The _Yu Hăng Chi_ says: "Rustic soldiers in Kwangsi, when capturing boas, stick flowers in their heads, which when the snake observes, it cannot move. They then come up to it and cut off its head. They then wait till it exhausts itself by its jumping about and dies. They then take it home and feast on it." Compare Ælian [_De Naturâ Animalium_, lib. vi. chap., xxi.]: "They hung before the mouth of the Dragon's den a piece of stuff flowered with gold, which attracted the eyes of the beast, till by the sound of soft music they lulled him to sleep, and then cut off his head." The _Shan Hai King_ says: "The _Pa_ snake can eat an elephant, the bones of which, after three years, are got rid of. Gentlemen that eat of this snake will be proof against consumption." Kwoh P'oh, in his commentary, says the boa of to-day is identical with the _Pa_ snake. APPENDIX VIII. EXTRACT FROM THE "YUEN KEEN LEI HAN." THE DRAGON.--CHAP. I. The _Shwoh Wăn_ says: "The dragon is the chief of scaly reptiles: in the spring he mounts the heavens, in the autumn he frequents the streams. This is favourable." Again, "When the dragon walks he is called _sah_, when he flies he is a _yao_." The _Kwang Ya_ says: "When he has scales he is a _Kiao_,[320] when he has wings a _Ying-Lung_,[321] when horns a _Kiu-Lung_,[322] without horns a _Chih-Lung_." The _Ming Wuh Kiai_ of the _Odes_ says the dragon has horns at five hundred years, at one thousand years he is a _Ying-Lung_. The _P‘i Ya Kwang Yao_ says: "The dragon has eighty-one scales. This is nine times nine, nine is the _yang_ (male principle). The dragon is produced from an egg, in which he is enfolded." Again, it says that the _Néi Tien_ says: "Dragon-fire comes in contact with moisture and there is smoke, with water and it is consumed (_i.e._ a man may extinguish it with water)." The _Fang Yen_ says: "Before the dragon has ascended to heaven he is a _P‘an[323] Lung_." The Yih King says: "When his clouds move the rain falls, and the various things put forth their forms at the time he rides upon the six dragons and ascends the heavens." "The first nine: The hidden dragon is inactive. The diagram indicates that the subtile ether is below. The second nine: When the dragon is seen in the fields it is profitable to meet the great man. The diagram indicates that virtue is extended. Fifth nine: The flying dragon appears in the heavens: The diagram indicates the great man creates." Again, "The dragons contend in the wilds, their blood is azure and yellow." Again, "Thunder is a dragon." The Yuen-Ming-Pao section of the _Ch‘un ts‘iu_ says: "The dragons begin to speak, _yin_ and _yang_[324] are commingled"; thence, it is said, the dragon ascends and clouds are multiplied. The _Yih King_, in all the diagrams, clearly says: "The summer winds arise and the dragon mounts the skies." In the _Yuen-Shăn-K‘i_ of the _Hiao King_ it is said: "Virtue approaches the fountains and the yellow dragon appears. It is the Prince's image."