SNAKES. . 89 



edged spots, sometimes confluent and forming four longitudinal 

 bands ; belly with quadrangular blotches of black ; crown with a 

 well-defined black cross band between the eyes, and a narrower 

 black stripe from the lateral edge of the vertical shield to the 

 angle of mouth ; sutm'e of the occipitals black. Snout blunt, 

 rounded in front. 



Var. A. Coluber cruentatus et C. leopardinus. 



a. Adult. China. Haslar Hospital. 



h, c. Young. South Europe. Presented by R. B. Webb, Esq. 



d. Adult : injured. South Europe. 



e. Half-grown. Europe. Presented by W. Richardson, Chatham. 

 /. Young : bad state. Europe. Presented by Mr. Petit. 



Var. B, Coluber quadrilineatus. Scales of the hinder part of 

 the back sometimes very slightly keeled. 



g. Adult. Europe. From Mr. Argent's Collection. 



h. Young. Ionian Islands. Presented by Dr. Mann. 



i, k. Half-grown and young. Europe. 



I. Adult. Europe. FromtheCollectionof the Zoological Society. 



4. Coluber rufodorsatus. 



Tropidonotus rufodorsatus. Cantor, Ann. 8f Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 1842, p. 483. 



Body and tail stout. Scales smooth, in twenty-one rows; 

 upper labials seven, the third and fourth coming into the orbit. 

 Above grey, with four darker, black-edged bands, very conspicuous 

 on the posterior parts, anteriorly forming rows of elliptic spots ; 

 crown with regular arrow-shaped marks ; a black streak from the 

 back edge of eye to the angle of mouth ; belly checkered with 

 black. (In general appearance similar to Tachymenis chilensis.) 



a. Adult : fine specimen. Chikiang. From Mr. Fortune's Col- 



lection. 



b. Adult. Near Ningpo. From Mr. Cuming's Collection. 



c. d. Adult and half-grown. Chusan. 



e. Adult : bad state. Port Essington. From the Haslar Col- 

 lection. 

 /. Adult : not good state. India. From the Haslar Collection. 



5. Coluber guttatus. 



Catesby, Hist. Carol, t. .55. Coluber guttatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 

 i. p. 385; Daubent. Quadr. Ovip. Serp. p. 602; Lacep. Quadr. 

 Ovip. Serp. ii. p. 329; Bonnat. Ophiol. p. 19; Schleg. Ess. ii. 

 p. 168, part, descr. ; Holbr. N. Amer. Herpet. iii. pi. 14. Coluber 



