22 



A POPULAR TREATISE ON THE COMMON INDIAN 



SNAKES. 



Illustrated by Coloured Plates and Diagrams. 



by 



Major F. Wall, I.M.S., C.M.Z.S. 



Part XIX with Plate XIX, Diagram and Map. 



(Continued from page 1021 of this Volume.) 



COLUBER HELENA (Daudin). 



The genus Coluber is one of the many into which the family 

 Colubridce is divided, and belongs to the " aglyphous " (or fangless) 

 series. 



It contained, when Bonlenger's Catalogue appeared in 1894, 45 

 species inhabiting Europe, Asia and America. Nine of these 

 are known to occur within Indian limits. The type of the genus 

 is the North American C. guttatus. 



History. — Our earliest reference to Coluber helena is contained 

 in Russell's work published in 179G, where it is figured (Vol. 1, 

 plate XXXII), and some interesting notes are incorporated with 

 a description of the snake. 



Nomenclature — Scientific. — The generic name is from the Latin 

 coluber, a term applied to any species in the same way as our 

 English word " snake" is. Under this term Linne in 1766 

 included many species which subsequent authors on very good 

 grounds have dissociated, and made the types of genera distinct. 

 Helena the specific name was given to it by Daudin in 1803, in 

 recognition of its beauty. 



English. — ; ' The trinket snake " suggests itself as appropriate, 

 the beautiful ornamentation anteriorly reminding one of jewels 

 set in a ring or trinket. 



Vernacular. — Russell mentions the name " mega-reknla-poda '" 

 as in use about Vizagapatam, and Willey says in Ceylon it is 

 called " mudu karawala." 



General characters. — The head is rather narrow, with a somewhat 

 elongate, and bluntly rounded snout. There is little or no indica- 

 tion of a canthus rostralis. The nostril is fairly large, and oc- 

 cupies about three-fourths of the upper part of the suture between 

 the nasal shields. The eye is moderately large, rather less than 

 half the length of the snout, and placed laterally. The pupil is 

 round, or horizontally eliptical. and the iris is adorned with gold. 

 The tongue pinkish at the base, becomes bluish black except at 

 the very tips which are white. I noted in a specimen from the 

 Nilgais that the mucous membrane of the mouth was blackish. 



