2 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
WHAT CLASSIFICATION MEANS. 
To give a clearer idea of what we mean by classification, we 
will take the Boomslang or Tree Snake as an example. We will 
assume it is the first time I have seen or heard of a Boomslang. 
I know at a glance it belongs to the Ophidia or snake order. I 
examine its teeth and discover it possesses a set of grooved 
teeth longer than the rest, set a good way back in the upper jaw, 
therefore I know it belongs to the division of snakes known as the 
Opisthoglypha, which means snakes with hind fangs. Then I 
count the number of the upper and lower teeth and note the 
shape and number of the shields on the head, and reckon the 
number of rows of scales round the body. After examining 
the shape of the head and body, its colouration, etc., I identify 
it and classify it as follows :— 
ORDER: Ophidia. 
Division : Opisthoglypha. 
FamiLy: Colubride. 
SuB-FAMILY : Dipsadomorphine. 
GrENus: Dispholidus. 
Species: Dispholidus typus. 
COMMON NAME: Boomslang or Tree Snake. 
DISTRIBUTION : Tropical and South Africa. 
When any new thing, whether a microbe or a large creature, 
is discovered, it is carefully examined and classified immediately. 
Without this system of classification it would be impossible to — 
make any progress in science. In every department of human 
activity, classification is necessary. If you went into a museum 
and wanted to find a certain flesh-eating animal—a Leopard or 
a Mungoose, for instance—you would not look for it among the 
hoofed animals or the fishes. You would expect to find it among 
the group of creatures classified as Carnivora. 
A synonym in natural history means a scientific name, as of 
a genus or a species, superseded or discarded, as by the law of 
priority. 
When any new creature is discovered, it is given a scientific 
name, and recorded. 
The latest recognized scientific name for the Boomslang is 
Dispholidus typus, but in 1832 it was known as Dispholidus 
lalandii ; in 1837, as Dendrophis colubrina; in 1841, as 
