452 



^SCULAPIAN SNAKE. 



Coluber ^i^sciilapii. C.rvfus, linea utrinque laterali fusca, ah- 



domine albidofusco tariato. 

 Rufous Snake, with a dusky lateral stripe on each side, and 



whitish abdomen variegated with brown. 

 Anguis iEsculapii vulgaris. Aldrov. Serp. p. 270. Jonst, Serp, 



t. V. 



Le Serpent d'Esculape. Cepede Serp. p, l65.pl. l»f. 2. 

 Abdominal scuta 175, subcaudal scales 64 pair. 



This, says Cepede, is common in most of the 

 warm parts of Europe, and is no where more fre- 

 quent than in the neighbourhood of Rome, and \% 

 probably the species pecuHarly consecrated by the 

 ancient Romans to the benevolent deity whose 

 name it bears. Whether we admit this supposi- 

 tion or not, we must at all events acknowledge 

 that Linnasus, with peculiar impropriety, applied 

 the title of Coluber ^sculapii to an American 

 species. The Snake intended by Cepede is nearly 

 four feet in length, and of a rufous colour on the 

 upper parts, more or less deep in different indi- 

 viduals, the back being marked on each side by a 

 dusky or blackish longitudinal band : the scales 

 on the sides, nearest the scuta, are white bordered 

 beneath with black, thus forming a range of small 

 whitish triangles along each side the body : the 

 head is rather large, and covered in front, as in 

 the common snake, by scaly plates : the scales on 

 the back are oval and carinated ; those on the 

 sides smooth : the tail measures about nine inches 

 in length : in its general habit it is much allied to 



