206 



A POPULAR TREATISE ON THE COMMON INDIAN 



SNAKES. 



Illustrated by Coloured Plates and Diagrams 



BY 



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



Pari XXIII (with Plate XXIII, Diagram and Map.) 



(Continued from page 43 of Volume XXIII.) 



Family — Coluhrid.e. 



COLUBER RADIATUS. 



The Copper-headed Rat-snake. 



History. — The first mention of this snake in literature is by 

 Russell who figured it in his Second Volume published in 1801. 

 The plate (XLI1) is an excellent one taken from a specimen received 

 by him from Java. In 1837 Schlegel figured it, and christened -it. 

 Since then almost every herpetologist writing on Asiatic snakes has 

 referred to i t . 



Nomenclature — (a) Scientific. — The generic name introduced by 

 Linne in 1766 is from the Latin " coluber,"" a word applied indis- 

 criminately to any snake. " Radiatus, '" from the Latin implying 

 " radiating," emanated from Schlegel, and refers to the three black 

 lines that radiate from the eye like the spokes of a wheel. 



(b) English. — The copper-headed rat-snake suggests itself to me 

 as distinctive, and appropriate. 



(c) Vernacular. — In Upper Assam (Dibrugarh) I heard it called 

 " goom phitti."' 



General characters. — This is a handsome species of moderately 

 large proportions, ornamental in colouring, and distinctive in its 

 markings. The head is moderately elongate, smooth, and evenly 

 rounded from side to side, showing little evidence of a canthus 

 rostralis. The snout is obtuse. The eye is moderate in size and 

 the iris golden or golden brown especially towards its pupillary 

 margin. The nostril is deep vertically and occupies the whole 

 suture between the anterior and posterior nasal shields. The tongue 

 is pale at the base, and has black tips. The body is elegant in 

 form and distinctly compressed, its surface ribbed longitudinally with 

 keels. The tail is round in section, and moderately long, being 

 about one-sixth the total length. 



Colour. — The head in life is a copper colour, or dull orange, and 

 this tone merges to a duller one at the neck. A transverse black 

 stripe passes across the head at the posterior limit of the parietal 

 shields. This sends black limbs forwards to the eyes, and frequent- 



