A POPULAR TREATISE ON INDIAN SNAKES. 537 



Gramineus, the specific name, is derived from the Latin " gramen " 

 grass, in reference to its verdant coloration. 



(b) English.— The common green pit viper is, I think, the best 

 English name for it, but bamboo snake as used in Hongkong, and I 

 believe in Assam, seems to me very appropriate. 



(c) Vernacular.* — Russell makes mention of it under the name of 

 " bodroo pam " which natives at Vizagapatam on the East Coast of 

 India call it. The Burmese call it " mywe sein," meaning " green 

 snake." Mr. S. S. Flowerf says it is called in Siam "ngu kheeyo," 

 which means " green snake," and Cantor says the Malays know it as 

 " ular daun " " leaf snake." 



Dimensions. — The largest specimen is, I believe, that recorded by 

 Veterinary Captain (now Veterinary Major) Evans and myself from 

 Burma. It taped three feet eight inches but was quite a phenomenal 

 specimen. Average adults vary from about two to two and-a-half feet. 



Bodily configuration. — The head is flattened, and appears unduly 

 broad behind owing to the pronounced constriction of the neck. 2 

 The body is stouter than in most snakes, and the tail tapering rather 

 rapidly is short and prehensile, measuring usually about one-sixth to 

 one- fifth of the total length. The females, as is the rule with snakes, 

 have shorter tails and fewer shields beneath (sub-caudals). 



Colour^ — This is usually a dull uniform verdant green above, rather 

 darker on the head and in old specimens. Underparts glossy white, 

 yellow or green. Upper lips, chin, and throat enamel white, or bluish, 

 or buff, or yellow, or greenish, these colours variously distributed in 

 different individuals, and in different parts of the same individual. A 

 well-defined white or bluish or yellow narrow line runs along flanks 

 from neck ending some distance along the tail. Tail yellowish or 

 reddish often mottled with darker hues. The eye, which is lateral and 

 has a very slight inclination forwards, exhibits a beautifully golden 

 iris, in the centre of which is a black vertical pupil. Sometimes there 

 are black or blackish markings on the back with a tendency to arrange 

 themselves into indistinct crossbars. Sometimes the prevailing colour is 

 yellowish or olivaceous rather than green. Mr. W. S. Millard in a letter 

 to me mentions one such specimen from the vicinity of Darjeeling. " It 

 was warm, yellowish, olive-brown above, and bright yellow beneath." 



* Ind. Ser., Vol. 1, p. 13, plate IX. 

 t Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond., May 16th, 1899, page 695. 



