THE DIAMOND SNAKE. 



117 



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 color of this Serpent is grayish 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. 



ERPETON. Erpetoa lentacularlus. 



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 Boidae, 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 connection with the 

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

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

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

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

 CARPET SNAKE (Morelici variegato), of the same country is closely allied to it. Both 

 these reptiles are variable in their coloring. 



