DR. J. SHOBTT ON A DOUBLE-HEADED WATER-SNAKE. 49 



Notice of a Double-headed Water-Snake. By John Shortt, 

 M.D., F.L.S., M.E.C.P.L., &c., General Superintendent of Vac- 

 cination, Madras. 



[Bead March 15, 1866.] 



The accompanying woodcut represents a specimen of a water- 

 snake caught alive in the backwater on the Eastern Coast, 



I had frequently heard the natives give accounts of many- 

 headed snakes, but, from my knowledge of the country and the 

 reptiles of the district, I regarded them as fabulous tales, till I 

 was presented with the specimen from which the drawing was 

 made. 



The reptile belongs to the suborder Coluirince, family H^ydro- 

 pTiidcs, and is most probably a young Hydrophis sublcevis of Gray. 

 It measures 12| inches in length, and 7 lines below the union of 

 the double neck, and Ig inch at the thickest part of its body, in 

 circumference. The heads are distinct, and forked at the union, 

 which in the integuments seems to occur at the base of the skull, 

 whilst the separate necks unite about an inch lower down. The 

 eyes, nostrils, mouth, and teeth in each head are perfect, and the 

 two mouths lead into, or terminate in, one oesophagus, below the 

 union, passing on apparently to the abdomen. 



Crown shielded ; occipital shields large ; nostrils surrounded 

 by a continuous ring ; pupils round ; body covered with small 

 scales ; ventral shields small ; body fusiform ; tail compressed and 

 sword-shaped. Head dark brown, approaching black ; conco- 

 lorous interrupted stripes |- inch wide along the back; sides 

 and belly yellowish white ; tail ringed, black, and the extremity, 

 to the extent of an inch, of the same dark colour around its cir- 

 cumference. The specimen was taken alive, and apparently in 

 excellent health, by a native fisherman ; and, from its perfection 

 as regards its heads, it would have been i]D,teresting to know 

 whether it fed with both its mouths. Should I be so fortunate as 

 to succeed in procuring a second specimen, I shall be glad to re- 



LINN. PROC. zoology, VOL. IX. 6 



