39 
could be bent with facility upward and downward as represented 
in Plate I. a circumstance not common to other serpents.* Those 
parts of the spine, which were straight, admitt d much less mo¬ 
tion in a vertical direction, than those, which were undulatory. 
ft. in. 
The length of the head was 
I- 3 - 
1 1 0 
From the back of the head to the vent 
2 2 * 
From the vent to the end of the tail 
n 
Whole length 
2 tl£ 
The smallest circumference of the neck, 
one inch and a half. 
The circumference of the body over the largest protuberances 2£ 
inches. The circumference of the body between the two largest 
protuberances 2^ inches. The size of the body diminished sud¬ 
denly at the vent, immediately beyond which the circumference 
of the tail was one inch and three fifths. The tail was round, 
* and tapered very much, terminating in a point. 
The head was rather larger than the neck, flattened^ its ante¬ 
rior part pyramidal, rounded at the nose ; the upper lip entire. 
The back part of the head was so much bruised that its original 
form was not easily distinguishable. In the fragments of the up¬ 
per 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 nostril and the eye was a longitudinal 
hollow, bounded beneath by the upper lip, above by a very prom¬ 
inent superciliary ridge, extending beyond the eye. The eye 
was very large, nearly round, its breadth apparently a little di¬ 
minished 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 under jaw was divided by a longitudinal fut- 
* Ce mode d’articulation, explique Ires bien le mouvement du corps 
des reptiles, qui, en general, s’execute sur les cot£s, et non de haut en 
b'as, comrne le represented les peintres. 
Cuvier Anat. comp. i. 1 76. 
