De Serpente magtio Itidicae orientalis Urobubalum 
dedlutiente (Mit. 1 Taf.), in Ephemer. Acad. Nat. Cur., Dec. 2, Ann. 2, 1683 
(1698), pp. 18-24. 
Duvernoy.—Fragments D’anatomie sur Porganization des serpents. 
Memoire Lu & l’Academie des sciences de Paris, le 18 Juiu, 1832, Annales 
des sciences naturelles de Paris, t. xxx, p. 135. 
Duges.—Recherges sur lu deglutition des serpents. Ann. 8, Sc. Nat., 
1827, xii, p. 362 et suiv. 
Gaud.—Memoire sur la structure et les fonctions de lu rate, 1846. 
Hopkinson, J. P, and Pancoast, J.—On the visceral anatomy of the 
python, described by Daudin as the boa reticulata (Mit. 1 Taf.), in Transact. 
Amer. Philos. Soc. N. S., vol. 5, 1837, pp. 121-134. 
Jacqnart, Henri.—Memoire sur les organes de la circulation chez le 
Serpent Python (Mit. 3 Taf.), in Amer. Science nat., 4, Sdr Zool. Tom. 4, 
1855, pp. 321-364. De l’appareil circulatoire sanguin chez le Serpent Python 
in Compt. rend. Acad. Sc., Paris, Tom. 42, 1856, pp. 1125-1128. 
Meckel.—Vergleichenden Anatomie. Zwei Band., Leipzig, 1808. Traite 
general D’anatomie comparee, Paris, 1838, t. viii, p. 73. 
Poelman, C. - Note sur Porganisation de quelques parties de l’appareil 
digestif du python bivittatus (14 pag. Mit. 2, Taf.) in Mem. cour. et Mem. 
8 Sav. Pltrang. de l’Acad. de Belg., tom. 22, 1848. Ansz. P'ror. Nat. 3, 
R6che, Bd. 6, No. 113, 1848, p. 74. 
Schlegel, //.—Plssai sur lu physionomie des serpents, La Haye, 1857, 
partie generale, p. 40. 
Sultan, John Bland, F.R.C.S.—An Introduction to General Pathology, 
P- 319- 
Appendix. 
Since completing this article I have received two pythons 
from the Zoological Garden which, during life, gave evidence of 
gastro-intestinal irritation. The serpents belong to the species Original Investigations upon the Python Molurus. 
21 
Regis, and were of the following dimensions : The larger of the 
two inches in length, and inches around its largest 
girth. It weighed 4 pounds 10.5 ounces. The other was 
inches long, inches around its greatest girth, and weighed 2 
pounds 12.5 ounces. They were both prettily marked and had 
just shed their skins, so that they appeared in good condition. 
In the larger snake I found the following pathological con- 
ditions : The pylorus was intussuscepted within the stomach for a 
distance of two and one-half inches, and was withdrawn with 
considerable difficulty, springing back to its original position as 
soon as traction was discontinued. O11 opening the stomach the 
lesser curvature was found to be the seat of an ulcerated hyper- 
plasia, giving much the same picture as that in the species molorus, 
which I have described in detail. 
On microscopical study I find it to be identical with the other 
growth in structure, i. e., merely granulation tissue. There were 
no parasites present in the stomach, and cultures made from the 
part failed to give anything save putrefactive forms. I also 
stained sections of the neoplasm for micro-organisms after the 
method of Gram, but failed to detect a single germ. 
The cause of this ulcerative process is then still more in 
doubt than in the former case. In the other python there was 
nothing the matter with the gastric portion of its alimentary 
tract, but just beyond the pylorus there was an extensive ulcera- 
tive process, extending for a distance of eight or ten inches. 
In the lower bowel I found a tapeworm of the genus dibo- 
thrium, and it evidently is an undescribed species. I have shown 
it to Dr. Leidy, who says he has never seen or read of one like it 
before. 
The short space of time that intervenes between now and the 
date when this paper must be handed in will not allow of my in- 
serting the results of the more thorough study I propose to give 
these specimens. 
From the observations that I have already made upon them 
I am able to state the following points of interest: The gastric 
diverticulum in both snakes was at the pyloric end of the stomach, 
and contained a thick bronze-colored liquid of a disagreeable odor. 
I am also able to add to the different genera of parasites that have 
been found in ophidians the genus dibothrium.