44 



RINGED SERPENT. Class III. 



2. Ringed. Evufyij. Arist. Hist. an. i. c. 

 1. 



Natrix torquata. Gesner Ser- 

 pent. 63. 



Natrix torquata. Raii Syn. 

 quad. 334. 



Anguis vulgaris fuscus collo 

 flavescente, ventre albis ma- 

 culis distinctus. Pet. Mus. 

 xvii. No. 101. 



Coluber natrix. Lin. Syst. 



380. Gm. Lin. 1100. 

 C. natrix scutis abdom. 170. 



squamis caudse 60. 

 Law. Amph. 75. 

 Tomt-Orm, Snok, Ring-Orm. 



Faun. Suec. No. 288. 

 La Couleuvre a collier. De la 



Cepede. Hist, dcs Serpents. 



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 Linnaus dis- 

 tinguishes by the name of squama, the last he 

 calls scuta, and from them forms his genera 

 of serpents. Those that have both squama 

 and scuta he calls Colub?'i ; those that have 

 only squama. 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. 



