380 ST. DOMINGO. 



the Mursenoid fishes are minute and inconspicuous. 

 On the other hand, the scaling of these figures is de- 

 cidedly serpentine ; the belly of No. 2. is expressly 

 said to have distinct large symmetrical scales, like 

 those of Serpents, and the head in both is repre- 

 sented as shielded with the broad plates of a Coluber. 

 The tail is drawn out to a long point, apparently 

 in the form of a taper cone, without any compression 

 or bordering fins. In No. 1. there is a little pro- 

 jecting point at the edge of the lower belly, which 

 at first sight suggests the idea of the anal hook of 

 a Boa, but which, from comparison with other figures, 

 appears intended to represent the projection of the 

 pre-anal scale ; this, though a small matter, is yet an 

 important mark of distinction between a Serpent and 

 a Fish. 



These confirmatory evidences, I of course commu- 

 nicated to my friend, whose observations in reply I 

 subjoin. 



''Dec. 24. 1850 You have dipped into 



the right Treasury in Seba's Thesaurus. His Ser- 

 pent with the red gular appendages and mouth ter- 

 minating like a bird's bill is certainly the curious 

 Snake described to me as an inhabitant of St. Do- 

 mingo, and mentioned in so many narratives of the 

 people as sometimes met with here. Your minute 

 notices of the delineation in Seba, the scaling of the 

 back, the scuta of the belly, the plates of the head, 

 the anal hook, and the absence of every thing that 

 might represent flattening in the extremity, are all 

 so many decisive evidences of its ophidian character. 

 But be it what it may, it is indisputably the gilled 

 and wattled serpent of St. Domingo, so amusingly 



