SNAKES. 259 
sub-caudals, in pairs, from sixty-three to ninety, and the anal seute 
is divided ; the scales on the sides of the body are larger than those 
on the back. The general colour of the animal is yellowish 
brown, marked by a pair of nearly black lines running along each 
side of the body from the head to the tail, hence the various 
specific names which have been given to this reptile from time to 
time by different authorities, e.g., quatuor-lineutus (Lacép.), 
quadristriatus (Donnd.), quaterradiatus (Dum. and Bibr.), and 
quadrilineatus (Daud) ; a black, broad streak runs from the eye to 
the corner of the mouth ; the under parts are yellow marbled with a 
yellowish-brown. The young of this species is spotted on the 
upper parts of the body with dark-brown, black-edged spots, which 
gradually, as the reptile grows, disappear, and are replaced by 
the nearly black lines just described. Those specimens which 
retain the spots throughout life were called by Pallas Coluber 
sauromates. 
As the Four-rayed Snake sometimes exceeds 7it. in length, it 
is certainly the largest as well as the gentlest and most easily 
tamed of all European Ophidians. It is said to prefer the hilly 
parts of those countries of which it isa native. The tail equals 
about one-fifth of the animal’s entire length. ‘This Snake is fre- 
quently known as Llaphis quaterradiatus (Duin. and Bibr.). 
As a pet, with the exception of the Royal Python (Python 
regius), there is no Snake which I can recommend more highly 
than C. qguatuor-lineatus. 
In Fig. 73 the eye is not represented as being sutticiently full 
and black. 
The Chicken Snake (Coluber quadrivittatus, Giinther, or Coluber 
obsoletus, Boulenger) is a fairly hardy reptile, and easily tamed. 
It may be bought, when in the market in this country, for sums 
which range from 15s. to £3. It is a strong, active Snake, and 
sometimes grows to a length of more than 5ft., of which the tail 
measures nearly one-fourth. The following is a short description 
of this Snake: The loreal is long; there are one prie-ocular and 
two post-oculars, eight upper labials, of which the fourth and fifth 
touch the eye, and four or five lower labials. The seales, which 
are very strongly keeled, are arranged in from twenty-five to 
twenty-nine rows; the ventrals number from 217 to 245; the 
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