70 



VIPERIDE. 



The Black Viper, of which I give a figure, drawn from a 

 very fine living specimen, now before me, obtained, and 

 obligingly lent me, by Mr. Combe, is the var. $ of Mr. 

 Jenyns. It has been figured, though but badly, and de- 

 scribed by Dr. Leach, in his Zoological Miscellany. It is 

 evidently a variety only of the present species, and is of a 

 fine rich black colour, excepting under the jaw and throat, 

 which is of a dirty white ; the usual markings of the species 

 may be seen, in particular lights, of a more intense black than 

 the ground colour. 



I have to add a fourth variety, from the specimen in 



