KHPMTON. Brpeton 



THE sombre and rather unsightly CERBERUS, better known by its native name of 

 KAROO BOKADAM, is an Asiatic reptile, being found in India, the Philippines, Ceylon, 

 Borneo, and similar countries. It is an ugly looking Serpent, but is not much dreaded, 

 and is thought to be practically non-venomous. It is a stout, thick-bodied Snake, with 

 a very large head in proportion to the size of its neck, though small in comparison with 

 the body. The mouth is not large, and the teeth are small, regular, and set rather closely 

 together. The nostrils of this Serpent are very small, and placed close to each other 

 almost on the very tip of the muzzle. The eyes are small, round, and projecting as if 

 squeezed out of the head, and are surrounded by a curious circle of nearly triangular 

 scales, much as a circular window in a brick wall is edged with wedge-shaped bricks. 



The general colour of this Serpent is greyish brown above, covered with narrow bands 

 of black set rather closely together. The abdomen is black mottled with yellow, the 

 sides are white with spots of pale brown, and the lips and throat are of the same tint but 

 spotted with black. The tail is nearly black. The usual length of this Serpent is about 

 three feet six inches. 



WE now arrive at a very important family of serpents, including the largest 

 species found in the order. These Snakes are known by the popular title of Boas, and 

 scientifically as Boidse, and are all remarkable, not only for their great size and curious 

 mode of taking their prey, but for the partial development of the hinder limbs, which 

 are externally visible as a pair of horny spurs, set one on each side at the base of the 

 tail, and moderately well developed under the skin, consisting of several bones jointed 

 together. In most of the species the tail is rather short and strongly prehensile. The 

 peculiar habits of these enormous Snakes will be mentioned in connexion with the 

 various species. The first of these creatures is the DIAMOND SNAKE of Australia, 

 (Morelia spilotes), a very handsome species and tolerably common. It is called the 

 Diamond Snake on account of the pattern of the colours, which are generally blue, 

 black, and yellow, arranged so as to produce a series of diamonds along the back. The 

 CARPET SNAKE (Morelia variegata), of the same countrv is closely allied to it. Both 

 these reptiles are variable in their colouring. 



