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TEE OEERSYDRUS. 
in proportion to the wide thick body, bearing about the same proportion as the tip of the 
little finger does to the wrist. The tail is also very wide, extremely blunt, and compressed. 
The markings of this reptile are rather curious. The ground color is black. There is 
a large yellow spot on each side of the head, a series of pale, gray-brown spots runs on each 
side of the neck, and a row of large rounded white marks is arranged along the back so as to 
form a richly variegated pattern of boldly contrasted colors. 
The Chitttjl (. HydropMs suhlcems) is another of these marine Snakes, and is found in 
India and Ceylon. It is rather a large species, sometimes exceeding five feet in length, and is 
handsomely colored. It is extremely venomous, a fowl that had been bitten by a Chittul 
dying within five minutes after receiving the injury. The ground color of this Snake is 
yellow, and the body is covered with an irregular row of black rings. Some black bands also 
cross the neck. 
In the Acrochorde, sometimes called the Oular Carron, the tail, instead of being 
flattened, is rounded, conical, and very short, diminishing in diameter in a very sudden 
manner. It is a native of Java, and is said to be wholly vegetarian in its diet, the stomach 
BLACK-BACKED PELAMIS . —Pelamis bicolor. 
having been found to contain nothing but half-digested fruit. The flesh of the Acrochorde is 
said to be excellent. 
Upon the head are a number of little scales, each of which is divided into three ridges. 
The creature is in the habit of distending its body with air to a very great extent, and when it 
so acts the scales separate from each other and make the head and body look as if they were 
covered with tubercles. The general color is brown in the adult, and brown banded and 
streaked with a darker hue in the young. 
The Chersydrtts {Cher si] dr us granuldtus ) is a rather curious aquatic Serpent, found in 
Asia and most common in Java. It is sometimes called the Banded Acrochorde, but wrongly 
so, as its tail, instead of being round and conical, is flat, compressed, and sword-like in shape. 
