HERPETON TENTACULATUM. 289 



Having received specimens with the natural colours preserved, I may refer to the coloured 

 figure given in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society.' The ground-colour of the broad 

 back is brown or olive-brown, bordered on each side by a black line, which becomes indistinct 

 posteriorly, and is more conspicuous in young specimens ; these black lines are separated 

 from each other by five or six series of scales, and show button-like swellings in regular 

 interspaces; transverse black lines run obliquely from one line to the other, and are most 

 conspicuous on the anterior part of the trunk, whilst they appear in the. form of specks 

 towards the middle of the length, entirely disappearing posteriorly. A blackish-brown band 

 proceeds from the tentacle through the lower half of the eye along the side of the body to 

 the end of the tail ; it occupies two or three series of scales, and is separated from another 

 similar band, running along the lower part of the side, by a brownish-yellow band-like 

 interspace. The lower of the blackish bands is confluent with the upper on the side of the 

 vent. The lower parts are brownish yellow, with a pair of darker longitudinal streaks 

 flanking the abdominal shields. There is a series of white or faint rose-coloured, posteriorly 

 black-edged, spots on each side between the ventral and the lower lateral band ; they form 

 very distinct and elegant markings in immature specimens, where they are continued to the 

 vent, forming altogether twenty-four pairs ; some of them are opposite to those of the other 

 side, others alternate with them. These spots are less bright in old specimens, and distinct 

 only on the anterior part of the belly. The lower lip has a yellowish margin, and there are 

 two wavy yellow lines along the throat. 



For more than half a century this snake was knovm from a single example only, and is 

 still rare in collections. It has been found hitherto in the southern parts of Siam only, 

 and it appears to be a local species even there. It is an aquatic snake ; and its tentacles are 

 probably employed as organs of touch, under water, — perhaps to discern its food, the nature 

 of which is not knoAvn. The largest specimen known is 25 inches long, the tail measuring 

 6 inches. 



The intestinal tract is narrow and much convoluted ; in a specimen 25 inches long it has 

 a length of 21 J inches, measured from the pyloric end of the stomach to the vent — a distance 

 of 5i inches. The first portion immediately behind the stomach is slightly bent, and half an 

 inch long ; then follows a large subcylindrical mass of twelve or tliirteen convolutions, only 

 1| inch long, but measuring 17| inches when unfolded; the remainder of the tract is slightly 

 undulated, and 3^ inches long*. 



* Prof. Peters (Monatsber. Acad. Berl. 1863, p. 247) says that Herpeton scarcely differs fi-om HypsirJiina 

 ■with regard to the circumvolutions of the intestinal tract. As this statement contradicts my observation, 

 viz. that the Homalopsides have a simple intestinal tract, I take this opportunity of confirming the truth 

 of Prof. Pcters's remark. I recollect having received, at the time I examined Herpeton, some large, 

 almost fresh specimens of Fordonia, a genus distinguished from the other Homalopsides by a short 

 intestinal tract, and I based on it an observation which ought to have been confirmed by the exami- 

 nation of other genera. The peculiarity of the intestinal tract of Herpeton consists merely in the circum- 

 volutions being concentrated into a shorter and more solid mass than in other Homalopsides [Cerberus, 

 Hypslrhina, Homalopsis) . 



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