THE COLOURS. 
83 
of the vast ocean. The inhabitants of the desert, as the 
Eryx, the Egyptian Viper, &c., are scarcely distinguishable 
from the sand, so uniformly spread over those dismal 
wastes ; other snakes, the Burrow ers^ are recognisable by 
their beautiful shining, strongly irridescent colours, among 
which red is predominant on the lower parts. A multi- 
tude of other Ophidians present colours which sometimes 
imitate the dusky brown of a boggy soil, marshy, or shaded 
by thick forests, sometimes the green of herbs, sometimes 
the diversified tints of places clothed with mosses and 
lichens ; and some have their livery adorned with the 
most brilliant hues, in rivalry of the splendours of the 
flowers of a tropical vegetation. The species included in 
this latter category are chiefly found among terrestrial 
snakes, and among those that climb. Thus, we might in- 
stance, as the most beautiful Ophidians, the species whose 
bodies are surrounded with alternate bands of vermilion 
and black, white or yellow ; such are the Coronella ve- 
nustissima and C. coccinea, the Lycodon formosus, many 
snakes of the genera Tortrix and Heterodon, most of the 
Elaps, the Naja lubrica, the Dendrophis ornata, and the 
Dipsas macrorhina. Other Dendrophis, many Dryiophis, 
certain Dipsas, &c., are equally remarkable for the splen- 
dour and diversity of tints which adorn their livery. 
The distribution of the colours is infinitely varied in ser- 
pents ; some have the body longitudinally striped or rayed ; 
others are surrounded by transverse bands ; sometimes they 
are spotted, at other times sprinkled over with dots or 
marblings ; sometimes there is a clear ground, which is re- 
lieved by markings of every sort, at other times dark hues 
are the prevalent colours, so that the ground colour is in- 
distinctly visible ; hence the great difficulty of describing 
the infinite shades of colour in the livery of serpents. This 
difficulty is augmented by the changes which the tints un- 
dergo from age in the different stages of life, &c. ; they are 
still more frequently different in the two sexes, and the ac- 
cidental varieties observed in this respect are very nume- 
rous. The vivacity of the tints undergoes continual meta- 
morphoses from the casting of the skin. It is a general 
