364- 



COLUBER. SNAKE. 



Generic Character. 



Scuta abdominali;i. ' 

 Squama subcaudales. 



Scuta or undivided lamellae 

 under the abdomen. 



Broad alternate Scales under 

 the tail. 



HIS is by far the most numerous of all the 

 Linna>an genera of Serpents, and the species 

 cliiler greatly in size and habit, according to their 

 respective tribes; some, as the Vipers, having 

 large, flattish, and subcorclate heads, \vith rather 

 short than long bodies and tails; virile others, as 

 the major part of the harmless serpents, have, in 

 general, small heads, with longer bodies and tails 

 in proportion. In some few species, exclusive of 

 the usual subcaudal scales, are a few scuta or un- 

 divided lamella?, cither at the beginning, or towards 

 the tip of the tail. It is to be observed, that in 

 the investigation of this genus the subcaudal scales, 

 though alternate, are reckoned by pairs, so that 

 the number marked under the respective species is 

 always to be understood to mean so many pair. 



