W E N N A. Ill 



Genus WENONA, B. & G. 



Char. gen. — Rostro ultra inferiorem maxillam prodncto. Oculis jiarvti- 

 lisslmis. Scuto vertlcis amplo et hreve. Scutis frontal ih us in dua 

 aut tria paria disposltis ; occipitalihus parvis. Scuti alii sunt: 

 praefronto-nasaUs et postnasalis, inter qiios est naris in sutura sita ; 

 Joreus sive cum postfrontalis coalescente sive distincto ; anteorhitalis 

 imus; postorbitales duo aut plures ; temporales numerosi. Squamis 

 laevihus, in quadraginta quinque series longitudinajes dispositis. Sen- 

 tella postahdominali, seu praeanaliyindivisa ; suhcaudalihus similiter 

 indivisis. Cauda hreve cum apice ohtuso. Colore uniforme. 



Gen. Char. — Snout protruding beyond the lower jaw. Eyes very 

 small. Vertex plate broad and short. Two or three pairs of 

 frontals. Occipitals small. A prefron to-nasal and a postnasal; 

 the nostril placed between them. Loral united to the postfrontal 

 or else separated. One anteorbital ; two or more postorbitals. 

 Temporal shields numerous. Scales smooth, disposed upon fort}'- 

 five longitudinal series. Postabdominal scutella entire. Subcaudal 

 scutellae entire also. Tail short, bluntly terminated. Unicolor. 



Syn.— Wenona, B. & G. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. VI, 1852, 176 ; & Catal. N. 

 Amer. Kept. I, 185B, 139. 



Observ. — There are, so far, but two known genera of the group of 

 Boidae within the limits of the United States and Territories, Wenona 

 and Charina, both of which being provided wdth vestiges of posterior 

 limbs and a tail that is not prehensile. We regret not having at our 

 command specimens of Cliarina hotiae, in order to institute between it 

 and the species of Wenona a critical comparison, since the two genera 

 appear to us most intimately related. In Charina, the subcaudal 

 Bcutellae appear to be a good deal smaller than in Wenona, as 

 exhibited by the figure of Tortrix bottae, Blainv. (the type of Gray's 

 genus Charina), published in the ^' Nouvelles Annates du Museum 

 d'histoire naturelle," for 1835. There are several other prominent 

 differences between these two genera, according to Gray's description 

 in the " Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the collection of the 

 British Museum," published in 1849, and to which we are compelled 

 to refer our readers. 



