384 SNAKES. 



the reader to picture to himself the interest with which new 

 examples were brought home for investigation, and the 

 obstacles presenting themselves to herpetologists, who find 

 one feature claiming alliance to this snake, while another 

 feature points an alliance to an entirely opposite one. 



So Dumeril shows us why some of the herpetologists 

 wished to admit every species that has the nasal fosse 

 under the generic name BotJiropJiidce^ and others would have 

 limited the term to a few, because the name does not 

 suit them all equally well. ^ Beaiicotip d'autres serpents 

 presentent attssi des enfonceinents creuses stir la tete et 

 sur le bord des levres! These depressions, called by Pro- 

 fessor Owen ' secreting follicles,' may be easily distinguished 

 on the upper lip of some of the larger constrictors. In the 

 Reticulated python you can count these pits like deep 

 dimples round the mouth. In the Diamond snake {Morelia 

 spilotes) they are remarkably deep along the lower lip. 



Of those * follicles ' in the Crotalidce Dumeril writes : ' Les 

 fossettes paraissejit devoir etre des organes particuliers doiit 

 V usage OH la fonction iiest pas connu il est vraix, inais qui 

 semble avoir qiielqiie importance par leiir position constante 

 entre les orifices reels des narines et les yeiix^ et leur structure 

 anatoniiqne asses coinpliquee. A cause de la grande analogie 

 qitils ont tons avec les serpents a sonnettes, nous avons prefere 

 appeler ceux-ci les crota liens' ^ 



The above words are under the head o^ ^ Les Crotaliensl 

 a name retained, he had already explained why. ^ Les 

 solenoglyphes qui ont les narines doubles en apparence seront 

 pour nous les Crotaliens quoique cette denomination puisse, a 



^ Erpetologie ghierale, tome 7, p. 145 1. 



