THE SNAKES 315 



finely-ground wood pulp. Though these eggs were 

 kept moist and warm, they required the lengthy period 

 of thirteen weeks for incubation. The young were 

 marked like the parent, but the scarlet, yellow and black 

 rings were in more vivid contrast. In form they were 

 proportionately more slender and dug like earthworms 

 into the hatching medium. Compared with the dark 

 hue of the latter, they were in brilliant contrast, their 

 lustrous, beautiful hues causing them to appear as if 

 freshly squeezed from a paint tube. 



Family AmblycephaUdce: Five genera, with about 

 three dozen species, form the present family of harmless 

 snakes; they inhabit Central and South America and 

 southeastern Asia. The members are sometimes called 

 the Chunk-Headed Snakes, as nearly all of them have 

 a lumpy head with very large eyes (pupil elliptical), 

 mounted on an extremely slender neck. The body is 

 moderately or extremely slender, generally compressed, 

 with a long, gradually-tapering tail. Some of the spe- 

 cies have a single row of much-enlarged scales on the 

 back. 



The snakes of this family are most closely related to 

 the Colubridce, looking much like the Dipsades of the 

 Opisthoglypha, but may be recognized by the absence of 

 a longitudinal groove in the center of the chin, as pos- 

 sessed by members of the Colubridce. Their jaws are 

 capable of but slight distension. They climb through 

 brushy places; though agile and graceful, they are not 

 very active. 



The Viperine Snakes; family Viperidce: We now 

 arrive at the family of long-fanged venomous serpents, 

 the most specialized among snakes in the development 

 of the poison apparatus. In place of the elongate and 

 horizontal maxillary bone, existing with the snakes we 



