Controlling memory allocation

[cwoolf at mac.com]

Let's say I have an OS that can't limit the amount of memory a process
is allowed to consume, but I want to run some Python code in a
simulated low memory environment...

Is there a way to tell Python to limit the size of it's heap?  Can you
ask it to use a function other than malloc through the C API?  Any
stunts you might recommend to achieve the same results?

Chad