COLUBKIDJ;. 



171 



rhacliis by bending the body dorsally. The application of this 

 character, first employed for taxonomic purposes by Prof. Cope, 

 but which had not hitherto been tested in a thorough manner, 

 leads to some unexpected results as to the affinities of manj' genera 

 and species the position of which appeared somewhat problematical. 

 Thus all the Madagascar CuJabritun have the hYpa]K)physes deve- 

 lo])cd throughout the vertebral columu, and thus differ from the 



Posterior dorsal vertebrse of : — 



A. Lioheterodon madagascariensis. B. Heterodon nasicus. 



a. Back Tiew. b. Lower view. c. Side view. 



American genera Lio^Jiis, Heterodon, Dromicus, &c., with which 

 they have long been associated, although, indeed, a careful com- 

 parison of j^j^j^^gnal structure alone shows these views to 

 have been ijBSet^mereiT'upon vcrj" superficial resemblances. As 

 regards tlK)se dwarfed, uii^raded forms which have hitherto been 

 assoeiatdl as Caldmnii'^i , 1 have endeavoured, as far as possible, 

 to bring them into ue^ni r neighbourhood to such more powerful 

 Snakes, ^llflj.lrtflB^^o fur as the value of their characters can 

 be corrM^p^nJOMMi' there is reason to believe they are derived. 

 Thus ImI^co and Slriptophoms are placed near Trojndonotus and 

 jjrajfagB^j^^ Cope, Simotes and OUfjodon near CoroneUa, 

 ; h\ tlic inie way as in the family Boidce the genera 

 {'ai^^V/A' ' ''""'"^^j Bolieria, and Erchophis have been 

 fea nnioDg the Boas, and Lo.vocemiis and Calabaria 

 Igaryttll'oiis instead of being grouped together as '■'■En/cidce." 

 ;he case of ( he Boas the course followed is so obviously in 

 •7 irea Wq l^tl ; the spirit of a natural classification, that I do 

 'i"'Utif»)f»ite»j IV objection being raised against it. It has been 

 ^' li (iV.i.. ,ut the same principle in dealing with the large 

 ii , . ult group of the C'o/«6ruZ<e. 



allies 



and 



E) 



