44 KINGED SERPENT. Class IIL 



2. Ringed. EwSpfr. Arist. Hist. an. i. c. Coluber natrix. Lin. Syst. 



1. 380. Gm. Lin. 1100. 



Natrix torquata. Gesner Ser- C. natrix scutis abdom. 170. 



pent. 63. squamis caudae 60. 



Natrix torquata. Raii Syn. Laur. Amph. 75. 



quad. 334. Tomt-Orm, Snok, Ring-Orm. 



Anguis vulgaris fuscus collo Faun. Suec. No. 288. 



flavescente, ventre albis ma- La Couleuvre a collier. De la 



culis distinctus. Pet. Mus. Cepede. Hist, dcs Serpents. 



xvii. No. 101. ii. 147- 



JL HE ringed or common snake is the largest of 

 the English serpents, sometimes exceeding four 

 feet in length : the neck is slender ; the middle 

 of the body thickest ; the back and sides covered 

 with small scales, the belly with oblong, nar- 

 row, transverse plates. The first Linnceus dis- 

 tinguishes by the name of squama, the last he 

 calls scuta, and from them forms his genera 

 of serpents. Those that have both squamce 

 and scuta he calls Colubri ; those that have 

 only squamce, Angues. The viper and snake 

 are comprehended in the first genus, the blind- 

 worm or Fragile serpent under the second ; but 

 we chuse (to avoid multiplying our genera) to 

 unite the few serpents we have in a single 

 genus, their marks being too evident to be con- 

 founded. 



