385 



SCYTHIAN VIPER. 



Coluber Scytha. C. supra nigerrimus, suit us albm. 

 Coal-black Viper, white beneath. 

 Coluber Scytha. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. lOpl. 

 Abdominal scuta 153, subcaudal squamae 31. 



NATIVE of the woods of Siberia; observed by 

 Dr. Pallas, who informs us that it grows to the 

 length of half a foot or more, and is of the thick- 

 ness of a finger : colour a very deep black above, 

 but white and glossy beneath : head subcordate ; 

 tail about one tenth of the whole length : poison- 

 ous, but not dangerously so. 



CERASTES. 



Coluber Cerastes. C. svbferrugineus, maculis distantibus sulw- 



wtis subtransvwsisfusds, palpebris cornutis. 

 Subferruginous Snake, with distant subovate subtransverse 



brown spots, and horned eyelids. 

 Coluber Cerastes. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 376. 

 Cerastes ex Lybia. Aldr. Serp. p. 175. 

 Cerastes. Bruce' s Travels, appendix. 

 Abdominal plates 150, subcaudal scales 25 pair. 



THE Cerastes or Horned Viper, which com- 

 monly grows to the length of about a foot or 

 fifteen inches, and sometimes to a larger size *, is 

 distinguished by a pair of horns or curved pro- 



* The specimens described by Cepede measured more than 

 two feet, as does also that in the British Museum. 



