ORDER OPHIDIA. , 279 



The BuNGARi, Daud., in part, (Pseudoboa, 

 Oppel,) 



Have, like the boa, the crotali, the echis, simple 

 plates under the belly and under the tail. Their 

 head is short, covered with large plates, and their 

 occiput is swelled. What best characterizes them 

 is, that their back, very much carinated, is furnished 

 with a longitudinal range of scales, wider than the 

 lateral scales, as in the dipsas.* 



These serpents come from the East Indies, where 

 they are called rock-serpents. There is one species 

 which attains to the length of seven or eight feet.t 



The Hydras,^ (Hydrus, Schn., in part, Hydrophis 

 and PelamideSy Daud.) 



Have the posterior part of the body and tail, very 

 much compressed, and greatly raised in the vertical 

 direction, which giving them the facility of swim- 

 ming, constitutes them aquatic animals. They are 

 very common in certain latitudes of the Indian seas. 

 Linnaeus arranged those with which he was ac- 

 quainted with the snakes, in consequence of having 



• Bungarus, a barbarous name derived from that of Bungarum Pamma^ 

 which is given to the largest species in Bengal. 



f The Bongare a Anneaiuv, Daud. V. Ixv. Boa Fasclata, Schn., copied 

 from Russel, III. Add, Bong-bleu, Boa Lineata, Sh. Russ. I. 



\ Hydrus, Greek name of an aquatic serpent, perhaps our common 

 adder, but the Marine Hydras of iElian are precisely of this genus. 



