TEE kSNAKFS of BANGKOK. 103 



28, Hipistes hydrinus. 



Bouleng-er's Cala'o'ju-e of Siud-es menlioas a specimen from 

 Bangkok. 



Distrihidion. JMoutlis of rivers and coasts of Pegn. Siam and the 

 Malay Peninsula. 



29. Herpeton tsataculatum. The Tentacle Snah-e. 

 Siamese, ^ T\1Z ^"i^ ( '^'/'* Ira-dang ). 



51 



This curious looking snake, although not common in Bangkok 

 itself, is more numerous in some of the water-ways in the neighbour- 

 hood. At Bang-pa-in it is not uncommon, and also at Petriu, and pro- 

 bably many other places, but being strictly aquatic in its habits, is not 

 often met with unless carefully hunted for. The strange antennae-like 

 appendages which protrude from the snout, serve to distinguish it at 

 once from all other snakes. Speaking of these appendages Flower states: 

 " In life the tentacles of the snout are soft, capable of expansion and 

 retraction, and apparentl}^ very sensitive ; the snake constantly 

 moves them about, as if they performed the function of the antennae 



of Arthropods When the specimen is placed in spirits the 



tentacles retract and are not so conspicuous as in life." 



1 am unable to agree with this at all, and as Flower was a most 

 careful observer, I cannot help thinking that, as he wrote his article 

 afrer he had left the' country, he must, in this case, have been relying 

 on his memory. I have often kept these snakes in captivity and have 

 paid much attention to the "tentacles," and -Major Sprater, who has 

 also kept them, entirely agrees with me. 



The rostral appendages ( as they are technically termed ) of this 

 snake are not soft, but are covered with hard scales akin to those upon 

 the other parts of the body. In the process of sloughing they are 

 thrown off as a complete cast with the rest of the skin. They are not 

 capable of expansion and retraction, although they have a wide range 

 of movement as i-egards ap])roximation and divergation. When the 

 snake lies beneath the water, tliey are pointed in a forward direction ; 

 with the snout protruding above the surftice, a common position for this 

 snake to assume, they are laid flat back on either side against tlie 

 upper lij^s. They are seldom moved, ])ut are genei'alh' allowed to flop 



