106 CENCHRIS MOCKESON. 



XVIII. 



CENCHRIS MOCKESON. 



The Afockeson, or Hog-nose Snake. 



Gen. Char. Head broad ; neck not dilatable ; sub- 

 caudal plates double. 



Spec. Char. Body pale reddish brown, with fourteen 

 or sixteen broad transverse blackish bands, compressed 

 in the middle ; neck narrow ; abdomen pale yellow 

 with black spots ; anus simple. 



Hog--nose suakn ; Catesby, Carol, ii. t. 50. Le groin ; La Cepede, Serp. ii. p. 383. 

 CcnchrisMockeson ; Daudin, Repl. t. 60, f. 25, and t.70, f.3. 



In its external appearance the Mockeson has much resemblance 

 to a Rattle-snake deprived of its rattle. The head is large, and 

 covered on the anterior part, behind the eyes, with nine large 

 shining plates, and upon the occiput, as well as upon the spine, 

 with numerous, small, reticulated, and slightly carinatcd scales. The 

 neck is very narrow ; the body grows gradually thicker towards the 

 middle ; and the tail, which is tapering and ending in a spine, 

 occupies about a fifth part of the whole length. The scuta of the 

 belly are moderately broad, and according to Daudin, 157 in num- 

 ber ; those of the tail are simple, one-rowed, and amount to about 

 thirty-two. The general colour is pale reddish-brown, marked 

 along the upper part of the body and tail with several large trans- 

 verse dark brown or blackish bands, a little narrower at their cen- 

 tre, and deeper on the back and sides. The posterior sides of the 

 head at the insertion of the jaws are much swelled, and on the 

 upper part of the head, according to Daudin, there are three black 

 spots placed transversely. From the figure here represented, 

 which was drawn from an individual, preserved in the cabinet 

 of Mr. Bell, the head is of a pale yellowish or rose-colour, without 



