104 



CLASS REPTILIA 



ORDER OPHIDIA. 



Family SERPENTS, or Unpoisonous True Snakes. 



Genera. 



Boa - - - 

 Python - - 

 Acrochordus 



Specin. 



- - - Constrictor. 



- - - Poda. 



- - - Javanensis - - 



Common Name. 



- Java Oularcaron. 

 Other Genera of these Families : Coluber, Ophisaurus, Typhlops. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. PsEUDOPUS. Tongue arrowhead-shaped, notched triangularly in front, 

 with granulous papilla? on the smaller portion, and filiform papillae on the 

 larger portion of it ; teeth on the palate ; intermaxillary teeth conical and 

 simple, maxillary teeth subcylindrical and subtubercular ; plates on the 

 head ; nostrils lateral ; neck destitute of a fold. 



1. AMPHISB.ENA (Gr. fyj^te, both ways, and fiaivu, to go). Head 

 blunt, of uniform thickness with the body ; eyes extremely small ; muzzle 

 like an arched beak, covered with plates ; tongue broad, notched at the 

 apex, and covered with papillae; teeth simple, conical, and recurved; 

 nostrils small and lateral. 



2. TORTRIX (Lat. torqueo, I twist). Scales hexagonal, rather larger on 

 the belly ; mouth small, jaws not dilatable ; no poison fangs ; tail short. 



1. BOA (Gr. /Sows, an ox). Under part of the body and tail covered 

 with rows of transverse scales or scuta, containing not more than one in 

 each row ; head covered with large flat scales ; no poison fangs ; tail cylin- 

 drical and not provided with a rattle. 



2. PYTHON (so named from the great Serpent slain by Apollo). Head 

 covered with small scales, except between and before the eyes, where they 

 are much larger ; in the lips two deep pits ; body long and cylindrical ; 

 abdominal scuta single ; subcaudal scuta arranged in pairs ; sides of the 

 body and tail edged with two longitudinal rows of scales ; vent transverse 

 and surrounded with a double row of small scales, on each side a spur. 



3. ACROCORDUS (Gr. a.Kpo\opSii>v, a wart). Head flat, covered with 

 small scales ; teeth small and sharp, a double row in each jaw ; no poison- 

 fangs ; tongue short and thick ; mouth contracted ; under jaw shorter and 

 broader than the upper. 



ANGUIFORMIA, SNAKES, SERPENTS. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



PSEUDOPUS. The only species known is that figured on Plate 5, namely, 

 the Pseudapus Pallasii. Prince Lucien Buonaparte describes the head and 

 anterior part of the neck as being of a greyish- ash colour ; the ground 

 colour of the upper part of the body chestnut, verging to redness ; the 

 sides an ashy hue ; while the scales are dotted with a great number of 

 blackish points. The posterior limbs of this animal are reduced to the 

 merest rudiments, being represented by two small scaly appendages. The 

 scales of the body are square, thick, and semi-imbricated, and they become 

 osseous with age. They are found in the Crimea, in Istria, the Morea, 

 and the whole of the southern continent of Europe. 



A Mi'iiisn.KN A. This genus is so called from the facility with which the 

 several species can crawl tail foremost as well as in the forward direction ; 

 hence the natives of Surinam, Cayenne, &c., imagine that they have two 

 heads. They are, in general, dull and inanimate animals, and being 

 awkward in their movements, their appearance is rendered very unattractive. 

 They are perfectly harmless, and if handled will merely twist their bodies, 

 and open their mouths, but make no attempt to bite. They bore into the 

 soft earth and feed on termites, ants, and insects. There are ten species, 

 one of which, the ^V^ute Amphisbcena (A. Alba), is figured on Plate 5. 



TORTRIX. This genus was separated from Anguis, Lin. by Oppel, on 

 account of the scales beneath the body and tail being larger than on the 

 other parts, and from the shortness of the tail. There are three or four 

 species, all natives of America. 



The Tortrix Scytale, Plate 5, measures from two to two and a half feet in 

 length ; ground colour white tinged with yellow, and encircled with about 

 sixty bands, black and broken. It is principally found in Cayenne and 

 Surinam, where, although harmless, it is much dreaded from its resemblance 

 to the Flaps Lemiiiscata. It feeds on worms, caterpillars, and flies. 



BOA. The name given to this genus is derived either in consequence of 

 their great size, or from a fable of Pliny, who says, " that they attach them- 

 to the teats of cows, for the purpose of sucking their milk:" this 

 latter notion, however, is so ridiculous as to require no further comment. 

 The genus formerly included all serpents, venomous or not, the under part 

 of whose body and tail were furnished with single transverse scales, and 

 not possessed of anal claws, nor rattles on the tip of the tail ; but they are 

 now much reduced in number by the venomous serpents being excluded. 

 They are found principally in the Indies, living in marshy places. They 

 watch for their prey by the banks of rivers, and seizing it with their mouth, 

 throw around it several coils of their body and squeeze it to death. When 

 the animal is quite dead, the Boa unwreathes itself anil prepares to gorge 

 it, by first smearing it over with saliva, and then insinuating its jaws over 

 it, till by degrees it is entirely swallowed. 



Cuvier has divided the genus into three subgenera, the Boas properly M . 

 called, the Eryx and the Erpeton. 



The Boa Constrictor, Plate 5, is one of the largest animals of the genus, 

 lieing occasionally found of twenty-five or thirty feet in length ; it is recog- 

 nised by a long chain of large black spots, irregularly hexagonal, upon a 

 yellowish-grey or grey ground, extending along the back, and having on 

 either side numerous triangular spots with their points downwards ; the 

 head marked above with a large longitudinal band, and a smaller lateral 

 one crossing the eyes towards the neck. It inhabits India, Africa, and 

 South America. 



PYTHON. This genus was separated from the Boce by Daudin on 

 account of the collar of scales surrounding the vent, and of the subcaudal 

 scuta being mostly or entirely in pairs instead of single. Cuvier thinks that 

 some of them acquire as great size as any of the Boa;. All of them are 

 natives of India. 



The figured species, Plate 5, the Python Poda of Bengal, is about two feet 

 nine inches in length. The upper part of the head is flesh-coloured, as is 

 also an oblique streak on each side of the neck ; muzzle ashy ; on the occi- 

 put a brown mark, divided by a flesh-coloured stripe ; body and tail ashy. 

 marked with about thirty large, broad, brown spots, edged with black, of 

 various form and size ; sides similarly spotted, but each spot having a 

 white dot in the middle; under part of the tail varied with white and 

 black. It possesses great power in its body and tail ; and, Russell mentions, 

 would grasp the arm of the person who heid it by the neck so firmly as to 

 numb it. 



ACROCHORDUS. A genus which derives its name from a remarkable 

 warty appearance of the skin, caused by the arrangement of the scales 

 separate from one another, and marked each with three ridges : these when 

 inflated give the appearance indicated by the generic name. The species, 

 A. Javanensis (Plate 5), has been described by Lacepede, Lescherhault, 

 and others : its average length is from six to ten feet ; its form is peculiar, 

 the body being gradually enlarged from the neck to the base of the tail, 

 which is both short and slender. Its throat is capable of enormous dila- 

 tation. It has no poison-fangs. The general colour of the animal is 

 black above, greyish-white beneath and on the sides, which are spotted 

 with black. According to Hornstedt this animal subsists altogether on 

 fruits, which if true is contrary to the habits of all other known specie:-. 

 Cuvier, however, doubts the assertion. 



COLUBER. These, according to Cuvier's arrangement, include all those 

 Snakes which have the scales on the under part of the tail arranged in 

 pairs, at whatever part of the tail they may be found, either throughout 

 its whole length, at its base, or at its tip ; they are none of them venoi 



OPHISAURUS. This, as well as the genus Anguis, forms the link con- 

 necting the two orders Ophidia and Sauria; like the latter order they 

 possess eyelids which the Snakes have not, and indeed seem to be little 

 different from the genus Seps, except in being deprived of feet. They are 

 found only in the New World, and are remarkable for the extreme fragility 

 of their tail ; they prefer the retired and swampy parts of extensive woods, 

 and feed on insects, worms, and other small animal-. 



