128 ON THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF SERPENTS. 



it forms .1 variety produced by cliinate, very distinguish- 

 able by its deep tints ; more massive than the preceding ; 

 it has the trunk of a shining bhickish-brown, ornamented 

 with transverse white bands, which become of a beautiful 

 red on the head and tail ; it has a very short and pointed 

 tail ; dimensions 2^ feet ; scuta 195-1-6. 



3. ToiiTiiix MACULATA. — Thc islc of Ceylon produces 

 this species, in many respects like the last ; but what dis- 

 tinguishes tliem, besides the slight difference in shape, is 

 the colour of the latter, being a yellowish-brown, relieved 

 by a reticulated pattern in black ; it does not exceed a foot 

 in total lengtli, and has about 190 + 6 scuta. 



4. ToRTKix Eryx is the fourth species, an inhabitant of 

 the sandy districts which extend from Eg^^jt to Hindustan : 

 it has the short tail massive and obtuse ; all the parts 

 are covered by very small scales ; the muzzle is obliquely 

 truncated at the point ; the eye has a pupil perpendicularly 

 elongated ; it attains the length of 2^ feet, and has 

 195-1-20 scuta. This species probably forms in India 

 several constant varieties, of which we have not yet suffi- 

 ciently studied the distinctive characters. 



5. ToRTRix Pseud-Eryx is very near akin to the Eryx, 

 and is a native of New Holland ; it is distinguished from 

 the former by a tail more long and prehensile, by a body 

 more thick and compressed, by a greater development of 

 abdominal and frontal plates, and by the number of the 

 scuta which equal 200 + 60. 



6. ToRTRix Xenopeltis, the sixth, presents a less 

 cylindric trunk than the other species ; its tail is longer 

 and conical ; it wants the hooks at the anus, and the plates 

 of the head apf)roach the normal form ; a beautiful shin- 

 ing blue-black is reflected from the whole surface of the 

 polished epidermis ; the head is white in the young ani- 

 mal ; the size 2 feet ; scuta 175 -f- 28 ; a native of Java, 

 Sumatra, and Celebes. 



7. ToRTRix Boa is a rare species, found in New Ireland ; 

 it has a general resemblance to the form of the Xenopeltis ; 

 but its lips are hollowed by fossettes, as in the Boa, and 

 the body is surrounded by alternate rings of black and 

 white ; it has 250 + 44 scuta. 



