58 COLUBRID A. 
b) 
cient privilege of the ‘“ Land of Saints,” is shewn by the 
following passage from Bede’s “ Ecclesiastical History :°— 
“ Hibernia autem et latitudine status, et salubritate ac 
serenitate aérum multum Brittanniz prestat, ita ut rard 
ibi nix plusquam triduana remaneat : nemo propter hiemem 
aut foena secet estate, aut stabula fabricet jumentis: nul- 
lum ibi reptile videri soleat, nullus vivere serpens valeat : 
nam sepe illo de Brittannia adlati serpentes, mox ut proxi- 
mante terris navigio, odore aéris illius adtacti intereunt: 
quin potius omnia pené que de eadem insula sunt contra ve- 
nenum valent. Denique vidimus quibusdam a serpente per- 
cussis, rasa folia codicum qui de Hibernia fuerant, et ipsam 
rasuram aque immissam, ac potui datam, talibus protinus 
totam vim veneni grassantis, totum inflati corporis absum- 
sisse, ac sedasse tumorem.” * 
This species grows to the length of more than three feet, 
sometimes, though rarely, of four feet. The head is con- 
siderably depressed, of an elegant ovate form, the back part 
broader than the neck; the gape is of the length of the 
head, and slightly curved, rising posteriorly. The teeth 
are small, curved backwards, and, as in all the other in- 
nocuous Snakes, arranged in two series on each side of the 
jaw both above and below. Plates of the head broad and 
flat ; labial plates seven. Tongue long, excessively flexible, 
bifid to about one-third its length. Body very long; the 
* “Treland, in breadth, and for wholesomeness and serenity of climate, far 
surpasses Britain, for the snow scarcely ever lies there above three days; no man 
makes hay in the summer for winter’s provision, or builds stables for his beasts 
of burden. No reptiles are found there, and no snake can live there ; for, though 
often carried thither out of Britain, as soon as the ship comes near the shore, and 
the scent of the air reaches them, they die. On the contrary, almost all things in 
the island are good against poison. In short, we have known that, when some 
persons have been bitten by serpents, the scrapings of leaves of books that were 
brought out of Ireland being put into water, and given them to drink, have imme- 
diately expelled the spreading poison, and assuaged the swelling.”—Bede’s “ Ec- 
clesiastical History,” b. 1. c. 1, Giles’s Translation. 
