TREATMENT OF SNAKES IN CAPTIVITY. 243 



European snakes would be very interesting, and might well 

 satisfy the ambition of an ophiological amateur who aims at a 

 speciality. They might all be kept here without artificial heat 

 in the summer, and most of them would go through the winter 

 safely in a state of hybernation. Those which will be most 

 readily procured — exclusive of the common Grass and Smooth 

 Snakes, which will be spoken of separately — are the Bordeaux 

 Snake (Coronella girondica, Dunieril and Bibron), found in the 

 west of France, Italy, and elsewhere ; the iEsculapian Snake 

 (Coluber cesculapii, Sturm), of France and Central Europe ; the 

 Dark Green (Zamenis atrovirem, Wagler) and Horseshoe (Zamenis 

 hippocrepis, Linn.) snakes of Spain and Portugal — the Horseshoe 

 is said to be of frequent occurrence at Gibraltar ; the Lacertine 

 Snake (Ccelopeltis lacertina, Dum. and Bibr.), Dalmatia and 

 Southern Italy ; the Four-lined or Leopard Snake (Coluber 

 quadrilineatus, Pallas) ; and Rhinechis scalwris (Bonaparte), of 

 Spain, Italy and Greece. Many of the European species are 

 common to North Africa and Asia Minor as well. 



There are a great number of very hardy serpents in the 

 United States which give excellent results in captivity here with- 

 out extra heat, some of them having bred under these circum- 

 stances. Those inhabiting the Southern States will, of course, 

 require more heat than northerly species ; but as single species 

 have sometimes a very wide range, the temperature must be 

 adapted according to that of the latitude in which the individual 

 was caught, taking into account the possible elevation above the 

 sea if captured in a mountainous district. Books which describe 

 the snakes themselves will indicate the localities they affect. 

 The Green-spotted Garter-Snake (Tropidonotus ordinatus, Boie), 

 the Bull Snake (Pituophis sayi, Holbrook), the Chicken Snake 

 (Coluber quadrivittatus, Holbrook), the Bacer (Coluber guttatns, 

 Lacepede), the Moccassin Snake (Tropidonotus fasciatus, Boie, 

 Holbrook, &c, called by Catesby, in his ' Natural History of 

 Carolina,' the "Brown Viper," — the term "Moccassin" is 

 applied to many species, venomous and non-venomous, but all 

 reputed "deadly"), — the Black Snake (Coryphodon constrictor, 

 Dumeril and Bibron), the Spot-head (Ischnognathus occipito- 

 maculatus, Storer), common in Nova Scotia, and the Seven- 

 banded Snake (Trojndonotus leberis, Holbrook), are all exceed- 

 ingly hardy reptiles, and resistent of cold. The Arrow-head 



