OF REPTILES. 
309 
per lip entire. The back part of the head was so much 
bruised, that its original form was not easily distinguish- 
able. In the fragments of the upper jaw were seen 
three slender recurved teeth; in those of one side of the 
under jaw seven similar teeth, and the sockets of three 
others. No venomous fangs were found. The tongue 
was bifid, each fork being nearly half an inch long. The 
nostrils, situated between the second and third plate 
from the nose, were large, and oval. Between the nos- 
tril and the eye was a longitudinal hollow, bounded be- 
neath by the upper lip, above by a very prominent super- 
ciliary ridge, extending beyond the eye. The eye was 
very large, nearly round, its breadth apparently a little 
diminished by the superciliary ridge, jutting over it. 
The whole head was covered with plates, but those on 
the top of it were so much broken, that their number 
and form could not be perfectly ascertained. The un- 
der jaw was divided by a longitudinal furrow, having 
triangular scutella at its anterior extremity, and two rows 
of scutellse on each side. 
The body was covered with hexagonal flat scales, 
those on the back narrowest; the throat with three or 
four rows of small scales; the belly with a hundred and 
eighty plates; the tail with ninety three pairs of scutellse. 
Over the vent was one pair of scutelke; at its sides four 
pair, the scales opposite to which were smaller than those 
on any other part of the body. 
The colour of the head and of the upper part of the 
body and tail was an uniform deep brown; that of the 
belly and under part of the tail a bluish lead colour, 
lightest in the middle. The whole of the under jaw and 
throat were white, which colour extended in a clouded 
streak ^ome way down under the neck, and fore part of 
the belly. 
In the general disposition of its colours, in the num- 
ber, form, and arrangement of the scuta and scutellse, 
this animal approaches most nearly to the Coluber Con- 
strictor; from which however it is strikingly distinguish- 
ed by its undulating back, by its body being larger in 
proportion to its length, and diminishing more suddenly 
