COLUBRINE GROUP. 
225 
Death-Adders. 
Among the deadliest of Australian snakes is the purplish 
death-adder (Pseuclechis porphyriaca), alone representing a genus 
characterised by the great elongation and slenderness of the cylindrical body, the 
sharply pointed tail, the small head, imperfectly differentiated from the neck and 
clothed with large shields, the smooth scales, arranged in from seventeen to twenty- 
three rows, the divided anal shield, and the arrangement of the shields on the 
SHORT DEATH-ADDER, AND SPINE-TAILED DEATH-ADDER liat. size). 
under surface of the tail at first in a single, and posteriorly in a double series. 
Behind the fangs are one or two solid teeth in the upper jaw; the pupil of the eye 
is round; and the neck cannot be dilated. This snake, which grows to a length of 
about seven feet, is very variable in coloration. Generally, however, the colour of 
the back varies from a shining purplish black to dark olive-brown, the under¬ 
parts being red, and the sides carmine; but the latter colours not occupying the 
centres of the scales, which are black, as are the hinder borders of the shields of 
the under surface. Generally known to the settlers by the name of the black 
vol. v .—15 
