LIXN/EAN SNAKE. 



Coluber Linnaei. C'. albidus, zonis transvcrsis nigris sub-bifidis, 

 ahdomine nigro variato. 



Whitish Snake, \vith black sub-bifid traasverse zones, and ab- 

 domen variegated with black. 



Coluber jEsculapii. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 380. 



Serpentis ^Esculapii species. Seb. 2. t. IS.f. 4. ? 



Serpens Ceilanica, &c. Self. 2. t. 76. f. 2. 



Abdominal scuta 180, subcaudal scales 43. 



Tins is much allied in appearance to thelemnis- 

 catus, generally measuring about a foot and half, 

 or two feet in length : its colour is pale or whitish, 

 with a more obscure cast on the back, and is 

 marked throughout by nearly equidistant black 

 bands, each surrounding the body and divided 

 halfway up from the abdomen by a line or nar- 

 row stripe of the ground-colour ; thus giving a 

 bifid appearance to the lower part of each band : 

 the abdomen is marked into black squares by the 

 alternation of the bands beneath : the head is co- 

 vered with large scales, and marked on the fore 

 part by a transverse black zone running across the 

 eyes, and at the hind part by a somewhat broader 

 band: the tail is of moderate length, and gradually 

 tapers to a somewhat obtuse point. This snake is a 

 native of South America, but is also said to occur 

 in some parts of Asia. It is by Linnaeus termed 

 Coluber JEsculapu, but since it is not very proba- 

 ble that it should have been the species dedicated 

 to that deity by the ancients, there seems to be a 



