BLUE-GREEN SNAKE. 471 



must have described a specimen which had lost its 

 colour by being long preserved in spirits. Its na- 

 tive country, according to Linnxus, is India. 



BLUE-GREEN SNAKE. 



Coluber Viridissimus. C. c<erulco-viridissimus 9 dorso subpurpur- 



ascentc, abdomine subalbentc, scutts medio dilatatis. 

 Vivid blue-green Snake, with a tinge of purple on the back, 



and whitish abdomen with the scuta dilated towards the 



middle. 

 Coluber viridissimus. Lin. Syst, Nat. p. 388. Mus. Ad. Frid. 



2. p. 46\ 



Serpens Surinamensis Flosculus dictus. Seb. 2. t. 67. f. 1, 2. 

 Serpens Americana casrulea Dipsas dicta? Seb. 2. t. 3.f* 2. 

 Abdominal scuta 217, subcaudal scales 122. 



A VERY elegant species, of middling size, grow- 

 ing to the length of about three feet : head slightly 

 obtuse, of moderate size, covered with very large 

 scaly plates : remainder of the upper parts with 

 ovate scales : colour of the whole animal a very 

 fine strong blue-green, with a suffusion of purple 

 combined, especially towards the back : abdomen 

 pale or whitish green : tail of moderate length, and 

 slender. Linnaeus observes that the abdominal 

 scuta are of a wider or more dilated form in the 

 middle than in other snakes : the colour appears to 

 vary, so as to exhibit more or less of the blue 

 tinge, which sometimes becomes the predominant 

 colour, and in such specimens the abdomen is 

 paler or whiter than in others. There can be little 

 doubt but that the specimens figured on plate 67 



