388 



UNITEtJ STATES. 



rhombiferus ; it measured six feet two inches in 

 length, and above eleven niches three quarters round. 

 Another has a yellow skin, with zigzag brown belts, 

 six feet long; this he has named crotalus zetazona* 

 The third and fourth are twelve to fifteen inches 

 long, venomous as the others; one is black, with 

 paler bands down its sides; the other is yellowish, 

 •with a chain of rhomboid dark lines on the back, 

 and a brown line round the head above the eyes. 



A species of boa was also discovered on Long 

 Island in 1801, of which the following account is 

 published by Dr. Mitchell. 



Its length was seven feet and four inches, and its 

 thickness proportional, being around the swell about 

 the size of a man*s wrist: belly and sides of a yel- 

 lowish, or straw colour ; on the back were thirty- 

 six black spots, reaching in a row fi'om the head to 

 the tail, and on each side of this row, approaching 

 the belly, were many other blackish or dark brown 

 spots. 



It had no fangs, or biting teeth, to pierce the 

 bodies of its enemies, and insert poison, and there- 

 fore, was not venomous. In the lower part of the 

 mouth, there was a considerable fleshy portion like 

 a tongue, which terminated in a long bicuspidated 

 projection. The jaws were furnished with hooks, 

 or hamated teeth, in the manner common to snakes* 

 It had scuta both on the belly and tail; and these 

 amounted to about 300. From these characters it 

 appears to belong to the genus of boa. The num- 

 ber of the scuta so exactly corresponds with the 

 species termed constrictor, that the boa constrictor 

 may be enumerated among the American serpents* 



