108 PLATURUS FASCIATUS. 



CENCHRIS TISSIPHONE.— Tisiphone Snake. 



Spec. Char. Body thick, brown, without variegations; 

 length about two feet. 



Coluber Tisiphone; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 406 ; Catesby y Carol, ii. t.45. 



Catesby describes this as a very slow-moving and sluggish reptile, 

 advancing deliberately even to escape danger, yet it will defend 

 itself fiercely when attacked. It is found in Virginia and Carolina, 

 where it is called the Truncheon Snake. Its bite is said to be very 

 venomous. 



PLATURUS FASCIATUS. 



Fasciated, or Lead-coloured Platurus. 

 Pl. XVIII. 



Gen. Char. — Head indistinct, covered with large 

 plates ; body cylindrical ; dorsal scales equal ; tail 

 compressed, two-edged ; caudal plates two-rowed ; 

 poison fangs in the upper jaw. 



Spec. Char. Body blueish or lead-coloured, with 

 black annular bands ; scales rhomboidal ; abdo- 

 men yellowish ; muzzle ochraceous ; head with a yel- 

 low spot between the eyes. 



Coluber laticaudatus; Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p.1107 ; Idem, Mus. Ad. Fred. I. 

 p. 31. 1. 16. f. 1. Laticaudascutata; Laurenti, Syn. Rept. p. 109. n. 240. Laqtieue 

 plate; La Cepede, Hist. Nat. des Serp. in 12mo. i. p. 391. Hydrus Colubrinus ; 

 Schneider, Hist. Nat. Amph.fasc. i. p. 238; Share, Zool. iii. t. 123. La PI a- 

 turefascie; Latreille, Hist. Nat. des Rept. in 8vo. iii. p.186, f. 5; Daudin, 

 Rept. vii.p.226. t. 85, f. 1. 



This is an aquatic species, and is found in the Indian and American 

 seas. It is frequently seen towards the coasts of the southern islands 



