THE SNAKES OF BANGKOK. 103 
28. Hipistes hydrinus. 
Boulenger’s Catalogue of Snakes mentions a specimen from 
Bangkok. 
Distribution. Mouths of rivers and coasts of Pegu, Siam and the 
Malay Peninsula. 
29, Herpeton tentaculatum. The Tentacle Snake. 
Siamese, 4 nrz Ang (ngu kra-dang ). 
rT 
This curious looking snake, although not common in Bangkok 
itself, is more numerous in some of the water-ways in the neighbour- 
hood. At Bang-pa-in it is not uncommon, and also at Petriu, and pro- 
bably many other places, but being strictly aquatic in its habits, is not 
often met with unless carefully hunted for. The strange antennae-like 
appendages which protrude from the snout, serve to distinguish it at 
once fromall other snakes. Speaking of these appendages Flower states: 
“Tn life the tentacles of the snout are soft, capable of expansion and 
retraction, and apparently very sensitive; the snake constantly 
moves them about, as if they performed the function of the antennae 
of Arthropods............. When the specimen is placed in spirits the 
tentacles retract and are not so conspicuous as in life.” 
I am unable to agree with this at all, and as Flower was a most 
careful observer, I cannot help thinking that, as he wrote his article 
after he had left the country, he must, in this case, have been relying 
on his memory. I have often kept these suakes in captivity and have 
paid much attention to the “tentacles,” and Major Sprater, who has 
also kept them, entirely agrees with me. 
The rostral appendages (as they are technically termed ) of this 
snake are not soft, but are covered with hard scales akin to those upon 
the other parts of the body. In the process of sloughing they are 
thrown off as a complete cast with the rest of the skin. They are not 
capable of expansion and retraction, although they have a wide range 
of movemeut as regards approximation and divergation. When the 
snake lies beneath the water, they are pointed in a forward direction ; 
with the snout protruding above the surface, a common position for this 
snake to assume, they are laid flat back on either side against the 
upper lips. They are seldom moved, but are generally allowed to flop 
