316 
natural history 
be expected from honest men testifying in regard to an 
object, with which they were but partially acquainted. 
Supposing that the species of the two serpents is the 
same, it is not improbable that one is the progeny of the 
other. The Collubri without fangs, the tribe most 
nearly resembling the Scoliophis, are said by naturalists 
to be generally if not always oviparous, to deposit their 
eggs in the sand in the spring or the end of summer, 
and to abandon them. The eggs are hatched by the 
heat of the sun often in less time than a month. It will 
be remarked that the large serpents described in our 
accounts and depositions, were seen near the shore, and 
only in the month of August, excepting once at Ply- 
mouth in June. 
The principal objections against the specific identity 
of these two animals are derived from the following cir- 
cumstances. 
1 Their disproportionate size. This however is not 
apparently greater than is found between the young and 
the full grown individuals of some other animals. The 
Boa constrictor may be mentioned as an instance. 
2 The one was seen only in the water and the other 
on land. This objection is lessened when we recollect 
that the eggs of amphibious animals are deposited on 
land. The large serpent may have visited the shore in 
the night or at other times. That it was an amphibious 
animal, dependent on respiration, is rendered probable 
by its general structure, and by its frequenting the sur- 
face of the water, often with its head elevated above it. 
The small serpent was fonnd near the salt water, in a 
place, over which the sea breaks in stormy weather. 
Supposing it a young animal, it might have remained in 
the place where it was hatched, or it might occasionally 
have resorted to the shore from the water. We should 
not expect it to venture far from the shore, until its in- 
creased size should afford it some security from becom- 
ing a prey to larger animals of the ocean. 
The circumstance that no evidences of immaturity 
were observed in the Scoliophis might be considered 
as the source of a third objection, if it were not well 
