431 



SILVER-EYED SNAKE, 



Coluber Melanis. C. ater^ laterihus subcmruleo nebulosis, iridibus 



fuscis, margine pupillari argentea, 

 I>eep-black Snake, with the sides clouded with blueish, the 



eyes brown, with the edge of the pupil silvery. 

 Coluber Melanis. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmd. p. 1087. 'Pall. it. 1. 



p. 46o. 



Abdominal scuta 148, subcaudal scales 27. 



A Siberian species, and found about the bor- 

 ders of the Volga and the Samara, where it was 

 observed by Dr. Pallas. It has a general resem- 

 blance to the Viper, but differs in colour, being 

 of a deep black on the back, of a steely lustre be- 

 neath, marked with patches of a deeper cast, while 

 along the sides are dispersed a kind of clouds or 

 spots of a blueish colour : the eyes are of a bright 

 white, with perpendicular pupils, and ferruginous 

 irides : the tail is short, and gradually tapers to 

 the tip : upon the whole, it may well be doubted 

 whether this be any thing more than a variety of 

 the common Viper. 



