284 THE VIVARIUM. 
The following Snakes, which possess some grooved or furrowed 
teeth, but which nevertheless may be considered as innocuous, 
will be only briefly described. 
The Cat or Vivacious Snake (Zachymenis vivar), one of the 
most beautiful and curious of European Snakes, has a small head 
with a flat crown, broad behind and distinct from the neck; a 
small eye, having a sub-elliptical pupil (owing to the great ex- 
pansion of this pupil the appearance of the eye changes con- 
siderably, e.g., in the daytime it seems at first sight to be 
yellowish, and at night a sparkling black, hence the name 
“Cat Snake”); a dark mark running from the eye to the 
angle of the mouth; a small rostral, scarcely visible from above ; 
a vertical almost in the shape of am isosceles triangle, having 
a small notch at its base; large parietals; one pree-ocular, two 
post-oculars, eight upper labials, and an elongated loreal touching 
the eye ; and the temple covered with a great number of very small 
scales. The smooth, lozenge-shaped scales are placed in nineteen 
rows; the ventrals number from 190 to 250, the sub-caudals are 
in from forty to sixty pairs, and the anal scute is divided. 
The colour above is a dull olive, light or dark grey sprinkled 
thickly with very small black spots, hardly visible to the naked 
eye. There is a large dark spot on the nape of the neck joimed 
to the parietals by a black thin streak, and there is a row of large 
very dark chestnut spots running down the middle of the back, 
with a similar row on each side of the body, but rather lighter 
in colour and smaller in size. The under-parts are a yellowish 
or greenish-white sprinkled finely with black. 
The Cat Snake grows to a length of about 30in., of which the 
tail, which is finely pomted, measures one-seventh. It is said 
to be viviparous. It is a native of Southern Europe and Egypt. 
In England, this reptile needs no artificial heat during the 
summer months, and, if in good condition, it will pass the 
winter safely in a state of hibernation. The food of JZ. vivax 
should consist of small lizards and young mice. This Snake may 
be bought, when in the market, for from 4s. to 8s. It is a 
great favourite of mine, and I have always found it to be very 
gentle. I have never known it to attempt to bite, though I have 
heard of its doing so. . 
