THE SMOOTH SNAKE. 63 



leading characteristics, as may be gathered from 

 the following circumstance : In the autumn of 

 1858 Dr. Opel was obliged to be absent from 

 home for five weeks. Having no one with whom 

 to intrust his pets, he packed them into a vas- 

 culum which was attached to his knapsack, and 

 used by him for botanical specimens. In this 

 they travelled the whole time he was from. home. 

 They did not appear to be in the least affected 

 by the close confinement to which they were 

 subjected, but returned to Dresden in safety and 

 good health. For its home, he says that it chooses 

 in preference rocky ground, overgrown with 

 wood, secreting itself among stones and thick 

 moss. Though nowhere so common as the 

 Ringed Snake, several localities are named in 

 Saxony in which this species is found. 



This reptile belongs not only to a different 

 genus, but also to a different tribe of Colubrines, 

 to the Ringed Snake. Dr. Giinther's brief de- 

 scription of the species is : " Scales in twenty- 

 one rows, and scales bifid ; upper labials seven. 

 Brown. Back with two (sometimes confluent) 

 series of irregularly rounded dark spots. Hinder 

 maxillary tooth smooth/-'* In size and appear- 

 ance it approximates more to the viper than the 

 snake, but, like the latter, is perfectly harmless. 



* Dr. Giinther's " Catalogue of Keptiles in British 

 Museum." 



