CHAPTER XIII. Snakes in Relation to Man

SNAKES IN RELATION TO MAN

Under this head, the question of poisonous snakes naturally occupies the first place. In addition to what has been said above in Chapter VI., dealing with the anatomical and physiological aspects of the subject, we have to allude to the accidents caused by these dangerous reptiles, and the measures taken to combat them.

The enormous mortality for which snake-bite is responsible in India is well known. Statistics establish the fact that an average of 20,000 human lives are thus lost annually: 24,264 is the official return for 1911. In Australia, where highly poisonous snakes of various genera and species abound, the fatal cases are likewise very numerous, though less in proportion than in South America, and no doubt also in Africa. In the small island of Martinique, the Fer-de-Lance, Lachesis lanceolatus, causes every year the death of about 100 human creatures. Though numerous in species, the poisonous snakes of Ceylon cause a comparatively small mortality--200 per annum.

Modern research has resulted in the discovery of the only effective antidote for snake-venom intoxication: the serotherapic treatment. An animal that has been treated over a length of time with the venom of a poisonous snake, such as a Cobra, yields a serum which is antitoxic towards that venom; but the great difficulty resides in the specificity of the different poisons, which often renders the use of the serum ineffective in countries like India and Australia, where several kinds of poisonous snakes occur in the same district (see above, p. 67). In India, where a special laboratory has been established for the supply of antivenine, at the Central Institute of Kasauli, it has been found impossible to obtain any venoms but those of the Cobra and Russell's Viper in sufficient quantity to immunize animals, and thus produce the serum necessary for dealing with the bite of the King Cobra, the Krait, and the Echis Viper.

In Pondicherry the French Government places annually a sum of 200 rupees at the disposal of the director of the hospital for obtaining Cobra poison, the snakes, to be brought alive, being paid for to the natives at the rate of half a rupee to one rupee each, according to size and condition. Six hundred and fifty-three specimens were thus purchased in less than two years (1901-1903). The poison is utilized for the preparation of Calmette's antivenine, which, as we have said above, is only effective against cobra poison, and, unfortunately, useless for the cure of bites from other species.

In Brazil, where the number of accidents is estimated at 19,200 per annum, and that of fatal cases at 4,800, over 2,000 snakes (Lachesis and Crotalus) are brought annually to the Serotherapic Institute of Batantan, in the province of S. Paolo, for the preparation of the antitoxic serum, which is given in exchange for the snakes. According to the latest report of the Institute (1911), two serums are distributed: the anti-crotaline (for Rattlesnake bite) and the anti-bothropine (for Lachesis bite); the third, the anti-elapine (for Coral-snake bite), is in course of preparation.

In many countries a premium has for years been paid for the heads of poisonous snakes, and has led to the destruction of enormous numbers of them, without, however, resulting in a very appreciable diminution of the dangerous reptiles. More than £12,000 has been spent for this purpose in India alone; the numbers destroyed in 1885 and 1886 throughout British India amount to 420,044 and 417,596 respectively. About forty years ago the Governor of St. Lucia offered a reward of 4d. for every Fer-de-Lance's head. But the negroes caught them alive and bred families of snakes for the sake of the reward, and thereby made what was for them a little fortune, these snakes bringing forth up to sixty young at a birth. The reward had to be abolished very soon.

Now about the Vipers of Europe, the only really dangerous snakes of this part of the world.

Although the Adder, Vipera berus, is quite common in many parts of England and Scotland, accidents caused by its bite are rarely heard of, and cases of death are few and far between. It is not so, however, on the Continent, where the same species, and especially its close ally, the more southern V. aspis, are responsible for many fatalities, due no doubt to the more virulent action of the venom in a warmer climate.

In the French Departments Loire-Inférieure and Vendée, where these snakes are very plentiful, three or four cases of death are reported annually. From 1860 to 1868, 370 serious accidents to man have been carefully recorded, 53 ending in death, not only in the case of children, but also of adults of all ages, in 10 cases within one to twenty-four hours. In the Puy-de-Dôme cases of death are of frequent occurrence. In Germany and in Switzerland, 12 or 13 per cent. of the cases on record have ended fatally. Instances of death from the bite of the south-eastern V. ammodytes are also not infrequent. On the other hand, the bite of V. ursinii, which is but seldom inflicted, is not known to have ever resulted in death.

It must be borne in mind that accidents are much more frequent in districts where the poorer classes are in the habit of going about barefoot.

Anyhow, it is certain that Vipers are a serious danger in many parts of Europe, not only to man, but also to horses, cattle, and dogs. And it is not surprising that efforts have been made to reduce their numbers. The most efficacious means, besides the protection of certain animals and birds which feed on Vipers, appeared to be the institution of premiums to be paid for the heads of the dangerous snakes. By offering 2-1/2d. per head, 500,000 Vipers (V. aspis) were destroyed from 1864 to 1890 in three French departments, Haute-Saône, Doubs, and Jura, and in one district (Chaumont) of the Haute-Marne 57,045 were killed from 1856 to 1861; this gives an idea of the extraordinary abundance of these snakes in some parts of France. In the Puy-de-Dôme the premium was fixed for a time at 5d., and one man managed to destroy in the course of seven years 9,175 Vipers (V. berus and V. aspis). A woman in the Deux-Sèvres has made a living for many years by catching Vipers, the heads of which were paid to her at the rate of 5d. each. The average number of her captures amounted to 2,062 per annum (mostly V. aspis). Around Oesnitz in Saxony, 2,140 V. berus were killed in 1889, and 3,335 in 1890. In a single district in Southern Styria the heads of 4,197 V. berus and 7,381 V. ammodytes were sent in for the reward in the course of two years (1892, 1893).

In spite of all this effort, the institution of the bounty has not answered expectations, and, with the exception of a few districts, Vipers remain as plentiful as ever, showing what little man can do in altering the equilibrium of Nature, except by interfering with the natural conditions under which animals live. Cultivation of the ground or destruction by fire of the vegetation of the wilderness seems to be the only efficacious means of getting rid of so abundant and prolific a creature as the Viper.

A word may be said, however, in defence of Vipers: they do a great deal of good to agriculture by the destruction of small rodents, on which they feed chiefly, and whose multiplication they serve to keep in check. It must be pointed out that, with the exception of the species of Coluber and Zamenis, other European snakes are to be regarded as indirectly injurious to agriculture, feeding as they do mainly on lizards or frogs and toads, which, as insectivores, deserve to be protected.

Snakes are not of much economic value to man. Tanned skins of Boas and Pythons are utilized for making shoes and fancy articles, such as purses, pocket-books, blotters, etc., and the Siamese make the drum-heads of native drums out of the skins of Pythons and Acrochordus. To say nothing of savages, who seem to be partial to the flesh of large snakes, the peasantry in some parts of France do not disdain snakes as an article of food, the Grass-snake being occasionally served in village inns under the name of Anguilles de haies, or hedge-eels.

Viper fat has for a long time been in request as an ointment in the case of various affections, and much used by quack doctors in the preparation of their remedies. Some forty years ago a chemist in Challans (Vendée) collected Vipers (V. aspis) for medicinal purposes, and was able to send several thousands to Paris in the course of a few years, thus realizing a considerable sum of money, but the demand has gradually fallen off since.

Very frequent in the past, snake-worship is still prevalent in many parts of India, where the Cobra is held in great veneration, and is never willingly killed by the Hindoo. In pre-Buddhist days the gods were represented with a canopy of five or seven Cobras over them. The North African Cobra was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, and is profusely represented on the monuments and tombs; it was also an emblem of the physical sun, and, as a sign of royal power, along with the sun's disc, formed part of the headdress of all solar deities. The Greeks and Romans also worshipped snakes, and the god of medicine is represented holding a snake, which is supposed to be Coluber longissimus, the so-called "Æsculapian snake"; the occurrence at the present day of certain common Italian species (Zamenis gemonensis, Coluber longissimus, Tropidonotus tessellatus) in isolated localities of Central Europe, formerly Roman settlements, has been attributed to their importation for use in the temples.

Snake-charmers have existed from the remotest antiquity, and are still to be found among all races of men, from the accomplished Indian juggler down to the more commonplace European snake-catcher, who boasts of his immunity, and of his art of attracting snakes by devices of which he has the secret. The Libyan Psillii of the ancient Romans have handed down their art to the present day, and their performances are to be witnessed in most of the towns of Egypt and Tunisia. But India above all lands is reputed for its snake-charmers, and the favourite species used by them is the Cobra, which, by the way in which it raises the anterior part of the body and expands the region behind the head, lends itself better than any other to the display. Constantly facing the man before him, and swaying the raised anterior part of the body, it seems to dance to the music performed by the snake-man, people believing it to be charmed by the sounds of the instrument. However, anyone sitting on the ground in front of a Cobra, and swaying the body from side to side as does the man, can obtain the same result without the aid of any sort of music.

The most puzzling thing about these performances is how the man can thus play with impunity with so deadly a snake. It is a mistake to think that the snake is rendered harmless through the poison fangs having been extracted, although this subterfuge is frequently resorted to by the less accomplished jugglers. The immunity of the snake-charmer is to be explained by the fact that the man has submitted himself to a series of successive and graduated inoculations of the venom, a process similar to vaccination, which renders his blood proof against the venom of the particular species of snake, and that one only, used for his performances.

Another deadly snake shown by the snake-charmers in North Africa is the Horned Viper, Cerastes cornutus. The presence of an erect spike above the eye is, however, not a constant character in this snake, and hornless specimens are made to look more formidable by spines of the hedgehog being inserted in the proper place; the illusion is such that even naturalists have been deceived by this trick.

Indian snake-charmers profess to have a belief in the efficacy of snake-stones, or bezoar stones, as a remedy to be applied on the part bitten by a poisonous snake, a belief shared by the natives of many tropical countries. These stones, extracted from various reptiles, birds, and mammals, are calcareous concretions from the stomach or bladder, sometimes composed of superphosphate of lime, sometimes of phosphate of ammonia or magnesia. The value of a bezoar stone being supposed to increase with its size, the larger are sold in India at very high prices.

In many places a popular belief prevails that such stones are found in the heads of snakes. Mr. J. A. Bucknill, now Attorney-General at Hong-Kong, who spent five years in Cyprus, has informed the author that the Viper of the latter island, Vipera lebetina, is commonly believed to contain a stone which, when applied to the bite of a poisonous snake, quickly nullifies the effect; it is also believed that, when this stone is allowed to stand in a glass of water and the water is drunk, it endows the drinker with surprising virility. Indeed, there was an action tried by the English judge at Larnaka in which the plaintiff claimed the return, or damages for the non-return, of one of these "Viper-stones" which he had lent for a monetary consideration to the defendant for the promotion of his manly vigour, and Mr. Bucknill's recollection is that the plaintiff recovered £10 for the loss.

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SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT OF THE SNAKES OF EUROPE

FIRST FAMILY: TYPHLOPIDÆ

Skull compact, with short, toothless lower jaw, without transverse bone; palatine and pterygoid reduced and toothless; maxillary small, loosely attached to lower surface of cranium and bearing a few small teeth; no supratemporal, the quadrate articulated to the proötic; a coronoid element in the lower jaw. Rudiments of a pelvic arch, reduced to a single bone. Body vermiform, covered with uniform cycloid scales; head small, not distinct from the body; mouth small, crescentic, inferior; eyes under the more or less transparent head-shields, sometimes entirely hidden. Worm-like, smooth, shiny snakes, of small or very small size, the largest measuring little over 2 feet, of subterranean habits, or found in rotten trees, under stones, or in the saw-dust of sawmills; rarely appearing on the surface except when the ground is soaked by heavy rains.

Inhabit the intertropical parts of the whole world, as well as South Africa, Southern Asia, and Southern Australia. One species occurs in South-Eastern Europe. About 120 species are known.

GENUS TYPHLOPS, SCHNEIDER

Head with large shields; nostril in a single or divided nasal. Tail extremely short.

1. TYPHLOPS VERMICULARIS, Merrem The Greek Blind-Snake

Form.--Slender, worm-like, the greatest diameter of the body 40 to 52 times in the total length. Tail about as long as broad, ending in a short spine. Snout depressed, rounded, strongly projecting. Eyes distinguishable, appearing as a small black spot surrounded by an unpigmented circle; nostrils lateral.

Head-Shields.--Rostral about one-third, or a little less than one-third, the width of the head, extending on its upper surface nearly to the level of the eyes. Nasal incompletely divided, the cleft proceeding from the second labial. Preocular present, about as broad as the ocular, in contact with the second and third labials. Upper head-scales feebly enlarged and subequal. Four upper labials.

PLATE I

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Scales.--Equal, 22 or 24 round the body.

Coloration.--Brown or yellowish-brown above, yellowish beneath.

Total Length.--10 inches. A specimen from Cyprus is reported to measure 14 inches.

Distribution.--This species has long been known from Greece, the Ionian Islands, and the Grecian Archipelago. It is on record from the Eli-Deren Pass, in Bulgaria. A specimen stated to come from Constantinople is preserved in the British Museum. The range further extends over a considerable part of South-Western Asia, viz., Asia Minor, Syria, Cyprus, Transcaucasia, Persia, Turkestan, and Afghanistan.

Habits.--Pretty alert in its movements, this little snake has considerable constricting powers, and coils itself fast round the fingers when handled. It lives much after the manner of earth-worms, and if dug out of loam or sand a specimen must be instantly grasped, as it draws back with extraordinary quickness. Its food probably consists mainly of earthworms and small insects. Some exotic species of the genus are known to feed on termites, and are often dug out of their nests.

Reproduction.--No observations have been made that I am aware of, but, as some of the exotic species of which we know something more lay large, elongate eggs, it is probable that this species also is oviparous.

SECOND FAMILY: BOIDÆ

Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid bones movable; transverse bone present; pterygoid extending to quadrate or mandible; supratemporal present, attached scale-like to cranium, suspending quadrate; prefrontal in contact with nasal; a coronoid element in the lower jaw. Teeth in both jaws. Vestiges of pelvis and hind limbs, usually terminating, at least in males, in a claw-like horny spur on each side of the vent.

This family contains, besides the gigantic Boas and Pythons, several small more or less burrowing forms, among which the genus Eryx, its only European representative, belonging to the subfamily Boinæ, characterized by the absence of a supratemporal bone and of premaxillary teeth. This subfamily, the largest members of which inhabit tropical America, is distributed over the hotter parts of America, Asia west of the Bay of Bengal, Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, Africa north of the equator, Papuasia, and some islands of the South Pacific. The habitat of the European species is confined to the eastern and southern countries of the Mediterranean district.

This very varied family, including terrestrial, arboreal, aquatic, and burrowing forms, is a comparatively small one as regards the number of species, viz., about sixty, of which one-third pertain to the Pythoninæ, which inhabit tropical and South Africa, Southern Asia, Papuasia, Australia, and Mexico.

GENUS ERYX, DAUDIN

Anterior maxillary and mandibular teeth longer than the posterior. Head small, not distinct from neck, covered with small scales; a large rostral shield. Eye very small, with vertical pupil. Body cylindrical; scales small; ventral shields narrow. Tail very short; subcaudal shields mostly single.

The range of this genus, embracing eight species, extends from South-Eastern Europe and Africa north of the equator to Central Asia and India.

2. ERYX JACULUS, Linnæus The Javelin Sand-Boa

Form.--Stout. Head small, not distinct from neck; snout projecting beyond the mouth; eye directed upwards and outwards; a feeble mental groove. Tail, ending very obtusely, one-tenth to one-sixteenth of the total length. Anal spurs more or less developed, often absent in the female.

Head-Shields.--Rostral very large and broad, with angular horizontal edge, followed by a pair of internasals and a second row of two or three small shields, the rest of the upper surface of the head covered with scale-like shields, 5 to 8 from eye to eye across the vertex, 7 to 11 round the eye; 9 to 12 upper labials, second or third deepest, separated from the eye by one or two series of scales. Nostril between the internasal and two nasals, the anterior of which sometimes fuses with the former. Two or three series of scales between the nasals and the eye.

Scales.--Smooth, feebly keeled on the posterior part of the body and on the tail, in 40 to 51 rows. Ventrals narrow, occupying about one-third of the ventral surface, 163 to 200; anal small, entire; subcaudals all or greater part single, 15 to 29.

Coloration.--Pale greyish, reddish, or yellowish-brown above, with brown, purplish-brown, or blackish markings, which may be very irregular or form a single or alternating series of large blotches or cross-bands on the back; the sides with smaller spots; these markings may be confluent and so large as to reduce the ground colour to small yellowish spots; one, two, or three short, dark stripes often present on the nape; a dark streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth; sometimes a dark curved band from eye to eye across the upper surface of the snout. Lower parts yellowish-white, uniform or with small blackish spots.

Size.--2-1/4 feet is the greatest length which this snake is known to attain.

Distribution.--Originally described from Lower Egypt, and extending westwards to Algeria, this Eryx has been found in Greece, in Corfu, in the Cyclades, in Turkey, and in Roumania. It occurs also in Asia Minor, in Transcaucasia, in Transcaspia, in Northern Persia, and in Syria. It has been found at an altitude of 5,000 feet in Persia, to the west of Lake Urmia. A closely allied form (E. miliaris, Pallas), which has been confounded with this species, extends from Transcaspia to Turkestan and Afghanistan.

The reported occurrence of this snake in Bulgaria is based on a specimen labelled "Bulgaria (?)" in the Sofia University Museum. The species is omitted from Kovatscheff's latest list of Bulgarian Reptiles.

Habits.--This diminutive Boid is a burrower in arid, sandy districts, appearing only early in the morning or towards dusk; it is as a rule more crepuscular than nocturnal. Notwithstanding its rather heavy form, it is capable of very quick movements, darting like an arrow upon its prey, which consists chiefly of small mammals and lizards. A constrictor, like all the members of the family to which it pertains, it crushes its prey before swallowing it. If given several mice at a time, it will catch and kill them all in succession before proceeding to feed. Specimens recently discovered in the Danube Valley in Roumania were found to live in the sand at the bottom of small limestone caves, going about at night and feeding principally on slugs. Unlike other snakes, it is said to lap dewdrops with its tongue. It is a gentle snake, seldom attempting to bite.

Egyptian jugglers are in the habit of implanting the claw of a bird or small mammal in the skin of the head of this snake, above each eye, in order to give it a more formidable appearance.

Reproduction.--Like the other species of Eryx, this snake is ovoviviparous, but, beyond this fact, nothing appears to have been observed concerning the breeding habits, although many examples have been kept in captivity.

THIRD FAMILY: COLUBRIDÆ

Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid bones movable; transverse bone present; pterygoid extending to quadrate or mandible; supratemporal present, attached scale-like to cranium, suspending quadrate; prefrontal not in contact with nasal; maxillary horizontal, not movable perpendicularly to the transverse bone; no coronoid bone. Teeth in both jaws. No vestiges of pelvic arch.

An enormous group, comprising the great majority of snakes. Divided into three parallel series:

A. Aglypha, with all the teeth solid.

B. Opisthoglypha, with one or more of the posterior maxillary teeth grooved.

C. Proteroglypha, with the anterior maxillary teeth grooved or canaliculated.

The third, which is not represented in Europe, includes some of the most deadly snakes, such as the Cobras, Kraits, Death-adders, etc.

The European genera are thus distributed in the two other series:

AGLYPHA (COLUBRINÆ): Tropidonotus, Zamenis, Coluber, Coronella, Contia.

OPISTHOGLYPHA (DIPSADOMORPHINÆ): Coelopeltis, Macroprotodon, Tarbophis.

These genera give but a feeble idea of the variety of forms included in this family, which comprises adaptations to every mode of life for which snakes are fitted.

The distribution of the family coincides with that of the order, extending over the whole world with the exception of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and Ireland and New Zealand, as well as most of the smaller islands of the Pacific Ocean.

GENUS TROPIDONOTUS, KUHL

Maxillary teeth increasing in size posteriorly. Head more or less distinct from neck; eye moderate or rather small, with round pupil. Body more or less elongate; scales keeled, with apical pits. Tail moderate.

This large genus, comprising about ninety species, and of almost cosmopolitan distribution, with the exception of South America and the greater part of Australia, may be divided into several subgenera, two of which are represented in Europe--Tropidonotus proper, with the common T. natrix, and Nerodia, Baird and Girard, with two closely related species of more thoroughly aquatic habits, T. tessellatus and T. viperinus.

3. TROPIDONOTUS NATRIX, Linnæus (Natrix vulgaris, Laurenti; Coluber torquatus, Lacepède) The Grass-Snake, or Ring-Snake

Form.--Moderately slender; snout short, obtuse, not prominent; eyes and nostrils lateral, the former moderately large. Tail four to six and a half times in the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, visible from above. Nasal divided, very rarely semidivided. Internasals at least as broad as long, trapezoid, shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal broader than the supraocular, once and one-third to once and a half as long as broad, as long as or a little shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals, not in contact with the preocular. Loreal deeper than long. One (rarely two) pre- and three (rarely two or four) postoculars. Temporals 1 + 2. Upper labials seven (rarely six or eight), third and fourth (or fourth and fifth) entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter than the posterior.

Scales with two apical pits, in nineteen rows, strongly keeled on the body, of outer row smooth or faintly keeled. Ventral shields 157 to 181; anal divided; subcaudals 50 to 88.

Coloration.--Very variable. We shall first describe the typical form, and then allude to the principal varieties and individual variations with which we are acquainted.

Grey, bluish-grey, olive, or brown, above, usually with black spots or narrow bars on the back, and vertical bars on the sides; upper lip whitish or yellowish, with the sutures between the shields black; the preocular, and sometimes the postoculars, yellow in the young; a white, yellow, or orange collar on the nape, sometimes uninterrupted, more often divided in the middle, bordered behind by two black subtriangular or crescentic blotches, which usually meet on the median line; the bright collar often becomes faint, or even entirely disappears, in large females (Plate II., first figure); belly usually checkered black and grey or white, more rarely grey with small black spots, or entirely black. Iris dark brown or reddish-brown, with a golden circle round the pupil. This is the form found in England and Central Europe and in some parts of Southern Europe.

In Jersey, in the Spanish Peninsula, and in Cyprus, the white or yellow collar, which is always present in the very young, soon disappears, and so does usually the black collar, which is either much reduced or entirely absent (var. astreptophorus, Seoane). Some large specimens from the Spanish Peninsula are uniform olive, without any markings.

Another variation (Plate II., third figure), rare in France, but common in Italy, South-Eastern Europe, and Asia Minor (var. persa, Pallas; bilineatus, Bibr.; murorum, Bonap.) has the collar well marked, though widely interrupted in the middle, and a white, yellow, or orange streak extends along each side of the back, which may bear the usual black markings in addition.

In some specimens from Austria and Corfu (var. subfasciatus, Werner) the belly is white, with black bars occupying the free edge of each ventral shield.

A very remarkable variety (var. cettii, Gené) from Corsica and Sardinia (Plate II., second figure) is grey or olive above, with the black markings confluent into more or less regular annuli, which are nearly as wide as the spaces between them; these annuli are often broken up on the middle line of the back, and alternating; the collar is absent, or is transformed into the first annulus, and the upper surface of the head is more or less spotted or blotched with black. This pattern is most distinct in young and half-grown specimens; in large examples the annuli may break up into spots, disposed with great symmetry in transverse series. The belly is black, spotted with white.

A specimen 20 inches long, from Bona, Algeria (Lataste collection), has the posterior half of the head, from between the eyes and behind the postocular shields, of an intense black, followed by the usual yellow and black collar; two light dots close together on the parietal shields.

Some specimens are entirely or nearly entirely black. In the var. picturatus, Jan, from the Caucasus, the upper parts are sprinkled all over with light dots, and the yellow collar is present; the belly is grey, dotted with black, and with white spots on the sides. In others the body is black above, and checkered black and white beneath (var. scutatus, Pall.), or entirely black (var. ater, Eichw.). This melanism never appears until the second or third year of life, the young being marked like the typical form.

Albinos have occasionally been met with, yellowish flesh-colour with reddish markings, and a white or yellow collar, the eye and the tongue red. Such an albino, from Horsted Keynes, Sussex, is preserved in the British Museum. A remarkable aberration, to be regarded as an imperfect albino, has been found in Dorsetshire, and described as uniform whitish, with a well-defined broad longitudinal central dorsal pale yellow-brown band.

Size.--May reach a length of 6 feet 8 inches. Such giants, females, known from Sardinia, Sicily, and Istria, are, however, very exceptional, individuals of this species seldom exceeding a length of 4 feet. The largest British specimen on record, from Wales, is stated to measure 5 feet 10 inches. Males rarely exceed 3 feet.

Monstrosity.--A dicephalous young, with the two well-formed heads side by side, is preserved in the British Museum, and several others have been described, one being reported to have lived for about a month.

PLATE II

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Distribution.--Tropidonotus natrix occurs all over Europe, with, of course, the exception of Ireland, as far north as the extreme south-east of Scotland, and the sixty-fifth degree in Scandinavia and Finland, and as high up as 7,450 feet in the Italian Alps. With the exception of a few districts in England and in Central Europe, as well as in the extreme north, it is common everywhere, in the north as well as in the south. On the Mediterranean islands it is absent from the Baleares and Malta. In North Africa it is known from Algeria and Tunisia, north of the Atlas, where it does not seem, however, to be at all common. It has a wide range in Asia, extending eastwards to Lake Baikal, and southwards to Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Northern Persia. In the south-east of its range, the bilineated variety predominates over the typical form. The melanistic so-called varieties are not geographically restricted, but occur all over the habitat of the species, though not recorded from England.

Habits.--Although fond of water, and often seen swimming in ponds or streams or creeping by the water's edge, this snake is far less aquatic than its two congeners described hereafter; it often occurs on dry chalk hills or in woods far from any water. It is moderately agile in its movements, and easily caught, on which occasions it hisses loudly and emits a nauseous smell from its anal glands, together with the renal dejections, but makes no attempt to bite; exceptionally an individual may go so far as to strike with open mouth, but cases of this snake really biting are extremely rare. However, Gené says of the male of his Natrix cettii, "iracundum et mordacissimum animal." Dr. Gadow relates his experience with aggressive specimens which inhabited a swamp with a little stream to the north of Oporto, close to the coast. To his utter surprise, some of them actually made for him, swimming along rapidly with the head erect, about 6 inches above the water, and darting forwards with widely opened jaws; but they did not bite. According to Professor Kathariner, this snake when caught has been observed to sham death, lying rigid and motionless, with open gape. Some specimens do well in captivity, and are known to have lived for many years; others refuse all food and die of starvation. After a time they become tolerably tame, and cease to produce the offensive odour when handled.

The food consists of frogs and toads--the latter being preferred notwithstanding their poisonous secretion, which protects them from the attacks of most animals--occasionally of newts, seldom of fish; these snakes are reported to have a predilection for tree-frogs, and to feed occasionally on mice and birds, but most observers agree that they will not take anything higher in the zoological scale than frogs. The prey is swallowed alive, and, if not very large, four or five frogs or toads are often taken in succession; a case is known of a snake having swallowed twenty very small frogs at one meal. The young feed on worms and batrachian larvæ, in addition to very small frogs and toads.

The Grass-snake gets on very well with the Adder, to whose venom it is immune.

It has more than once been met with swimming in the sea, and a case is reported of one having been captured in the open sea twenty-five miles from the nearest land, no doubt carried away by the current, but still perfectly lively.

The hibernating season is spent in holes in walls or at the root of trees, often under manure-heaps, and the awakening occurs in March or April, soon to be followed by the first exuviation and the pairing.

Reproduction.--Pairing takes place in April or in May, according to the climate, and the eggs are laid between June and August, the young emerging six to ten weeks later. It is probable that a second pairing occasionally takes place in the autumn, as eggs have sometimes been found in manure-heaps at the end of winter. Females do not breed until about 2 feet long, males a little sooner. The eggs number 11 to 48, according to the size of the female, and, after being produced in a string, stick together in a mass, without any regularity.

The eggs measure 1 to 1-1/2 inches in length, and when newly laid are about once and a half as long as broad. They often contain at the time they are produced a more or less developed embryo. They are sometimes laid in recesses in walls, in heaps of sawdust near sawmills, under dead leaves, but preferably in manure, for which purpose females often approach farms during the period of oviposition. Holes near baking ovens at the back of village houses are sometimes selected as breeding resorts. The female rolls herself up, and by violent contortions makes a sort of chamber in the manure, in which she may remain for some days after the eggs have been produced. It is not very unusual for several females to congregate for the purpose of laying, and as many as 1,200 eggs have been found in the same hole. The young on emerging has lost the umbilical cord, and measures 6 to 8-1/2 inches. It often remains for a considerable time, sometimes until the following spring, in the hole or manure-heap in which it was born, feeding principally on worms. Very young specimens are never found in the water.

4. TROPIDONOTUS TESSELLATUS, Laurenti (Coluber hydrus, Pallas) The Tessellated Water-Snake

Form.--Rather slender; head rather long and narrow; snout obtuse, not prominent; eyes and nostrils directed upwards and outwards, the former rather small, the latter somewhat valvular. Tail four to six times in the total length.

PLATE III

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, visible from above. Nasal often semidivided. Internasals usually as long as broad or longer, subtriangular, truncate in front, as long or nearly as long as the prefrontals. Frontal a little broader than the supraocular, once and a half to twice as long as broad, as long as or a little shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals, not in contact with the preocular. Loreal as deep as or deeper than long. Two (rarely one or three) preoculars, with or without a small subocular below; three postoculars, often with one or two suboculars below. Temporals 1 + 2. Upper labials eight (rarely seven, nine, or ten), fourth or fourth and fifth (rarely third or fifth) entering the eye. Five (rarely four) lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter than the posterior.

Scales with two apical pits, in nineteen rows, strongly keeled, of outer row smooth or feebly keeled. Ventrals 160 to 187; anal divided; subcaudals 48 to 79.

Coloration.--Olive, olive-grey, or brown above, with dark spots usually arranged quincuncially or forming narrow bars on the back (Plate III.); sides often with lighter vertical bars; a more or less distinct -shaped dark band on the nape, sometimes produced as a median streak to the frontal shield; upper lip yellowish, with dark bars on the sutures between the shields. Lower parts whitish, yellow, orange, or red, marbled or checkered with black, or nearly entirely black. Iris golden, bronzy, or coppery red.

Some specimens depart very strikingly from the coloration thus briefly defined. We will now mention the principal variations which have been described: Sides of body checkered with black and yellow or black and red (var. rubro-maculosus, Dürigen). With four dark stripes along the anterior part of the back (var. lineaticollis, Werner). Above with four light streaks in addition to the dark markings. Uniform grey or light brown above (var. concolor, Jan, hagenbecki, Werner). Uniform black or blackish (var. nigrescens, De Betta). The most remarkable variety is the var. vosseleri, Werner, from Asia Minor: above with small black and yellowish spots, beneath yellowish with three blackish stripes beginning at some distance from the head, the median much weaker than the outer; the scales are less strongly keeled than in the typical form. There are also specimens with two very regular black stripes along the belly.

A case of chlorochroism, in a specimen from Dalmatia, has been observed by Peracca. The snake was sulphur yellow with black markings; a black band along the belly; iris golden.

An imperfect albino, which has been met with several times in Dalmatia, has been described as var. flavescens, Werner. Yellowish-white or brownish-yellow above, with small blackish spots; belly whitish in the middle, with a series of black spots, bright yellow on the sides; eye and tongue red.

Size.--This snake occasionally reaches a length of 4 feet, but specimens over 3 feet are rare. The largest specimen in the British Museum measures 3 feet 10 inches.

Distribution.--The Tessellated Snake has a wide range in Europe and Asia. It is found south of the Alps, from Liguria to Naples, and eastwards, extending northwards over the greater part of Austria-Hungary, and even as far as Saxony, and again reappears to the west in various localities of the Middle Rhine district (from Bingen to Coblenz and Kreuznach, from Nassau to Lahnstein) and of the Moselle. From Southern Russia it extends into Siberia as far as the Altai, the extreme west of China, and the extreme north-west of India; it is also found in Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and the neighbouring parts of Egypt. Italy and the Rhine constitute the western limit of its range in Europe. It does not ascend to any considerable altitude in the mountains of Europe, but it is on record from 6,000 feet elevation in Chitral.

Habits.--This is a far more aquatic species than the preceding, being seldom found in summer away from the water, in which it swims and dives to perfection; which does not prevent it from being equally agile on land. In accordance with these thoroughly aquatic habits, it feeds mostly on fish, although occasionally taking frogs and toads and their tadpoles. Small fish are swallowed in the water, but large ones are landed. This snake does not object to salt water, and it has been observed on the seashore near Odessa, chasing small fish, mostly gobies, in shallow water. Hibernation and pairing take place on land, and it is not until the latter function is accomplished that the snakes of this species resort to the water, which the females leave again for oviposition. Like the Grass-snake, the Tessellated Snake seldom bites.

Reproduction.--Pairing takes place in spring, when large numbers have been observed to congregate for the purpose. As in the Viperine Snake, a second pairing may occur in the autumn, Dr. Werner having found a pair in copula on September 14, at Trebinje, Herzegovina, the female laying her eggs in the following July, which with the beginning of August is the time for oviposition. The eggs measure a little over an inch in length and two-thirds of an inch in width, and number 5 to 25; they are deposited under stones, in the fissures of walls and rocks, or under the refuse of tanneries.

5. TROPIDONOTUS VIPERINUS, Latreille The Viperine Water-Snake

Form.--Moderately slender; head shorter than in the preceding species; snout obtuse, not prominent; eyes and nostrils directed upwards and outwards, the former rather small, the latter somewhat valvular; tail four to six times in the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, visible from above. Nasal usually semi-divided. Internasals as long as broad or longer, subtriangular, truncate in front, as long as the prefrontals. Frontal usually broader than the supraocular, once and a half to twice as long as broad, as long as or slightly longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals, not in contact with the preocular. Loreal as deep as or a little deeper than long. One or two preoculars and two (rarely three) postoculars. Temporals 1 + 2 or 1 + 3. Upper labials seven (rarely eight), third and fourth (or third, fourth, or fourth and fifth) entering the eye. Four (rarely five) lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are usually shorter than the posterior.

Scales with two apical pits, in twenty-one (rarely nineteen or twenty-three) rows, strongly keeled, of outer row smooth or feebly keeled. Ventrals 147 to 164; anal divided; subcaudals 46 to 72.

Coloration.--Grey, brown, or reddish above with two alternating series of dark brown or black spots on the back, or with a black zigzag dorsal band (Plate III., second figure), rarely with a single series of black vertebral spots; a lateral series of black spots, usually ocellar, with yellow centres; upper surface of head with dark symmetrical markings; a more or less distinct dark band on the temple, and another on each side of the nape, often edged with yellow in front; upper lip yellow, with dark bars on the sutures between the shields, or dark with a yellow spot on each shield. Lower parts yellow or red, checkered with black, or entirely black; the black of the belly may be connected with the ocellar lateral spots by black vertical bars. Iris golden, often mixed with brown.

A specimen from Ponte Carrega, near Genoa, preserved in the Genoa Museum, is remarkable as being of a dark olive-grey, with three series of black and yellow ocellar spots. It is further exceptional in having the scales in nineteen rows. A second specimen, from the same locality, with the normal number of scales, has some of the vertebral spots ocellar. Specimens with ocellar vertebral spots are found also in Sardinia and in Spain.

As in T. natrix, there occur, in the South of France, in Sardinia, in the Spanish Peninsula, and in North Africa, specimens with two light yellow or reddish lines along the back (Plate III., third figure), in addition to the usual markings (C. aurolineatus, Gervais, T. chersoides, Duméril and Bibron).

Melanism is rare in this species, only one specimen being known, from Nantes in Southern Brittany; uniform black, with the exception of a few white spots on the belly. A remarkable variety (var. incertus, Fatio), connecting this species with the preceding, occurs in Switzerland near Geneva. Not only is its coloration sometimes very similar to that of T. tessellatus, but it agrees with it in the scales being often disposed in nineteen rows instead of twenty-one, and in the presence of eight upper labials, fourth or third and fourth entering the eye; however, the frequent presence of ocellar spots on the sides, and the low number of ventral shields (147 to 151), show that it should be referred to T. viperinus.

Size.--Rarely reaches a length of 3 feet in Europe, the largest specimens being from Sardinia. An Algerian specimen 3 feet 3 inches long is on record.

Distribution.--France as far north as Southern Brittany, the Forest of Fontainebleau, and the Department Aube, the whole of the Spanish Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, Southern Switzerland, north and south of the Alps, Liguria, Piedmont, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. In Africa in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, penetrating into the northern parts of the Sahara.

In Liguria, Piedmont, and Ticino, T. viperinus occurs alongside with T. tessellatus. It reaches an altitude of nearly 4,000 feet in the Alps.

Habits.--Very much the same as in the preceding species, although slightly less thoroughly aquatic, large individuals being sometimes met with at some distance from water. Ponds and marshes are the favourite abode of the Viperine Snake, huge numbers being often found on the borders, diving into the water when disturbed. Frogs and toads, tadpoles, newts, fishes, and large earthworms, are its principal food when adult, the young feeding chiefly on batrachian larvæ, young fishes, and earthworms. A case is known of this snake having eaten a water-shrew (Crossopus fodiens). When a fish has been caught, it is usually eaten on land; in captivity dead fish are rather readily accepted, provided they be quite fresh. Some specimens bite when handled; others are as gentle as the Grass-snake.

For hibernation, hollow trees, fissures in rocks, holes in the ground or in railway embankments, are selected, and numerous individuals sometimes congregate in the same retreat. In the mild winters of the South of Europe they remain quiet, without being torpid, and resume activity very early in the spring.

In the Alemtejo, according to Gadow, when during the rainless and hot summer the small rivers have nearly dried up, these snakes collect in great quantities in the remaining stagnant and muddy pools, and, as the stock of suitable fish gets exhausted, are often reduced to a deplorably emaciated condition. By the month of August they have become so thoroughly aquatic that they cannot be kept alive in dry surroundings for twenty-four hours, apparently dying from some kind of cutaneous suffocation. The same observer once caught a Viperine Snake in a ditch whilst it was swallowing an eel of nearly its own length.

Some specimens show so great a superficial resemblance to the Common Adder, Vipera berus, which, however, being a more northern reptile, very seldom occurs in the same localities--that this snake well deserves its name Viperinus. A celebrated herpetologist, Constant Duméril, was once himself deceived by this resemblance and bitten by a Vipera berus which he had picked up in the Forest of Senart, near Paris, believing it to be a Tropidonotus viperinus; whilst, conversely, a specimen of the harmless snake was killed in mistake for a Viper by no less an expert than Dr. Viaud-Grandmarais.

Breeding.--This snake pairs in March and April, and sometimes again in the autumn; but the eggs are only laid at one season, in June or July, and hatch in August, September, or October. The eggs, numbering four to twenty, are deposited in holes not far from water, often in abandoned galleries of voles or moles. The young at birth measure 4 to 6-1/2 inches, and soon resort to the water, where, unlike those of the Grass-snake, they are frequently met with.

GENUS ZAMENIS, WAGLER

Maxillary teeth increasing in size posteriorly, the two last often separated from the others by a narrow interspace. Head elongate, distinct from neck; eye rather large, with round pupil. One or more subocular shields. Body much elongate; scales smooth, with apical pits. Tail long.

The species of this genus, about thirty in number, are distributed over Europe, North Africa, Asia, and North and Central America. Three inhabit Europe.

6. ZAMENIS GEMONENSIS, Laurenti (Coluber viridiflavus, Lacepède; C. atrovirens, Shaw) The European Whip-Snake

Form.--Slender; snout rounded, with distinct canthus, moderately prominent, concave on each side in front of the eye. Tail three and one-third to four and one-third times in the total length.

PLATE IV

Young, after Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Head-Shields.--Rostral a little broader than deep, the portion visible from above measuring one-fourth to two-fifths its distance from the frontal. Frontal more or less bell-shaped, not or but little broader than the supraocular, once and two-thirds to twice as long as broad, as long as or a little longer than its distance from the end of the snout, a little shorter than the parietals. Loreal as long as deep or longer. One preocular (rarely two), extending to the upper surface of the head, but never in contact with the frontal; a small subocular below the preocular; two postoculars (rarely three). Temporals 2 + 2 or 2 + 3 (rarely 1 + 2). Upper labials eight, fourth and fifth entering the eye, fifth and seventh deepest. Five lower labials (rarely four) in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are usually shorter than the posterior.

Scales with two apical pits, in nineteen (rarely seventeen or twenty-one) rows. Ventral shields more or less distinctly angulate laterally, 160 to 230 (usually under 200 in the typical form and the var. caspius, 190 or more in the vars. viridiflavus and asianus); anal divided; subcaudals 87 to 131.

Coloration.--In the typical Z. gemonensis the upper parts are yellowish-brown or pale olive, anteriorly with blackish cross-bars or numerous small black spots, the black scales with a yellowish shaft, the lower parts yellowish-white or pale yellow, rarely more orange; the sides of the head are yellow, the shields edged with blackish. A female, 3-1/4 feet long, from Levico, Trentino, preserved in the Genoa Museum, is uniform reddish-brown above, with mere traces of darker markings on the head and nape. There is every gradation between this form and the var. viridiflavus or atrovirens (Plate IV., third figure), which is dark green or black above, with yellow spots forming transverse series or bars on the anterior part of the body, and longitudinal streaks, following the series of scales, on the posterior part and on the tail; the yellow sometimes predominates over the black, or may appear as a shaft along each dark scale; the preocular and postocular shields are yellow, the labials likewise yellow, with black spots or bars. The lower parts are yellow or greenish-white, with or without black dots, and usually with a series of large black spots on each side.

Some specimens of both the typical form and the var. viridiflavus are entirely black or nearly black. (Z. carbonarius, Bonaparte; Z. sardus, Suckow). In some localities and islands only black specimens occur.

In the var. caspius, Iwan (trabalis, Pallas, Plate V., first figure; persicus, Jan, Plate IV., second figure), from Hungary, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Corfu, Bulgaria, Roumania, Greece, Turkey, Southern Russia, Northern Asia Minor, and North-West Persia, the upper parts are pale olive or reddish-brown, with or without brown or black spots, and each scale bears a yellowish or pale brown longitudinal streak; there is often a dark longitudinal streak on the nape; the belly is uniform orange or red.

Another variety, var. asianus, Boettger, from Asia Minor, Rhodes, Cyprus, and Syria, has the upper parts brown or olive, each scale with a longitudinal light streak, and there are usually large black spots relieved by yellowish shafts; the belly is red, spotted or dotted with black. Melanism is frequent in this form, such specimens being entirely black except on the chin and throat, which are yellow variegated with red.

The very young of the typical form, as well as that of the var. viridiflavus, has a striking livery (Plate IV., first figure), the head and nape black with yellow markings, or olive with black-edged yellow markings, contrasting sharply with the pale olive-grey of the body; the most conspicuous and constant of the yellow markings consist of a bar between the eyes, interrupted on the frontal shield, but sometimes continuous with the yellow of the postoculars, five or six small round spots on the parietal shields, and a V- or W-shaped line just behind the parietals, followed by one or two others separating the dark cross-bars which may be present on the nape, and occasionally even continue some way down the anterior part of the body. This livery persists in some half-grown specimens.

In young individuals from Syria (var. asianus) the head is not differently coloured from the olive-brown body, and the markings described above appear as mere traces; on the other hand, the whole body has black and yellow spots or cross-bars above, and the belly is profusely marked with round black spots.

In the new-born of the var. caspius, of which I have examined only one specimen, 11 inches long, from the Crimea, the head is olive-brown like the body, which bears dark brown spots and narrow cross-bars; and there is a dark brown streak along the middle of the nape, as is sometimes the case in the typical form. The belly is unspotted. A young from Malta is intermediate in its markings between the typical form and this variety.

The young of the so-called black variety are not black at birth, but similar to the normal young of the races to which they belong.

The four principal forms--viridiflavus, gemonensis, caspius, and asianus--are so completely connected that I cannot regard them as more than geographical races or varieties.

Size.--This handsome snake grows to a length of 6 feet, the var. caspius even to 8 feet. I have seen a specimen of this variety, from Salonica, which measures 7-2/3 feet.

Distribution.--From the Atlantic coast of Europe to South-Western Asia. The typical form, in its narrowest sense, inhabits the Southern Tyrol, the north-eastern corner of Italy, and the countries to the east of the Adriatic, as far as Greece and Crete. The specimens from France, Switzerland, Italy, Giglio, Montecristo, Elba, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and Malta, are mostly referable to the form known as Z. viridiflavus. Farther to the east the species is represented by the vars. caspius and asianus, of which the distribution has been mentioned above. From Spain, this snake is only on record from Catalonia, not far from the French frontier.

Rare or local in the north of its range (Maine-et-Loire, Vienne, Indre, Sarthe, Haute-Saône, Yonne, Aube, in France, Switzerland north of the Alps), it is one of the commonest snakes in Italy and on the borders and islands of the Adriatic, as well as on practically all the islands of the Mediterranean east of the Baleares. The highest altitudes at which it has been met with are 3,900 feet in the Alps, 4,500 feet in the Balkan Peninsula.

Habits.--The name "Whip-snake," under which an American representative of this genus (Z. flagelliformis) is known, like that of "Fouet" and "Loucinglant," which have been bestowed on it in some parts of France, expresses the quick movements with which, when captured, this snake lashes its long, slender tail, at the same time furiously biting the hand that has seized it. The generic term Zamenis, of Greek derivation, alludes to its viciousness, which also accounts for its German name, "Zornnatter." This snake, occurring in Malta, may well have been the "Viper" which fastened on the hand of St. Paul. Some specimens have been kept for months in captivity without losing their savage temper, hissing and flying with open mouth at anyone approaching the glass walls of their prison; others, on the other hand, become quite tame in a very short time, such as one which I kept for nearly two years. Except when sunning itself on a cold early morning in the spring, this snake is always on the alert, and difficult to capture, uncoiling itself and darting away like an arrow at the least disturbance. It lives in preference among shrubs or on the edges of woods, avoiding damp localities, and females at least appear to have sedentary tastes. Lataste tells us of one, near Bordeaux, which he repeatedly met for over two years within 20 yards of the same spot, a bush between a wood and a meadow, without ever being able to capture it.

PLATE V

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

The food of this snake is very varied, consisting of voles and mice, young birds which it takes from the nests, being a good climber on bushes and low trees, occasionally of frogs, but above all of other reptiles: lizards, slow-worms, and snakes, which it does not attempt to crush before deglutition. It has even been observed in Istria to eat locusts (Acridium ægyptium) and sphyngid moths.

Reproduction.--Eggs, laid at the end of June or beginning of July in a well-sheltered hole, are a little over twice as long as broad, and measure 1·2 to 1·4 inches in length. The number of eggs is eight to fifteen according to Fatio, about a dozen according to Tomasini, five according to Werner. The pairing was observed by Schreiber at the end of May, the male and female seizing each other reciprocally by the neck with their jaws; this mode of pairing must not, however, be regarded as the rule in this species, for in other cases observed by Schreiber and by Honnorat the pairs were simply entwined by their coils.

7. ZAMENIS DAHLII, Fitzinger Dahl's Whip-Snake

Form.--Very slender; head narrow, snout moderately prominent, obtuse. Tail about one-third of the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral a little broader than deep, just visible from above. Frontal not or but little broader than the supraocular, once and two-thirds to once and three-fourths as long as broad, as long as or longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Loreal longer than deep. One preocular, usually in contact with the frontal, with a subocular below it; two postoculars. Temporals 2 + 2 or 2 + 3 (rarely 1 + 2). Upper labials eight or nine, fourth and fifth or fifth and sixth entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter than the posterior.

Scales with a single apical pit, very narrow, in nineteen rows. Ventral shields very distinctly angulate laterally, 205 to 218; anal divided; subcaudals 98 to 132.

Coloration.--Olive in front, with a few large black, white- or yellow-edged spots on each side, the anterior of which is sometimes confluent with its fellow and forms a nuchal collar, as in the specimen figured on Plate V.; the greater part of the body and tail uniform pale olive, yellowish, or reddish above, yellowish-white beneath. Head uniform olive-brown above, the labial, preocular, and postocular shields yellowish-white.

Total Length.--3 feet, rarely nearly 4 feet.

Distribution.--Southern Europe east of the Adriatic, as far north as Dalmatia, Asia Minor, Cis- and Trans-Caucasia, North-Western Persia, Cyprus, and Syria. Has also been recorded from Lower Egypt.

Habits.--This snake is even more lively than Z. gemonensis, and does not stand captivity long. It seeks dry, bushy localities, and feeds on small lizards, occasionally on locusts. It does not seem to be very common anywhere in Europe, except perhaps in Dalmatia, whence most of the specimens sold by dealers are imported.

Reproduction.--The pairing has been observed at the end of May. According to Werner, the eggs number usually three only, measuring 1-1/2 inches by 1/2 inch.

8. ZAMENIS HIPPOCREPIS, Linnæus The Horseshoe Whip-Snake

Form.--Slender; snout obtuse, feebly prominent. Tail one-fifth to one-fourth of the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral once and one-third to once and a half as broad as deep, the portion visible from above measuring about one-fourth to one-third its distance from the frontal. Frontal bell-shaped, considerably broader in front than the supraocular, once and one-fourth to once and a half as long as broad, as long as or a little longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Loreal longer than deep, sometimes divided into two. One preocular (sometimes divided into two), in contact with the frontal; two postoculars; a series of three or four suboculars, usually completely separating the eye from the labials. Temporals 2 + 3 or 3 + 3. Eight or nine (rarely ten) upper labials, fifth or sixth very rarely entering the eye. Four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter than the posterior.

Scales with two apical pits, in twenty-five to twenty-nine rows, usually twenty-seven. Ventral shields very distinctly angulate laterally, 222 to 258; anal divided (rarely entire); subcaudals 77 to 107.

Coloration.--Brown, pale olive, reddish, yellow, or orange above, with a dorsal series of large dark brown, black-edged rhomboidal spots, often bordered with yellow, on each side of which is a series of smaller, alternating spots (Plate V.); these spots may become entirely black in the adult, and so large as to reduce the ground colour to a mere network or series of X-shaped pale lines. A dark cross-band between the eyes, and a - or horseshoe-shaped band on the back of the head, which may be confluent with an elongate spot on the nape; a light circle often present in the middle between the parietal shields. The spots often more or less confluent into three longitudinal streaks on the tail. Yellow, orange, or red beneath, with or without black dots, but constantly with a lateral series of black spots, which may be very large or unite with the spots higher up on the sides to form vertical bars.

Size.--Examples 5 feet long are on record; the largest examined by me measures 4 feet 3 inches.

Distribution.--Spain and Portugal, Sardinia, Pantellaria, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia. Does not reach the North of Spain nor penetrate into the Sahara.

Habits.--This very handsome snake is as a rule as irascible as its European congeners. In Spain as well as in Algeria it is often found about the dwellings of man, occasionally entering houses in search of mice, on which it principally feeds; it is also fond of birds, and, climbing with great facility, plunders the nests of sparrows in towns and villages. It must be regarded as a useful commensal of man, and deserving of protection.

Reproduction.--F. Doumergue found in a hole in a rock near Oran, in September, the recently-laid eggs, five in number and as large as pigeons'.

GENUS COLUBER, LINNÆUS

Maxillary teeth equal or nearly equal in length. Head elongate, distinct from neck; eye moderately large, with round pupil. Body more or less elongate; scales smooth or feebly keeled, with apical pits. Tail moderate or long.

This large genus, embracing close upon fifty species, is represented in Europe, Asia, and North and tropical America. Five species in Europe. Very nearly allied to Zamenis, but distinguished principally by the posterior teeth of the upper jaw not being at all enlarged, and, further, in being, like Coronella, constrictors.

9. COLUBER QUATUORLINEATUS, Lacepède (Elaphis cervone, Aldrovandi; Coluber quatuorradiatus, Gmelin) Aldrovandi's Snake

Form.--Moderately slender. Snout obtuse, scarcely prominent. Tail one-sixth to one-fourth of the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above. Frontal once and one-fourth to once and a half as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral, shorter than the parietals. Loreal nearly as long as deep, with one or two small shields below it. One preocular, rarely divided, with a subocular below it; two or three postoculars. Temporals 2 + 3 or 3 + 4. Upper labials eight (exceptionally nine), fourth and fifth (or fifth and sixth) entering the eye. Four or five (rarely three) lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are longer than the posterior.

PLATE VI

Young, after Sordelli]

After Werner]

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Scales feebly but distinctly keeled, except on the outer rows, with two apical pits, in twenty-five (rarely twenty-three or twenty-seven) rows. Ventral shields not or but very obtusely angulate laterally, 195 to 234; anal divided; subcaudals 56 to 90.

Coloration.--Young (Plate VI., top) with three or five alternating longitudinal series of dark brown, black-edged spots on a yellowish, grey, or pale brown ground, the spots of the median series largest, transversely elliptical or rhomboidal; a dark streak across the forehead, black bars on the labial shields, and a black oblique streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth. In specimens from Italy and the countries bordering the Adriatic (the typical C. quatuorlineatus) the markings very gradually disappear with age, with the exception of the temporal streak, whilst a pair of black streaks appear along each side of the body, at a short distance from the head, the lower corresponding to the postocular streak, the adult being brown without spots, but four-lined (Plate VI., second figure). In more eastern specimens (C. sauromates, Pallas), which may be regarded as representing the original form, the markings of the young persist throughout life, or, if they disappear, they are not replaced by dark streaks (Plate VI., third figure). Lower parts pale yellow, closely spotted or marbled with brown, these markings usually disappearing in the adult, except on the tail. Iris dark brown.

Size.--The largest European snake, stated to reach a length of 8 feet. The largest specimen examined by me measures, however, only 4-1/2 feet.

Distribution.--Aldrovandi's Snake inhabits Southern Italy and Sicily, Istria, Croatia, Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Greece, and eastwards to Southern Russia, Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, and Persia. It has been observed at an altitude of 2,600 feet in Herzegovina.

All the specimens from Roumania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and eastwards, belong to the var. sauromates, which is regarded by some authors as worthy of specific rank. The reported occurrence of C. quatuorlineatus in various parts of France is certainly due to confusion with C. scalaris and C. longissimus.

Habits.--Dry as well as marshy localities are the abode of this large and handsome snake, which often approaches the dwellings of man, attracted by the poultry. Comparatively slow in its movements, it is more easily captured than any of the other large Colubrids of Europe, and does well in captivity, where it should be provided with a tank, in which it will remain for hours under water. It is as good at swimming as at climbing. Biting readily when captured, it becomes of gentle disposition after a short period of captivity. In consequence of its slow, phlegmatic temperament, it often allows itself to be picked up when surprised in liberty, but as soon as it feels the grasp it turns round and defends itself. It appears to feed exclusively on mammals and birds, up to the size of a rat or dove, and will readily take dead food. It has a predilection for eggs, and has often been observed to swallow hens' eggs.

Reproduction.--In Herzegovina pairing takes place from the middle of June to the middle of July, and the eggs are laid soon after, to hatch in September or beginning of October. The eggs number six to sixteen, and measure 2 inches by 1-1/3 inches. The young measure 8 to 14 inches at birth.

10. COLUBER DIONE, Pallas The Dione Snake

Form.--Similar to the preceding. Head more convex, a little narrower; snout obtuse, scarcely prominent. Tail about one-fifth of the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above. Frontal once and one-fourth to once and a half as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Loreal as long as deep, or a little longer than deep. A large preocular, with a subocular below it, the latter very exceptionally absent; two or three postoculars. Temporals 2 + 3 or 3 + 3. Upper labials eight or nine (very rarely seven), fourth and fifth or fifth and sixth entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are nearly as long as the posterior.

Scales smooth or faintly keeled, with two apical pits, in twenty-five or twenty-seven (rarely twenty-three) rows. Ventral shields not or but very obtusely angulate laterally, 172 to 214; anal divided; subcaudals 50 to 80.

Coloration.--Pale brown or greyish-olive above, with blackish cross-lines or dark brown or reddish, black-edged spots, and usually two or three more or less distinct pale longitudinal bands; two dark longitudinal stripes on the nape, usually united on the head and terminating on the frontal shield; a curved dark cross-band from eye to eye, and another, oblique, from the eye to the angle of the mouth. Lower parts yellowish, usually dotted or spotted with blackish.

Size.--Seldom exceeds a length of 3 feet. The largest specimen examined by me measures 37 inches.

Distribution.--Across temperate Asia from Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, and the southern border of the Caspian Sea, to the Amur, Corea, and China. In Europe the habitat of this snake is restricted to the steppes of Southern Russia, between the Caucasus and the Lower Ural. The specimen figured on Plate VI. is from Sarepta, on the Volga.

Habits.--This snake frequents arid, sandy localities, and is only exceptionally found in small woods. Nothing more is known of its habits.

11. COLUBER LONGISSIMUS, Laurenti (Coluber æsculapii, Lacepède; C. flavescens, Gmelin) The Æsculapian Snake

Form.--Slender. Snout obtuse, scarcely prominent; head narrow. Tail about one-fifth to one-fourth of the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above. Frontal once and one-fourth to once and one-third as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral or the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Loreal as long as deep or longer than deep. One pre- and two postoculars. Temporals 2 + 3. Upper labials eight or nine, fourth and fifth or fifth and sixth entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are as long as or a little longer than the posterior.

Scales smooth or feebly keeled on the posterior part of the body, with two apical pits, in twenty-three (rarely twenty-one) rows. Ventral shields distinctly angulate laterally, 212 to 248; anal divided; subcaudals 60 to 91.

Coloration.--Yellowish-grey to dark olive-brown above, some of the scales with whitish lines on the margins occasionally forming a network; sometimes with a yellowish vertebral stripe or with four darker stripes along the body (var. romanus, Suckow); upper lip, and often also a triangular patch on each side behind the temple, pale yellow; a more or less distinct dark band on the temple, and a vertical dark bar below the eye (Plate VII., first figure). Lower parts uniform pale yellow. Young (second figure) with dark brown dorsal spots, forming four to seven longitudinal series, a -shaped black marking on the nape behind the yellow nuchal blotches, which are brighter than in the adult, a dark brown bar across the forehead, and a black vertical line below the eye; belly greyish or yellowish-olive. Iris dark grey or brown. Tongue pinkish-brown.

PLATE VII

Young, after Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Melanism is rare in this snake. Such specimens are entirely black above and beneath (var. niger, Nikolsky), or blackish-grey to black above, dark grey beneath (var. subgriseus, Werner), the angular line on each side of the belly often remaining light. An albino found near Vienna has been described as pale orange-yellow above, with small white spots; pupil and tongue red.

Size.--Grows to 6 feet. Specimens over 4-1/2 feet are, however, very rarely met with.

Distribution.--Generally distributed over the greater part of Austria, Italy, with Sardinia and Sicily, and the whole of South-Eastern Europe, this snake has a very broken range in France, Switzerland, Germany, and is found, quite isolated, as far north as Denmark and Poland. According to Segerus, quoted by Lacepède, it used to be quite common near Copenhagen at the end of the eighteenth century, but it is now much rarer. Its northern limit in France is in Southern Brittany, the Department Orne, and the Forest of Fontainebleau; in Germany, Schlangenbad, near Wiesbaden, perhaps also Baden-Baden and Treves. It is on record from Southern Spain. Its discontinuous distribution in Central Europe, and its presence in various localities near former Roman thermal stations, has been ascribed to its introduction from Italy as an inmate of the temples erected to Æsculapius; but I am more inclined to look upon its sporadic occurrence in the North as the indication of a once more widely distributed species now in process of extinction over part of its range.

In Asia the Æsculapian Snake is only found in Transcaucasia. It occurs in the mountains as well as in the plain, being recorded from 5,200 feet altitude in the Tyrol, 3,200 feet in the Apennines.

Habits.--The Æsculapian Snake lives in woods; among shrubby vegetation; in meadows, where it is often found under haystacks; occasionally about old walls. It climbs well, and often ascends trees. Although a good swimmer, it seldom enters the water of its own accord. It feeds chiefly on small mammals, occasionally on birds and their eggs, and lizards. Specimens which I kept in confinement fed on mice only, refusing sparrows and lizards. Very savage when fresh caught, most individuals soon become tame, and like being handled by people to whom they are accustomed, although still resenting the intrusion of strangers. However, this snake never becomes so thoroughly domesticated as the Smooth Snake, and cannot be trained to take food from the hand, according to R. Rollinat, who has devoted many years to experiments on the taming of reptiles. This observer had no difficulty in feeding his Æsculapian Snakes on mice and voles placed dead in their cage.

This snake is particularly sensitive to cold, and does not emerge until late in the spring from the vole galleries and hollow trees which constitute its winter-quarters. It also avoids excessive heat, never showing itself in the daytime during the hotter months in the South of Europe.

Reproduction.--Pairing takes place between the middle of May and the middle of June. The eggs are laid towards the end of June or in July, in holes in walls or hollow trees, under moss, sometimes even in the dung-heaps of farms, and hatch in September. According to trustworthy observers, the eggs, which measure 1-1/2 to 2 inches in length, and less than 1 inch in width, number only five or six, rarely up to eight.

The young on emerging are highly suggestive of young Grass-snakes in colour and markings, as well as in their much less slender shape as compared with the adult. They measure about 5 inches, and are at once most ready to bite.

12. COLUBER LEOPARDINUS, Bonaparte (Coluber quadrilineatus, Pallas) The Leopard Snake

Form.--Slender. Snout obtuse, scarcely prominent. Tail about one-fifth of the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above. Frontal once and one-third to once and a half as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Loreal longer than deep. One pre- and two postoculars. Temporals 1 + 2 or 2 + 3. Upper labials eight (rarely seven), fourth and fifth (rarely third and fourth) entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are longer than the posterior.

Scales smooth, with two apical pits, in twenty-five or twenty-seven rows. Ventral shields rounded, not angulate laterally, 222 to 260; anal divided; subcaudals 68-90.

Coloration.--Typical form (Plate VII., third figure) greyish or pale brown above, with one dorsal series of dark brown, reddish-brown, or bright red, black-edged transverse spots and a lateral alternating series of smaller black spots with or without lighter centres; usually a -shaped dark marking on the occiput and nape; a crescentic black band from eye to eye across the prefrontal shields, an oblique black band from behind the eye to the angle of the mouth, and a black spot or vertical bar below the eye. Lower parts white, checkered with black, or nearly entirely black. Iris reddish-golden.

In some specimens (var. quadrilineatus) the dorsal spots are replaced by two brown or red, black-edged stripes bordering a pale greyish or yellowish vertebral stripe (Plate VII., fourth figure); such specimens are so coloured from birth. This colour variety, which is so strikingly different from the typical form, is connected with the latter by the var. schwoederi, Werner, in which the spots form two vertebral series, and the var. elsneri, Werner, in which the light vertebral band is broken up by dark transverse bars, producing a ladder-like pattern.

Size.--Rarely exceeding a length of 3 feet.

Distribution.--Southern Italy, Sicily, Malta, Istria, Dalmatia, and other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, Grecian islands, Crimea, Asia Minor. The altitudinal range does not extend beyond 1,600 feet.

Habits.--This is not only the prettiest European snake as regards its markings, whether in the form of spots or of stripes, but also the most graceful in its movements. Unless compelled to fly for safety, there is something slow and deliberate in its behaviour which is more suggestive of Coronella than of most other species of Coluber. It is fond of climbing, and if the terrarium in which it is kept be provided with a bush or small tree, it will spend most of the time gracefully coiled round the branches. Usually very savage when fresh caught, some specimens become quite tame in captivity. In Dalmatia, where it is not uncommon, this snake is found principally among prickly shrubs, in hedges, or on old walls. It awakens from its winter slumber later than other South European snakes. Although occasionally taking lizards, its principal food consists of mammals and birds, which are killed before being devoured, the Leopard Snake being, like the other members of the genus Coluber, a constrictor.

Reproduction.--According to Werner, the eggs, two to five in number, are deposited in midsummer; they are remarkably elongate: 2-1/2 inches long, 2/3 inch broad.

13. COLUBER SCALARIS, Schinz The Ladder Snake

Form.--Moderately slender. Snout pointed, strongly projecting beyond the mouth. Tail one-sixth to one-fifth of the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral deeper than broad, forming an acute angle above, wedged in between the internasals, the portion visible from above nearly as long as its distance from the frontal. Frontal about once and one-third to once and a half as long as broad, as long as or shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, nearly as long as the parietals. Loreal longer than deep. One pre- and two or three post-oculars. Temporals 2 + 3 or 2 + 4. Upper labials seven or eight (rarely nine), fourth or fourth and fifth (or fifth and sixth) entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which may be either longer or shorter than the posterior.

PLATE VIII

After Sordelli]

Scales smooth, with two apical pits, in twenty-seven (rarely twenty-five or twenty-nine) rows. Ventral shields not angulate laterally, 201 to 220; anal divided, rarely entire; subcaudals 48 to 68.

Coloration.--Young yellowish-grey, or pale brown, above, with a series of regular H-shaped black or blackish-brown markings along the back, forming a ladder-like pattern--whence the name scalaris--and small black spots on the sides; a V-shaped black marking on the snout, a black oblique streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth, and a black spot below the eye; belly yellow, spotted or checkered with black or nearly entirely black. These dorsal markings disappear in the adult, and are replaced by a pair of brown stripes running along the back (Plate VIII.); the belly loses the black markings, and becomes uniform yellow. Iris dark brown.

Size.--Grows to a length of 3-1/2 feet, exceptionally 4-1/2 feet.

Distribution.--The Mediterranean coast of France, Spain and Portugal, and Minorca. Its occurrence in Algeria is very doubtful.

Habits.--Not uncommon near the coast in France, in hedges and vineyards, often climbing on shrubs. In the Spanish Peninsula, according to Boscá, it is common in forests and on the sheltered side of valleys, under stones or in holes in the ground. A specimen I kept alive for a short time showed a more furious temper than I have ever witnessed in any snake, repeatedly flying with open mouth against the glass of its cage whenever I entered the room in which it was kept. Other specimens are reported to have become quite tame after a certain time. It is one of the quickest of European snakes, one of the most difficult to catch; it is a good climber. The food consists of mice, birds, and lizards; the young are said to occasionally eat grasshoppers.

Reproduction.--According to J. von Fischer, the eggs, nine in number, are deposited twenty-five days after the pairing, which takes place in May or June, and measure about 2 inches by 2/3 inch.

GENUS CORONELLA, LAURENTI

Maxillary teeth increasing in size posteriorly. Head not or but slightly distinct from neck; eye rather small, with round pupil. No subocular shields. Body moderately elongate; scales smooth, with apical pits. Tail moderate.

PLATE IX

After Sordelli]

This genus, embracing about twenty species, is represented in the different parts of the Northern Hemisphere, extending a little beyond the Equator in East Africa. Two species are European.

14. CORONELLA AUSTRIACA, Laurenti (Coluber lævis, Lacepède) The Smooth Snake

Form.--Moderately slender; snout more or less prominent, sometimes decidedly pointed; tail one-fourth (males) to one-sixth (females) of the total length. The considerable differences to be observed in the shape of the snout are merely individual, specimens with more prominent snout and a corresponding development of the rostral shield (C. italica, Fitz., fitzingeri, Bonap.) occurring over the greater part of the range of the species.

Head-Shields.--Rostral at least as deep as broad, more or less produced posteriorly between the internasals, the portion visible from above at least half as long (in some specimens quite as long) as its distance from the frontal, rarely separating the internasals. Frontal once and one-fourth to once and a half as long as broad, much broader than the supraocular, as long as or longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals, widely separated from the preocular. Nasal rarely undivided; loreal longer than deep. One (very rarely two) pre- and two postoculars. Temporals 2 + 2 or 2 + 3 (very rarely 1 + 2). Upper labials seven (rarely eight), third and fourth (or fourth and fifth) entering the eye. Four lower labials (rarely three) in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are as long as or longer than the anterior.

Scales with one or two apical pits, the pit usually single on the back and paired on the sides, in nineteen (rarely twenty-one) rows. Ventral shields 153 to 199; anal divided (rarely entire); subcaudals 41 to 70.

Coloration.--Grey, brown, or reddish above, with small blackish, dark brown, or brick-red spots usually disposed in pairs, sometimes forming cross-bars; sometimes with one or three lighter stripes; one or two black dots precede on each scale the single or paired apical pit; frequently two blackish, dark brown, or brick-red stripes on the nape, usually confluent with a large dark blotch on the occiput; the top of the head occasionally nearly entirely blackish, especially in the young; a dark streak on each side of the head, from the nostril to the angle of the mouth, passing through the eye, sometimes extending along the side of the neck or even of the whole body. Lower parts red, orange, brown, grey, or black, uniform or speckled or closely spotted with black and white, the sides often lighter (Plate IX.).

A colour variety, of which I have examined a single specimen from near Vienna, is pale brown above, with four black lines along the anterior part of the body, and two small, yellowish, dark-edged spots close together on the back of the head, separated by the suture between the parietal shields.

Werner has described another variety, also from near Vienna, which resembles Coluber leopardinus, having two series of large, brown, dark-edged spots along the back, some of the spots alternating, others uniting across the back. Apparently very similar to the last variety, and also said to be suggestive of Coluber leopardinus, is the var. scalaris, Sternfeld, from Lüneburg in Hanover, reddish-brown above, with two rows of bright red, black-edged spots, partly confluent and connected across the spine by transverse bars producing a ladder-like pattern. Specimens of a uniform greyish-brown, without any markings, are very rare. The var. veithi, Schreiber, established on a single specimen from Carinthia, represents a case of melanism: bluish-black, with the normal markings of an intense black. Two specimens of a "black variety" are said to have been found in this country, near Poole.

Size.--Seldom exceeds a length of 2 feet, and in many districts, in England for instance, does not appear to often reach that size. The largest specimen, from Austria, examined by me, measures 25 inches; one from Hampshire measures 24 inches.

Distribution.--The range of the Smooth Snake extends over nearly the whole of Europe, as far north as 63° in Norway; it becomes rare and more local in the south, being absent from part of Spain and the islands of the Mediterranean, with the exception of Sardinia. It is common in the hilly parts of Belgium, Northern and Central France, Germany, and Austria. In Sweden it appears to be restricted to the oak region. In Great Britain it has been found in four counties in the South of England: Surrey, Hampshire, Dorsetshire, and Berkshire, in some parts of which it is less uncommon than usually supposed. Its reported occurrence in Dumfriesshire is the result of an error; the snake figured as Coluber dumfriesiensis represents an American species. In a very interesting article written for Science Gossip in 1888, Mr. A. L. Beldy says that about 1868, when Bournemouth was but a very small village, surrounded by large expanses of moorland, Coronella austriaca was extraordinarily abundant, and during a hot summer examples were to be seen literally in scores and great numbers were killed. Since then, however, their numbers have gradually decreased. About 1880 the snake was occasionally found near Wellington College, Berks, and as many as five were captured by one person in the course of one year; it is believed to be now extinct in that neighbourhood. From South-Eastern Europe the range of this species extends to South-Western Asia. The ascertained altitudinal range is 4,000 feet in the Alps, 6,000 feet in Bosnia, and 6,500 feet in the Caucasus.

Habits.--The Smooth Snake lives on heathland, stony wastes, and wooded hills, showing a preference for dry localities. Although not infrequent on the Dorsetshire and Hampshire heaths, where it was first discovered in 1853, it was not recorded as a British reptile until 1859; it was discovered much later on the sandy heaths between Haslemere and Farnham, where it occurs in small numbers, and in Berkshire. These localities are likewise inhabited by the rarer British lizard, the Sand Lizard. Notwithstanding its gentle, timid appearance, this snake when fresh caught is usually very ready to bite; either it snaps angrily, or, without hissing or other warning, it suddenly fastens its jaws into the finger of its captor, even if it be gently handled. The food consists mostly of lizards, occasionally of slow-worms or small snakes, more rarely of voles or mice, even shrews, which are seized, constrictor-like, and crushed by the coils of the body. O. von Tomasini has observed one swallowing a Coluber longissimus as large as itself.

In Central Europe this snake becomes active towards the end of March or beginning of April, and retires in September or October. It does well in captivity, and becomes very tame. It is one of the most intelligent of snakes, second to none in educability; it can be trained to feed in the hand of its master.

Reproduction.--The Smooth Snake pairs in early spring, and is ovoviviparous. The young, two to fifteen in number, are born late in August or in September, enveloped by a thin membrane which they tear immediately; they measure 5 to 6 inches. Embryos 3-1/2 or 4 inches long have the scaling and the characteristic markings fully developed, but the scales and shields much abbreviated, the former broader than long. A dicephalous young is preserved in the Bosnian Museum at Sarajev, and another was caught near Karlsruhe, in Germany, in 1881, and kept alive for some time. According to Rollinat, a second autumnal pairing sometimes takes place in France.

15. CORONELLA GIRONDICA, Daudin (Coluber riccioli, Metaxa) The Southern Smooth Snake

Distinguished from the preceding by a somewhat more slender form, a more obtuse, scarcely prominent snout, a much lower rostral shield, which is considerably broader than deep and just visible from above, not penetrating between the internasals, constantly eight upper labials, fourth and fifth entering the eye, and the scales in twenty-one (rarely nineteen or twenty-three) rows. Ventrals 170 to 200; anal divided; subcaudals 49 to 72.

PLATE X

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Coloration.--Brown, greyish, yellowish, or reddish above, with dark brown or black spots or transverse bars, sometimes with four dark stripes in addition; dark dots in front of the apical pits as in the preceding species; a pair of elongate dark spots or a U-shaped marking on the nape; a dark streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth, and a dark cross-bar from eye to eye, across the prefrontal shields; a dark line below the eye. Lower parts yellow, orange, or coral red, with large, mostly quadrangular black spots, often arranged in chess-board fashion, or with two series of black spots (Plate X.), which may be confluent into two longitudinal bands.

Total Length.--26 inches.

Distribution.--South of France (as far north as the Charente-Inférieure to the west, the Dauphiné to the east), the whole of Spain and Portugal, Southern Tyrol, Italy, and Sicily. It has not been recorded from higher than 2,500 feet in the Alps. Rare in Northern Morocco and Algeria. In many localities in Europe it occurs alongside with C. austriaca.

Habits.--All that is known to me of the habits of this close ally of the preceding species is derived from the works of Bonaparte, Gené, and Schreiber, and from a note by Gachet, who observed it near Bordeaux and described it under the name of Coluber rubens. According to these authors, it frequents dry and rocky localities as well as old walls, in which it finds a refuge and a good supply of the lizards on which it feeds. A large specimen from Albano, near Rome, preserved in the Genoa Museum, had swallowed a full-grown Chalcides tridactylus. This Coronella is crepuscular, rarely showing itself in the daytime, leaving its retreat only after sunset, and has been observed to crawl about by moonlight. Its movements are slow, which accounts for crushed specimens being often met with on paths or roads. Contrary to the rule in C. austriaca, it is extremely gentle, seldom attempting to bite.

Reproduction.--Whether this species is ovoviviparous, like its European congener, has not, I think, been ascertained. All we know on this matter is that a female found dead on a road near Bordeaux by M. Lataste at the end of June contained eggs which showed no trace of embryos. This does not, however, settle the question, as the young would not be born until at least two months later. According to Gené, pairing takes place in May, when specimens have been observed to congregate in considerable numbers.

GENUS CONTIA, BAIRD AND GIRARD

Maxillary teeth subequal. Head not or but slightly distinct from neck; eye moderate or rather small, with round pupil. Nasal single; no subocular shields. Body moderately elongate; scales smooth, with apical pits. Tail moderate.

This genus, with certain modifications in the above definition, is made to embrace about twenty-five species from South-Western Asia and Sind and North and Central America. One of the species inhabiting Asia extends into a very small part of Europe.

16. CONTIA MODESTA, Martin The Dwarf Snake

Form.--Moderately slender. Head small, quite flat above; snout obtuse, feebly prominent. Length of tail four to five times in the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral a little broader than deep, visible from above. Suture between the internasals as long as or a little shorter than that between the prefrontals. Frontal once and a half to once and two-thirds as long as broad, as long as or longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals, as broad as or a little broader than the supraocular, widely separated from the preocular. Nostril in the middle or upper part of the nasal. Loreal square or longer than deep. One (rarely two) pre- and two (rarely one) postoculars. Temporals 1 + 2; parietal sometimes nearly touching the fifth upper labial. Upper labials seven, third and fourth entering the eye. Four (rarely five) lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shield; posterior chin-shields smaller than the anterior, and separated from each other by one or two rows of scales.

Scales with a single apical pit, in seventeen rows. Ventral shields 150 to 191; anal divided; subcaudals 53 to 78.

Coloration.--Not unlike that of a young Zamenis gemonensis. Greyish-olive above, uniform or each scale lighter in the centre. The greater part of the upper surface of the head behind the snout, together with the nape, black in the young, with a yellow cross-bar or a pair of yellow spots between the eyes, the bar sometimes confluent with the yellow postoculars, and a horseshoe-shaped band of the same colour on the temples and across the occiput (Plate X.); the black of the nape again edged with yellow behind. More or less distinct traces of these markings are preserved in adult specimens. Upper lip yellowish, with black spots or bars on the sutures between the shields. Lower parts uniform white or yellowish.

In the var. semimaculata, Boettger, from Chios, small dark spots are scattered over the upper parts of the anterior half of the body.

Size.--This snake rarely reaches a length of 19 inches. It is the smallest Colubrid of Europe.

Distribution.--The Caucasus up to about 5,000 feet, Asia Minor, Chios, Cyprus, Syria, Mesopotamia, and North-Western Persia. The northern slope of the Caucasus appears to be the only part of Europe included in its habitat. The British Museum possesses two specimens labelled as from Constantinople, but the presence of this species in European Turkey requires confirmation.

A closely allied species, which has been confounded with C. modesta, C. collaris (Ménétriès), and which also inhabits the Caucasus without having been recorded from the northern slope, is distinguished by having the scales in fifteen rows (very rarely seventeen), and the posterior chin-shields in contact with each other.

Habits.--Nothing is known as regards this species, but the North American members of the genus Contia are chiefly insectivorous and oviparous.

GENUS COELOPELTIS, WAGLER

Maxillary teeth small and subequal, followed after a short interspace by one or two very large grooved fangs situated below the posterior border of the eye; anterior mandibular teeth strongly enlarged. Head not very distinct from neck, with angular canthus rostralis and projecting supraocular; eye large, with round pupil; nostril a crescentic slit in a single or divided nasal. Body elongate; scales smooth, more or less distinctly grooved longitudinally in the adult, with apical pits. Tail moderately long.

The range of this genus, which comprises only two species, extends over Southern Europe, South-Western Asia, and North Africa.

17. COELOPELTIS MONSPESSULANA, Hermann (Natrix lacertina, Wagler; Coluber insignitus, I. Geoffroy) The Montpellier Snake

Form.--Slender; head elongate, narrow, concave above on the snout and between the eyes; snout projecting, rounded, with raised canthus and concave loreal region. Tail about one-fifth to one-fourth of the total length.

PLATE XI

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Head-Shields.--Rostral nearly as deep as broad, just visible from above. Internasals much shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal very narrow, twice to twice and a half as long as broad, its width in the middle not more than half that of the supraocular, widening in front and extending beyond the supraoculars to join the preoculars, longer than its distance from the end of snout, as long as or a little longer than the parietals. Two loreals. One preocular, the upper portion of which is much enlarged, and encroaches upon the area occupied in other snakes by the prefrontal and the supraocular; two (rarely three) postoculars. Temporals 2 + 3 or 4. Upper labials eight (rarely nine), fourth and fifth (or fifth and sixth) entering the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are as long as or shorter than the posterior.

Scales with single apical pits, in seventeen or nineteen rows, longitudinally grooved in the adult, less distinctly in the young. Ventral shields 160 to 189; anal divided; subcaudals 68 to 102.

Coloration.--The young is elegantly marked with dark brown and yellowish-white on a pale brown ground. On the head, the principal dark markings usually are an oblique band on the posterior half of the supraocular shield, and another, or a large spot, on the parietal, sometimes produced backwards, and forming with its fellow a -shaped band, separated from a large occipital blotch by a yellowish space; anterior half of the frontal shield and shields on the snout edged with dark brown; a dark streak, sometimes broken up into small spots, on the temporal region; yellow spots on the pre- and post-oculars; lips brown, with large, yellow, black-edged spots, or yellow with brown spots; chin with three brown longitudinal streaks. Back with a vertebral series of large roundish dark spots or narrow cross-bars; small spots on the sides, these sometimes forming longitudinal series or accompanied by yellowish streaks or dots; these markings often confluent into three longitudinal streaks on the tail. Belly pale brownish, greyish, or reddish, with numerous pale spots, sometimes with a dark brown line on each side. The adult is greyish, reddish-brown, or olive above. Some specimens preserve more or less the markings of the young, and the dark dorsal markings (Plate XI.) may be edged with yellowish and ocellar in appearance (var. insignitus, Geoffroy); the belly is yellowish, with small dark spots which usually form longitudinal series, and may be confluent into streaks. A variety common in Dalmatia (neumayeri, Fitzinger) is brown or olive above, without spots, sides with a bluish-grey lateral band, the scales on which are edged with black, the belly uniform yellow. Other specimens are brown or reddish, with light edges to the scales on the sides, or with yellowish lateral lines, or dark olive or dark brown above and black on the sides, each scale with a yellowish central spot; in the last-mentioned the second third of the back may be almost entirely black, and the belly dark olive-grey in the middle and yellowish on the sides. Iris brown, with a golden or coppery circle round the pupil.

Size.--This handsome snake grows to a length of 6-1/2 feet. Specimens 5 to 6 feet long are not uncommon.

Distribution.--Mediterranean coast of France and Western Liguria, Spain and Portugal, Sicily, Lampedusa, eastern coast of the Adriatic, Greece and eastern islands of the Mediterranean, Mediterranean coast of Asia and Sinaitic Peninsula, eastwards to the Caucasus and Persia, North Africa from Egypt to Rio de Oro. It is not known to occur above 2,300 feet altitude in Europe.

Habits.--A lively, swift snake, living on land and on low bushes, often found near human habitations. Some specimens are very vicious, whilst others show a gentle disposition after a short period of captivity. A specimen nearly 6 feet long, which I kept for some time, never attempted to bite when handled, and some have become so tame as to take food from the hand. The sense of sight appears to be better developed than in any other European snake. The food consists chiefly of mammals, even large rats and young rabbits, birds such as chickens, partridges, and quails, lizards, and other snakes, which, if of considerable size, are not swallowed until paralyzed or killed by the effect of the poison. In Eastern Europe, Vipera ammodytes is said to be the principal enemy of Coelopeltis, and the two snakes are consequently seldom found together in the same locality.

Many experiments have been made on the action of the poison of this Opisthoglyph. Peracca and Deregibus, as well as, later, Phisalix, found a striking similarity with the symptoms of Cobra poison in their experiments on small animals, the suspension of the respiration occurring in a few minutes, the blood being otherwise unaffected. It has been stated by some authors that Coelopeltis poison has little or no action on man, but a French zoologist, E. Taton-Baulmont, having been bitten in the index-finger by a four-foot-long specimen at Algiers, the swelling extended within thirty hours up to the shoulder, and was accompanied by fever and nervous troubles. As a rule, however, the bite of this snake has no poisonous effect on man, from the fact that the fangs conveying the venom are situated so far back in the mouth as not to come into action.

Reproduction.--According to Werner, the eggs, four to twelve in number, are laid in July, and measure 2 inches in length and 1/2 inch in width.

GENUS MACROPROTODON, GUICHENOT

Maxillary teeth few and very unequal in size, fourth and fifth or fifth and sixth enlarged and followed by an interspace, the two last teeth fang-like and grooved, situated just behind the eye; sixth mandibular tooth fang-like, and separated from the remainder by an interspace. Head slightly distinct from neck; eye rather small, the pupil vertically elliptic or subelliptic when contracted. Body moderately elongate; scales smooth, with apical pits. Tail moderate or rather short.

A single species.

18. MACROPROTODON CUCULLATUS, I. Geoffroy The False Smooth Snake

Form.--Very similar to the Smooth Snakes, with which it has been confounded, but snout broader and very strongly depressed. Tail five and a half to six and a half times in the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral at least twice as broad as deep, not or but scarcely visible from above. Internasals as long as or a little shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal not much broader than the supraocular in the adult, once and a half to twice as long as broad, as long as or longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Nasal usually semidivided. Loreal once and a half to twice as long as deep. One preocular, extending to the upper surface of the head, but not reaching the frontal; two (rarely one or three) postoculars. Temporals 1 + 2. Upper labials eight, fourth and fifth entering the eye, sixth usually in contact with the parietal. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are as long as or a little shorter than the posterior.

Scales with mostly single apical pits, the pits sometimes paired on the sides of the body, in twenty-one or twenty-three rows (nineteen to twenty-five in North African specimens). Ventral shields 153 to 192; anal divided; subcaudals 40 to 54.

Coloration.--Pale brown or greyish above, with small dark brown or blackish spots or with more or less distinct darker and lighter longitudinal streaks. Upper surface of head with dark brown vermiculations; a dark brown or black, often light-edged occipito-nuchal band, extending downwards to the gular region and produced forwards into a point to between the parietal shields; a dark brown or black streak on each side of the head from the end of the snout, through the eye, to the last lower labial shield, traversing the four last upper labials, which are yellowish above and below the streak (Plate XI.). Lower parts yellow or coral red, with black spots, which may form a tessellated pattern, two longitudinal series, or be so crowded as to fuse into a band along the middle of the belly and tail.

The above description is taken from Spanish specimens (Badajos, Algeciras, Andalucia), but the variations are very great when we take North Africa into consideration. The nuchal band may be narrow or broken up into spots, the median of which sometimes forms a longitudinal streak, or so much enlarged as to fuse with the dark markings on the upper surface of the head; in some specimens (from Morocco and Algeria) the upper surface of the head and the nape may be entirely ink black, or the whole head black above and beneath with the exception of a whitish streak bordering the upper lip. The dark streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth may be absent, or reduced to a short oblique streak below the eye. Irrespective of the variations in the markings of the upper parts, the lower parts may be more or less spotted with black, or immaculate.

Some specimens of this small snake bear a general resemblance to Coronella girondica, with which Macroprotodon has sometimes been confounded. But a careful examination of its whole structure shows it to be more affine to Coelopeltis and Tarbophis, the other European representatives of the Opisthoglyphous Colubrids.

Size.--The largest European specimen examined measures 17-1/2 inches. Specimens up to 22 inches long occur in Algeria and Tunisia.

Distribution.--In Europe this snake is only known from Spain (Estremadura, New Castille, Andalucia), Portugal (Alemtejo), the Balearic Islands (Majorca and Minorca), and the island of Lampedusa. In North Africa it is generally distributed from the north coast of Egypt to the Rio de Oro; in Algeria it penetrates into the northern parts of the Sahara. The specimen figured on Plate XI. is from Algeciras.

Habits.--Appear to be similar to those of Coronella girondica. Crepuscular in its habits, it is usually found under stones or in burrows in the ground. Unless pursued, when it darts off with great rapidity, its movements are slow. It is very ready to bite, but no experiments have been made on the effects of its poison. The food consists chiefly of small lizards.

Reproduction.--All that is known on this head is that, according to Doumergue, eggs are laid in July in Algeria.

GENUS TARBOPHIS, FLEISCHMANN

Maxillary teeth few, anterior longest, gradually decreasing in size posteriorly, and followed, after an interspace, by a pair of enlarged, grooved fangs, situated below the posterior border of the eye; anterior mandibular teeth strongly enlarged. Head distinct from neck; eye moderate or rather small, with vertically elliptic pupil. Body moderately elongate; scales smooth, oblique, with apical pits. Tail moderate or rather short.

The eight species of this genus inhabit South-Eastern Europe, South-Western Asia, and Africa. Two are dealt with here.

19. TARBOPHIS FALLAX, Fleischmann (Ailurophis vivax, Bonaparte) The Cat-Snake

Form.--Moderately slender. Head much depressed. Tail five and a half to seven times in the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above. Internasals shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal much broader than the supraocular, once and one-fourth to once and a half as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Nasal divided or semidivided. Loreal twice and a half to thrice as long as deep, entering the eye below the preocular, which is in contact with the frontal. Two (rarely three) postoculars. Temporals small, scale-like, 2 or 3 + 3 or 4. Upper labials eight (rarely seven or nine), third, fourth, and fifth (rarely fourth and fifth, or fourth, fifth, and sixth) entering the eye. Three or four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields; posterior chin-shields very small and widely separated from each other by scales.

Scales with single or paired apical pits, in nineteen or twenty-one rows, usually nineteen in European specimens. Ventral shields 186 to 222; anal divided; subcaudals 48 to 73.

Coloration.--Greyish above, with 40 to 57 brown or black spots or bars on the body; a lateral series of smaller spots or vertical bars, alternating with the dorsals; the first spot, on the nape, elongate, usually with one or three linear processes in front, extending on the head (Plate XI.); usually a dark streak on each side of the head, from the eye to the angle of the mouth. Lower parts whitish, speckled, spotted, or marbled with grey or brown. Iris brown, with a golden circle round the pupil.

Size.--This species grows to a length of 2 feet 10 inches.

Distribution.--From Istria and Dalmatia to Greece, the Archipelago, Constantinople, Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Northern Syria; 2,600 feet appears to be its altitudinal limit.

Habits.--Although to a certain extent crepuscular or nocturnal, the Cat-snake is often seen hunting in the daytime, its food consisting almost exclusively of lizards, rarely of small mammals. Its movements are rather slow. The names Katzenschlange and Ailurophis, translated Cat-snake, probably originated from the way in which this snake stalks its prey, and suddenly pounces upon it. According to Eiffe, the poison causes the death of a Lacerta vivipara in one minute, and P. de Grijs observed the larger Lacerta agilis to die in two or three minutes. As a rule even fresh-caught specimens allow themselves to be handled without attempting to bite; some specimens, on the other hand, are very savage. Stony localities, old walls, and ruins, are the favourite abodes of this snake, which does well in captivity.

Reproduction.--Seven or eight eggs are laid in July; they measure about 1-1/4 inches in length and 1/2 inch in width.

20. TARBOPHIS IBERUS, Eichwald The Caucasian Cat-Snake

Very closely allied to the preceding, and differing from it only in the following points: Parietals shorter, slightly longer than the frontal, and anal entire. Loreal twice to twice and a half as long as deep. Fourth and fifth, or third, fourth, and fifth, labials entering the eye. Scales in nineteen or twenty-one rows. Ventrals 203 to 235; subcaudals 54 to 70.

Grey above, with 35 to 40 blackish spots on the body, the anterior largest and darkest; a lateral series of smaller spots or vertical bars. Lower parts blackish, with small whitish spots and dots. Reaches a length of 3-1/2 feet.

This species inhabits the Caucasus, and, being on record from the northern slope (Kuban River), has to be included in the European fauna. It occurs also in Mesopotamia, a specimen from Bagdad being preserved in the British Museum. The young specimen figured on Plate XI. is stated to be from Constantinople.

Nothing is known of its habits, which are probably the same as those of Tarbophis fallax.

FOURTH FAMILY: VIPERIDÆ

Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid bones movable, the first much abbreviated, erectile perpendicularly to the large transverse bone, and supporting a pair of large canaliculated poison fangs; mandible without coronoid bone. No vestiges of pelvic arch.

All more or less poisonous, some being among the most dangerous of snakes.

Divided into two subfamilies, each of which is represented by one genus in Europe:

Viperinæ.--No pit on the side of the snout; maxillary bone not hollowed out.

Crotalinæ.--A deep pit on each side of the snout, between the nostril and the eye; maxillary bone hollowed out above.

PLATE XII

From Zoological Society's Proceedings]

From Zoological Society's Proceedings]

After Sordelli]

The Viperinæ inhabit nearly the whole of Europe, Asia, and Africa; the Crotalinæ are Asiatic (one species extending its range into a small part of South-Eastern Europe) and American.

GENUS VIPERA, LAURENTI

Head distinct from neck, covered with small shields or scales, with or without distinct frontal and parietal shields; eye moderate or small, with vertical pupil, separated from the labial shields by scales; nasal separated from the rostral by a naso-rostral. Body short. Scales keeled, with apical pits. Tail short.

Of the eleven species of this genus, six are found in Europe; two inhabit South-Western Asia, one the Indo-Malay region, and two Eastern Africa.

The distinction of the European species is one of considerable difficulty, owing to their close relationship and the presence of intermediate forms connecting them. Matters being so, it seems curious that the Common Adder should have been regarded by so many authors as generically distinct from the Asp Viper, under the name of Pelias berus. It is highly probable that hybrids are produced in those districts where two species coexist, as in some parts of France, North Italy, and Austria.

21. VIPERA URSINII, Bonaparte Orsini's Viper

Form.--Short and stout. Snout obtusely pointed, flat above or with the canthus slightly raised. Eye very small, usually smaller than the nasal shield, its horizontal diameter usually not exceeding its distance from the posterior border of the nostril, its vertical diameter often less than and rarely exceeding its distance from the mouth. Length of tail seven to eight times in total length in males, nine and a half to twelve times in females.

Head-Shields.--Rostral as deep as broad or slightly deeper than broad, visible from above, in contact with one apical shield (rarely with two). Distinct frontal and (usually) parietal shields, the former once and a half to once and two-thirds (rarely once and one-third) as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral or the end of the snout, and nearly always longer than the parietals; the latter always in contact with the former, rarely broken up into small shields. Four to seven small shields on the snout between the canthals, of which there are two on each side. Supraocular well developed, extending posteriorly beyond the vertical of the eye, separated from the frontal by one to three shields, very rarely in contact with it. Six to ten scales round the eye, usually eight or nine, the upper preocular usually in contact with the nasal; a single series of scales between the eye and the labials. Nasal single. Temporal scales smooth. Upper labials six to nine, usually seven or eight, usually third or third and fourth below the eye. Three (rarely four) lower labials in contact with the chin-shields, of which there is but one pair.

Scales in nineteen (rarely twenty or twenty-one) rows, with two apical pits, strongly keeled on the back, less strongly on the sides, outer row smooth. Ventral shields 120 to 135 in males, 125 to 142 in females; anal entire; subcaudals 30 to 37 in males, 20 to 28 in females. By adding the subcaudals to the ventrals in a hundred specimens, the total numbers are 153 to 169 in males, 150 to 168 in females.

Coloration.--Unlike its ally V. berus, V. ursinii shows no sexual differences in the coloration. The ground colour of the back is usually yellowish or pale brown, sharply defined from the darker grey or brown colour of the sides; some specimens, however, are of an almost uniform brown ground colour. The light colour of the back is relieved by a series of more or less regular transversely oval, elliptic, or rhomboidal dark brown, black-edged spots, some or all of which may run together to form a wavy or zigzag band (Plate XII.). Two or three longitudinal series of dark brown or black spots extend along the sides, the upper series, if present, occupying the space between the series of spots continued from the postocular band and the large dorsal spots or vertebral band, the lowermost following the outer row of scales. Small dark spots and one or two -shaped markings are present on the upper surface of the head; an oblique dark band proceeds from the eye to the angle of the mouth, and is not infrequently confluent with the branches of the occipital . The rostral and the labial shields are uniform yellowish-white, rarely with a few small, blackish spots or with brown borders. The chin and throat are yellowish-white, rarely with some blackish spots. The ventral and subcaudal shields are black, with transverse series of small white spots, or grey checkered with black and white, or whitish with small round black spots; the tail is but rarely (females) tipped with yellow.

The form recently described as V. macrops, Méhely, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is distinguished by a usually larger eye, the vertical diameter of which equals or a little exceeds its distance from the mouth, and the parietals are often broken up into small shields. The postocular dark band is often reduced, originating at some distance from the eye, and is not prolonged beyond the mouth. In this geographical race melanic specimens occasionally occur, which are dark brown or blackish above, the lower parts not differing from those of the typical form.

Size.--20 inches appears to be the usual maximum size reached by this species, but, Dr. Werner informs me, a female 2 feet long has been found in Lower Austria.

Distribution.--First discovered in Italy in the Abruzzi, this species has since been found in the Basses-Alpes, near Digne, in various parts of Hungary, in Lower Austria, on the island of Veglia in Istria, and in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Herzegovina, and Montenegro. A very broken and curious distribution, the more so as V. ursinii is essentially a form of the plain in Lower Austria and Hungary, and an alpine form in Italy, in France, and in the Balkan Peninsula, where it only occurs between 3,000 and 6,800 feet. In no part of its habitat does it appear ever to be found in company with V. berus.

Habits.--Only a few specimens have hitherto been found in Italy and in France, but the species occurred up to a few years ago in extraordinary numbers in Lower Austria, in the immediate vicinity of Laxenburg. The intendant of the imperial castle pays a premium for the destruction of Vipers, and in the course of one year (1892) more than 1,000 specimens were brought to him. These snakes are found principally, though not exclusively, in the marshy meadows around the park, where they may be seen about in the daytime from May to September, feeding chiefly on lizards (Lacerta agilis), and also on small rodents. The lizards are swallowed as soon as seized, without the effect of the poison being awaited as in other Viperid snakes. This Viper is as a rule of gentle disposition, allowing itself to be handled without attempting to bite, and village boys have been seen playing with them. Although occurring in such enormous numbers at Laxenburg, no accident from snake-bite has ever been heard of. The form from the Balkan Peninsula (V. macrops) is even more pacific still, and is believed never to make use of its poison apparatus, its food consisting of orthopterous insects. According to Captain Veith, who has collected a large number of specimens of this Southern form, the contents of the stomach as well as the excrements show this snake to feed exclusively on grasshoppers. On one occasion a big specimen showed such a swelling of the body as to lead to the conclusion that it had swallowed a mouse, but it soon after disgorged what proved to be a ball made up of the agglutinated remains of at least a hundred grasshoppers. When handled, this Viper hisses or even pretends to snap, but with closed mouth, never biting unless seriously hurt. The poison appears to have little effect on man.

Reproduction.--Nothing has been published on the breeding habits of this species, but in a letter to the author, dated January 14, 1913, Herr L. von Kirchroth, who has examined over 4,000 specimens since 1890, says the young are born in July or August, exceptionally as early as June. Young females bring forth from six to eight young, older females from eight to eighteen; but a large female from Lower Austria is reported to have contained as many as twenty-two. The length of the new-born young is from 5 to 6 inches, and it grows rapidly within the first week, probably through stretching out, without taking any food.

According to Captain Veith, the form described as V. macrops brings forth only from three to five young.

22. VIPERA RENARDI, Christoph Renard's Viper

Form.--Similar to the preceding species, but snout more pointed, the raised canthi rostrales meeting at an acute angle. Eye usually as large as in V. berus, nearly as large as the nasal shield; its horizontal diameter equal to its distance from the posterior or anterior border of the nostril, its vertical diameter equal to or a little less than its distance from the mouth. Length of tail seven and a half to nine times in total length in males, eight to ten times in females.

Head-Shields.--Rostral as deep as broad or a little deeper than broad, just visible from above, and in contact with a single apical shield. Distinct frontal and (usually) parietal shields, the former once and two-thirds to twice and one-third as long as broad, as long as or longer than its distance from the end of the snout, usually longer than the parietals; the latter always in contact with the former, unless broken up into small shields. Two to six, usually three or four, small shields on the snout between the canthals, of which there are two on each side, the second broadly in contact with the supraocular. Supraocular well developed, extending posteriorly beyond the vertical of the eye, separated from the frontal by one to four shields. Nine to eleven, usually ten, scales round the eye, the upper preocular usually in contact with the nasal; either a single series of scales between the eye and the labials, or two series except under the centre of the eye, which is separated from the fourth labial by a single scale. Nasal single. Temporal scales all smooth, or the upper faintly keeled. Upper labials, eight or nine, fourth or fourth and fifth below the eye. Four (rarely five) lower labials in contact with the chin-shields, of which there is but one pair.

Scales in twenty-one (very rarely nineteen) rows, with two apical pits, strongly keeled, outer row smooth or feebly keeled. Ventral shields 130 to 148 in males, 130 to 150 in females; anal entire; subcaudals 31 to 37 in males, 24 to 30 in females.

Coloration.--As in V. ursinii, the sexes are alike in coloration. European specimens (Plate XII.) are very similar to V. ursinii, except that the labial shields are markedly dark-edged and speckled or spotted with brown or black. The dorsal band or series of spots is dark brown, edged with blackish; the ground colour of the middle of the back and of the scales of the two outer rows on each side is yellowish, of the sides (four rows of scales) greyish-brown with two or three series of dark brown spots; two dark -shaped markings on the head; a dark postocular streak, extending or not to the side of the neck. The lower parts are whitish or pale greyish, with blackish dots, of which there is a series of larger ones along each side of the belly. The tip of the tail is never yellow.

Central Asian specimens are of a pale yellowish sand-colour, with a brown, dark-edged dorsal zigzag band or series of spots and two series of small spots on the sides. Belly whitish, dotted or spotted with black, or uniform blackish.

Size.--23 inches is the length of the largest specimen examined.

Distribution.--In Europe V. renardi, which has long been confounded with V. berus, is abundant in the district of Uralsk, in the steppe around Sarepta, in Crimea, and it is also found in Cis-Caucasia and in Bessarabia. Its range extends far into Central Asia, being known from the Khirghiz steppes, the Emba steppes, the steppes near the Alatau, on the borders of the Urdshar, and in the Semipolatinsk district. Around Sarepta it is common in the bare steppe, and only exceptionally occurs in localities overgrown with willows and small shrubs.

Habits.--Nothing has been published concerning the habits of this snake, except that it is more sensitive to cold than V. berus and does not appear before the middle of April, retiring to its winter-quarters in the beginning of October. The food consists of small mammals and lizards.

Reproduction.--Pairs in May, and brings forth five to seven young in August, these young at birth measuring about 5-1/2 inches.

23. VIPERA BERUS, Linnæus The Northern Viper, or Adder

Form.--Short and stout. Snout flat above, rarely slightly concave, the upper contour broadly rounded or truncate in front, the canthus well marked, sometimes slightly raised, the loreal region nearly vertical. Eye as a rule smaller in females than in males, as large or nearly as large as the nasal shield; its vertical diameter equals or a little exceeds its distance from the mouth. Length of tail five and a half to nine times in total length in males, eight to ten and three-quarter times in females.

Head-Shields.--Rostral as deep as broad or slightly broader than deep, rarely once and one-third as deep as broad, not or but scarcely visible from above. In addition to the supraoculars, three large shields, the frontal and the parietals, are as a rule present on the top of the head. Frontal as long as broad or a little longer than broad, rarely much longer than broad, once and a half to twice and a half as broad as the supraocular, from which it is as a rule separated by one to four shields, as long as or a little shorter than its distance from the rostral, as long as or a little shorter than the parietals. Parietals usually in contact with the frontal and separated from the supraoculars by small shields, but sometimes in contact with both, or separated from the frontal. Exceptionally, in specimens from Great Britain, Germany, and Austria, the parietals, or the frontal and the parietals, are broken up into scales, and this is more frequently the case in specimens from North-Western Spain (var. seoanei). Upper surface of snout bordered by six (rarely by five or four) small shields, viz., two apicals (rarely one), and on each side two canthals, the second of which is usually in contact with the supraocular; canthals very rarely united into one shield; the space between these shields covered by four to twenty flat or convex, juxtaposed scales, which very exceptionally are fused into a single large shield. Supraocular usually extending posteriorly beyond the vertical of the eye. Six to thirteen scales round the eye, usually eight to ten; two or three superposed scales, rarely two vertical series of scales, separate the preoculars from the nasal, which is single. As a rule a single series of scales intervenes between the eye and the labials; specimens with two series are of very exceptional occurrence (single specimens from Isle of Arran, Normandy, Southern Norway, and Carniola, in the British Museum), but there are occasionally two series except just below the centre of the eye. Upper labials six to ten, usually eight or nine; fourth or fourth and fifth (rarely third and fourth) below the eye. Temporal scales smooth, rarely feebly keeled. Three or four (rarely five) lower labials in contact with the single pair of chin-shields.

Scales in twenty-one (rarely nineteen or twenty-three) rows, with two apical pits, strongly keeled, those of the outer row smooth or feebly keeled. Ventral shields 132 to 150 (usually 137 to 147) in males, 132 to 158 (usually 140 to 150) in females; anal entire; subcaudals 32 to 46 (usually 35 to 40) in males, 24 to 38 (usually 28 to 33) in females.

Coloration.--It is characteristic of this species, contrary to the rule in snakes, to present such marked differences of colour, according to the sexes, that these can be distinguished in most cases from that character alone.

Whitish or pale grey specimens, with black belly and jet black dorsal markings (Plate XII.), are males. Brown and brick-red specimens, with the markings of a more or less dark brown or red, are females. There are also brown, reddish-brown or olive males with the markings of a deep black, and grey males with brown markings. A very pretty colour variety, which affects only females, is olive with brick-red band and spots. Some males, just before exuviation, have the lower surface of a pale greyish-blue (Coluber cæruleus, Sheppard), with the outer ends of the shields black. Specimens with yellowish-white chin and throat, which may be tinged with red, are females; males have the throat black, or whitish with the scales spotted or edged with black. Exceptional females occur (in Carniola) which in this respect resemble the males.

The markings vary considerably. Those on the back usually consist of a wavy or zigzag longitudinal band, flanked on each side with a series of spots corresponding to its sinuses; but this band may be partly or even entirely broken up into rhomboidal or transversely oval spots, or, losing its indentations, form a straight stripe edged on each side with a yellowish streak (as in some specimens of the var. seoanei, from North-Western Spain). The markings may be absent altogether (var. concolor, Jan), or reduced to a narrow straight vertebral band (Pelias dorsalis, Gray). In the var. seoanei the zigzag band is often replaced by a dark brown vertebral band, three to five scales wide, bordered on each side by a series of subtriangular or crescentic black spots opposite to each other, as in the Pyrenean specimens of V. aspis. A pair of elongate dark markings are usually present on the back of the head, affecting the following shapes: |\,)(,)(,)(; By uniting together, this pair of markings may form a or an X. An oblique dark streak extends on each side from the eye to the last labial shields, being sometimes prolonged a short way down the neck. The snout and vertex may be uniform or bear some symmetrical dark spots, or in some males be entirely black, the black involving the apex of the -shaped marking. The labial shields are whitish or yellowish, those at least which are anterior to the eye being more or less broadly edged with brown or black.

The belly and the lower surface of the tail vary from grey or brown to bluish, blackish-grey, or black, the sides usually dotted or spotted with whitish; sometimes, especially in females, the belly is dark grey, each shield with a white posterior border which is broken up by a series of small roundish black spots. The end of the tail is often yellowish, bright yellow, or pale orange below, rarely coral red, more commonly in females than in males.

The iris is usually coppery red, more rarely golden suffused with brown.

Black specimens occur, more or less frequently, all over the habitat of this species, and are often referred to as V. prester, Linnæus. A distinction has to be made between individuals which are black through darkening of the ground colour, and such as are thus coloured through expansion and confluence of the markings. The latter are males, and among them we may find intermediate stages showing how this melanism is brought about; in one case the black of the back is separated from the black of the sides by a narrow light brown wavy stripe, the remains of the ground colour. When, as in all females, and occasionally in males, the black is the result of a gradual darkening of the ground colour, the typical markings may still be detected under certain lights. Some specimens (from Schneeberg, Lower Austria) are black, with scattered golden dots, or of a dark mahogany brown speckled with yellowish. In nearly all the black specimens at least a few dots of whitish are visible on the lips, and of yellow under the end of the tail.

Most of the variations enumerated above occur irrespective of the geographical distribution. Two forms, however, deserve to be regarded as ill-defined local races: the var. seoanei, Lataste, from North-Western Spain, in which, in addition to the peculiarities of coloration mentioned in the description, the canthus rostralis is frequently more distinctly raised, and the frontal and parietal shields are often disintegrated into scales; and the var. bosniensis, Boettger, from Bosnia, Carniola, and Carinthia, which is sometimes very suggestive of, and has been taken for, the typical form of V. aspis, having like it, though not at all constantly, two series of scales between the eye and the labials, and the zigzag band replaced by a series of dark bars across the back. The var. pseudaspis, Schreiber, from the plains of Sclavonia, described as straw yellow above, with narrow dark cross-bars, is hardly separable from the var. bosniensis.

Size.--Vipera berus is said to reach very exceptionally a length of 2 feet 11 inches. The largest specimen in the British Museum (from Belgium) measures 2 feet 3-1/2 inches: the largest British specimen 2 feet 3 inches. Both these specimens are females. The largest male measures 2 feet 2 inches.

Distribution.--Vipera berus ranges over the whole of Northern Europe, to the extreme north of Scotland, and the sixty-seventh degree in Scandinavia, and right across Northern Asia as far east as the island of Saghalien. It is generally distributed in Great Britain, occurring also on the Isles of Arran, Islay, Skye, Lewis, and Mull, rare or absent in some districts, common in others. Its distribution in Central and Southern Europe is irregular. In Western France it does not extend much beyond the Loire to the south, only isolated captures being on record from the departments Vendée, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne, and Indre. Of rare occurrence south of Paris, in the departments Yonne and Allier and in the mountains of Auvergne, it is again abundant in some parts of the Central Plateau. To the east it is recorded from the departments Aude, Haute-Marne, and Vosges. In Belgium, it is known from Flanders, Limburg, the Meuse Valley, and the Ardennes; in Holland it is pretty generally distributed in the uncultivated parts. It is spread over nearly the whole of the German Empire with the exception of the vine districts, where it is absent or extremely rare; it is also very scarce in the mountains of the Black Forest; it is on record from only a few localities in Lorraine, and has never been found in Alsatia. In South Germany it is rarely found below 1,000 feet altitude. In Switzerland it is absent from the Jura, but occurs in the Alps chiefly between 2,500 and 9,000 feet. To the East it extends to Russia, as far north as 64°, Austria-Hungary, confined to the hills in the south, and Roumania. In the Balkan Peninsula it occurs in the mountains of Bosnia, of Herzegovina, and of Bulgaria, up to 7,000 feet. Absent from the South of France, it curiously reappears in the hills of the north coast of Spain, even at sea-level in Galicia, and in a few localities in North Portugal. On the southern side of the Alps it is much rarer than V. aspis, but it has established itself in a few low-lying districts in Lombardy, Venetia, and the neighbouring part of Emilia.

Habits.--As we see from the above sketch of its distribution, the Adder generally avoids the hotter parts of Europe; when found in the plain in the South, as in Italy, it dwells in marshy localities, and Bonaparte called it Marasso palustre (Marsh Viper) in opposition to his Marasso alpino, Vipera ursinii. In the North, however, it usually selects in preference dry moors, sandy heaths, and hills well exposed to the sun, in which, although to a certain extent a nocturnal reptile, it delights to bask. Its food is very varied: weasels, mice, voles, shrews, moles, birds, lizards, slow-worms, frogs, salamanders, large slugs, have been found in the stomach, and the very young feed also on insects and worms. Of irascible temper as a rule, Adders are very ready to bite when fresh caught, but instances are known of their becoming quite tame in captivity, allowing themselves to be handled. As a rule they refuse food in captivity, but some have been known to live for as long as five years, being fed on lizards. Accidents from their bite, although seldom heard of in this country, are of frequent occurrence in France and in Germany, where many cases of fatal results on people have been recorded.

Reproduction.--Pairing takes place in April and May, and the young, five to twenty in number, are born in August or September, exceptionally as early as the end of July; the young, on releasing themselves from the thin, transparent membrane in which they are enclosed at birth, measure 6 to 8 inches. According to J. Geithe, a black female from Saxony gave birth to seventeen young, of which only one, a male, was black.

It is probable that exceptionally some individuals pair late in the summer or in the autumn. There is a trustworthy record, by Eiffe, of three pregnant females having been caught near Hamburg on March 12, 1882, one of them giving birth to young on the following day.

Dicephalous young have occasionally been observed. One 6 inches long was found crawling in a field near Hornburg in Germany in October, 1895, and, having been kept alive for some time, was observed to hiss and open the two mouths alternately when taking up a defensive attitude. Another similar monster, from Cornwall, is reported to have been sent alive to the London Zoological Gardens in 1854.

24. VIPERA ASPIS, Linnæus The Asp Viper

Form.--Rather more elongate than in the preceding. Snout flat above, more or less distinctly turned up at the end, with sharp, not or but very slightly raised canthus, and vertical or nearly vertical loreal region. Vertical diameter of the eye equal to or a little less than its distance from the mouth. The raised upper border of the transversely truncate or obtusely pointed extremity of the snout, coupled with the downward slant of the supraocular region and canthus rostralis, gives the head, seen from the side, a peculiar expression; the eye is so oblique that a vertical line drawn from the posterior extremity of the supraocular shield to the lip usually passes through the eye or down its posterior border; but the extent to which the snout is turned up at the end varies considerably, some specimens approaching V. berus in this respect, others V. latastii. Length of tail five and a half to eight times in total length in males, seven to nine times in females.

Head-Shields.--Rostral deeper than broad, its width two-thirds to seven-eighths its depth, extending to the upper edge of the snout. As a rule, with the exception of the large supraocular, the upper surface of the head is covered with small, subimbricate scales, which are smooth, very rarely feebly keeled, between the eyes and on the snout; however, an enlarged frontal shield, or even a frontal and a pair of parietals, are sometimes present, though rarely so large as in a typical V. berus; when present, the frontal is separated from the supraocular by one or two series of scales; when the frontal is absent, four to seven series of scales separate the supraoculars. Upper surface of snout usually bordered by eight or nine small shields--viz., two or three apicals, in contact with the tip of the rostral and raised to form the turned-up nose, and, on each side, two canthals and the upper preocular, which separates the supraocular from the canthals, or three canthals; sometimes, however, the border is formed by six or seven small shields, the second canthal being in contact with the supraocular, as in V. berus. Supraocular usually with very convex outer border, not extending posteriorly beyond the vertical of the eye. Eight to thirteen scales round the eye, usually ten to twelve; one or two vertical series of scales separate the preoculars from the nasal, which is single or divided, and often rather deeply hollowed out. As a rule two series of scales (very rarely three) separate the eye from the labials; sometimes, however, there is but one scale between the eye and the fourth labial, the second series being incomplete. Upper labials nine to thirteen, usually nine to eleven, fourth and fifth, rarely fourth to sixth or fifth and sixth, below the eye. Temporal scales smooth or feebly keeled. Four (rarely five) lower labials in contact with the single pair of chin-shields.

PLATE XIII

After Calmette]

Scales in twenty-one or twenty-three (rarely nineteen or twenty-five) rows, with two apical pits, strongly keeled, those of the outer row more or less distinctly keeled, rarely perfectly smooth. Ventral shields 134 to 158 (usually 143 to 153) in males, 141 to 169 (usually 145 to 157) in females; anal entire; subcaudals 32 to 49 (usually 37 to 45) in males, 30 to 43 (usually 32 to 38) in females; the terminal caudal shield is sometimes shorter and less spine-like than in V. berus, quite obtuse in some specimens.

Coloration.--Grey, greyish-brown, brown, reddish-brown, coppery red, or orange, is the ground colour in individuals from the same district; in this respect sexual differences are less marked than in the preceding species, red or copper-coloured specimens being found in both sexes, and silvery white specimens do not seem ever to occur. In rare cases markings are entirely absent. In specimens from the greater part of France, Italy, and the Southern Tyrol (see Plate XIII.), the dark brown or black markings on the body are mostly in the form of narrow cross-bars, continuous across the back or broken on the vertebral line and often alternating with each other and with similar bars on the sides, thus producing a pattern not unlike that frequently found in Tropidonotus natrix; a narrow dark line running straight or zigzag along the spine may connect these cross-bars, and in rare cases it is so broad as to produce a zigzag band similar to that of V. berus. In specimens from South-Western France and the Pyrenees, rarely in some from other parts of France and Italy, there is a broad dark grey or brown vertebral band between two series of black or blackish-brown spots, opposite to each other or alternating; this band may be straight or wavy, sometimes forming a regular zigzag; there is another series of blackish spots or short bars lower down on the side, alternating with those of the dorsal series.

The upper surface of the head may be devoid of any markings, or bear merely the two oblique dark streaks forming the branches of a ; or a dark cross-bar may be present on the snout, followed or not by smaller spots or a pair of oblique streaks on the occiput; the on the back of the head may be united with the first cross-bar on the nape, and enclose a cordiform figure of the lighter ground colour. A light line sometimes borders the upper edge of the snout and the outer edge of the supraocular shield. A blackish band or a mere line extends obliquely from the eye to the first lateral spot; below this the upper lip is whitish, yellowish, or pinkish, with or without dark vertical bars on the sutures between the labial shields. The iris is golden or coppery red.

The lower parts vary as much as the upper: sometimes black or steel blue, with or without whitish or reddish dots or spots, sometimes yellowish or pale reddish, with brown dots or marblings; in some young, white with greyish dots. The throat is yellowish white or pale reddish, uniform or speckled with blackish, sometimes (males) nearly entirely black. The end of the tail is usually bright yellow or reddish, or at least with a few bright spots. And finally we must mention black specimens--some nearly black by darkening of the ground colour, others intensely black by enlargement of the markings. A specimen from Piedmont, in the Turin Museum, shows the ground colour reduced to mere narrow light bars disposed in pairs. In most of these black specimens the chin and throat remain entirely or partially yellowish or reddish, and a few spots of the same colour are to be seen under the end of the tail.

A remarkable form of V. aspis, which some herpetologists would perhaps regard as entitled to rank as a species, is the var. hugyi, Schinz, from Calabria and Sicily. It is in some respects intermediate between V. aspis and V. latastii. The snout is rather more pointed than usual in the typical form, often, though not constantly, more strongly turned up at the end, and the canthus rostralis may be distinctly raised. Constantly two canthal shields, the second in contact with the supraocular. Ventral shields 134 to 148; subcaudals 30 to 43. Pale greyish, yellowish, brownish, or reddish, above, with a broad wavy dark brown vertebral band, edged with darker; this band sometimes broken up into transversely oval spots; a lateral series of blackish-brown spots, each corresponding to the sinus of the dorsal band.

Specimens so completely intermediate between Vipera aspis and V. berus as to render their naming arbitrary are known from parts of France and Italy where the two species coexist, and are probably to be regarded as hybrids.

Size.--The largest specimen examined (St. Sever, Landes, in the Lataste Collection) measures 2 feet 2-1/2 inches. It is a male. The largest female in the British Museum is 2 inches shorter.

Distribution.--Vipera aspis is found over the whole of France south of a line connecting the departments Loire-Inférieure, Orne, Seine-et-Marne, and Meurthe-et-Moselle, and ascends the Pyrenees to the altitude of 7,250 feet. In Germany it is known from Lorraine and the Black Forest, in Switzerland from the western and southern parts, up to 5,000 feet on the northern side of the Alps. It occurs also in Austria, in the Southern Tyrol and in the Karst, and is distributed over the whole of Italy and Sicily, reaching an altitude of 9,700 feet in the Alps. Most of the specimens from the western parts of the Balkan Peninsula which have been referred to this species belong, apparently, to V. berus, var. bosniensis, but one from Jahorin in Bosnia, altitude 5,650 feet, preserved in the Bosnian Museum, is pronounced by Werner to be an unquestionable V. aspis.

Habits.--This Viper shows a predilection for hot and dry localities. It is both diurnal and nocturnal, and does not seem to wander far from its hole in a rock or in the earth. It is slow in its movements, but very irascible, and innumerable accidents, in some cases fatal to man, are caused yearly in many parts of France, where it is extremely abundant. Its food consists principally of small mammals, young birds, and lizards, but the very young eat insects and worms. In France it retires into its winter-quarters at the end of October or in November, and numerous specimens often congregate in the same hole; it resumes its activity towards the end of March or the beginning of April, sometimes as early as the end of February. In rare cases it will even leave its retreat in the middle of winter, to bask in the sun. In captivity it long retains its savage temper, and usually refuses all food.

Reproduction.--Vipera aspis pairs in April and May; the pair are entwined in each other's coils. The young, four to eighteen in number, but rarely more than ten, are born in August or September, and measure 7 or 8 inches.

Several cases of dicephaly in young specimens have been described.

25. VIPERA LATASTII, Bosca Lataste's Viper

Form.--Heavier than in the preceding. Head similar, but snout more pointed and loreal region slanting towards the lip, well visible when the head is viewed from above. The extent to which the snout is turned up at the end varies considerably, sometimes similar to certain specimens of V. aspis, sometimes forming an appendage which is only a little less developed than in V. ammodytes. Length of tail six and a half to seven and a half times in total length in males, seven and a half to nine times in females.

Head-Shields.--Rostral once and a half to twice as deep as broad, nearly reaching the tip of the rostral wart. Upper surface of head covered with small, smooth or feebly keeled, subimbricate scales, among which a slightly enlarged frontal, or a frontal and a pair of parietals, may sometimes be distinguished; four to seven longitudinal series of scales between the supraoculars, which are large, and do not as a rule extend posteriorly beyond the vertical of the eye. Five or six (rarely three) scales on the posterior aspect of the raised part of the snout; two canthal scales on each side, the second in contact with the supraocular, or separated from it by the uppermost preocular. Eight to thirteen (usually nine to twelve) scales round the eye; two or three series of scales between the eye and the labials. Nasal hollowed out, entire, separated from the preoculars by one or two vertical series of scales; naso-rostral sometimes divided into two in North African specimens. Temporal scales smooth or feebly keeled. Upper labials nine to eleven (rarely eight), fourth and fifth (rarely third and fourth) below the eye. Four or five lower labials in contact with the single pair of chin-shields.

Scales in twenty-one rows, with two apical pits, strongly keeled, outer row smooth or feebly keeled. Ventral shields 125 to 146 in males, 135 to 147 in females; anal entire; subcaudals 35 to 45 in males, 32 to 38 in females.

Coloration.--Grey or brown above, the back often paler than the sides, with a broad darker, usually black-edged, wavy or zigzag band along the spine, and a lateral series of spots (Plate XIII.); the band sometimes replaced by large rhombic or transversely oval spots. Head with or without dark markings above, sometimes with two oblique dark streaks on the occiput; a dark streak from behind the eye to the first lateral spot, sometimes originating at a considerable distance from the eye; upper lip white or pale brown, more or less speckled or spotted with black. Lower parts grey, spotted with black and white, or blackish speckled with white, the end of the tail usually yellow or with yellow spots.

Size.--This Viper is not known to exceed a length of 2 feet.

Distribution.--Locally distributed over the greater part of Spain and Portugal, as far north as Burgos and Barcelona. Also found in Morocco near Tangier, and in Algeria near Bona and Guyotville.

Habits.--Lataste's Viper lives in stony and arid districts, and also in forests. The food consists chiefly of small mammals, but remains of a scorpion have been found in the stomach of an adult, and of a centipede in that of a young. According to Graells, this Viper easily climbs low trees in search of young birds, five of which have been found in the stomach of one specimen. The bite is believed to be less dangerous than that of V. aspis, and rarely causes the death of man and domestic animals.

26. VIPERA AMMODYTES, Linnæus The Sand-Viper, or Long-Nosed Viper

This species may be divided into several geographical forms. The typical form will be described first.

Form.--Short and heavy. Snout pointed, produced into an erect, horn-like dermal appendage covered with scales; canthus rostralis strong, sometimes slightly raised, loreal region slanting more or less towards the lip. Vertical diameter of the eye less than its distance from the mouth in the adult. Length of tail six to nine and a half times in the total length in males, eight to eleven times in females.

Head-Shields.--Rostral usually broader than deep. Naso-rostral (rarely divided into two) usually reaching the canthus rostralis, and extending considerably higher up than the upper border of the rostral. Rostral appendage covered with ten to seventeen scales, arranged in three (rarely two or four) transverse series between the rostral shield and the apex. Upper surface of head covered with small smooth or faintly keeled, subimbricate scales, among which a feebly enlarged frontal shield or a frontal and a pair of parietals are rarely distinguishable; when present, the frontal is separated from the supraocular by two series of scales; on the vertex five to eight series of scales separate the supraoculars. Two (rarely three) canthal scales, the second separated from the supraocular by the upper preocular. Supraocular with very convex outer border, usually not extending posteriorly beyond the vertical of the eye. Ten to thirteen scales round the eye; one or two vertical series of scales separate the preoculars from the nasal, which is single or rarely divided, and hollowed out. Two series of scales between the eye and the labials. Upper labials eight to twelve, usually nine or ten, usually fourth and fifth below the eye. Temporal scales smooth or feebly keeled. Four or five lower labials in contact with the single pair of chin-shields.

PLATE XIV

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

After Sordelli]

Scales in twenty-one or twenty-three (rarely twenty-five) rows, with two apical pits, strongly keeled, those of the outer row smooth or feebly keeled. Ventral shields 143 to 161 in males, 147 to 160 in females; anal entire; subcaudals 27 to 40 in males, 24 to 37 in females.

Coloration.--Grey, pinkish-grey, brown, yellowish-brown, or brick red above, with a more or less distinct wavy or zigzag black or brown, usually black-edged, band along the back, or a series of large rhombs connected on the median line, with or without a lateral series of dark spots; specimens with the markings of an intense black are males (Plate XIV.). Head with or without dark markings, very variable in disposition, sometimes forming a on the occiput, or a lyre-shaped figure confluent with the dorsal band; a dark streak or broad band from the eye to the angle of the mouth, sometimes continued along the neck; dark vertical bars often present on the sides of the snout and under the eye; on the lower lip, the dark shade, if present, broken up by light bars separated by two to four labial shields. Belly greyish or pink, powdered with brown or black, or dark bluish-grey, with or without black and white spots; lower surface of end of tail orange or coral red, rarely yellow. Iris golden. Specimens with a straight brown vertebral band flanked with triangular black spots pointing outwards (var. steindachneri, Werner) are known from Hungary, and resemble certain colour varieties of V. berus and V. aspis. Black specimens are very rare.

The following varieties are important geographical forms occurring in Europe:

Var. montandoni, Boulenger: Naso-rostral shield never reaching the canthus rostralis nor the summit of the rostral shield, which is deeper than broad (once and one-seventh to once and a half); rostral appendage clad with ten to fourteen scales, in three (rarely two or four) transverse series between the rostral shield and the apex. Scales in twenty-one rows. Ventral shields 149 to 158; subcaudals 30 to 38. A more or less distinct dark blotch on the lower lip, involving five to seven labial shields without complete interruption. Lower surface of end of tail yellow.

a, Form typica; b, var. meridionalis; c, var. montandoni]

Var. meridionalis, Boulenger: Naso-rostral shield never reaching the canthus rostralis, and but rarely extending higher up than the upper border of the rostral, which is often as deep as broad or a little deeper than broad; rostral appendage clad with fourteen to twenty scales, in four or five (rarely three) transverse series between the rostral shield and the apex. Supraciliary edge usually more prominent than in the typical form, sometimes slightly angular. Scales in twenty-one rows (very rarely twenty-three). Ventral shields 133 to 147; subcaudals 24 to 35. A more or less distinct dark blotch on the lower lip, involving five or six labial shields without interruption. Lower surface of end of tail yellow.

Size.--This Viper exceptionally attains a length of 3 feet. The largest male in the British Museum measures 2 feet 6 inches, the largest female 2 feet 4 inches. In V. berus females grow to a larger size than males; in this species, as in V. aspis, the reverse appears to be the rule.

Hybrid.--A female specimen, presumed to be a hybrid between V. berus and V. ammodytes, was obtained by Captain Veith in 1902 in Carinthia, in a locality where both these species occur together. The shape of the head is exactly that of a typical V. aspis, the snout distinctly turned up at the end, but without wart or scaly appendage, the raised portion being covered by the apex of the rostral shield and three apical shields. The rostral shield, which is a little deeper than broad (5 : 4), extends above the level of the slightly raised canthus rostralis, which bears two shields, the second in contact with the supraocular. The naso-rostral extends to the canthus rostralis, where it joins the first canthal and the lateral apical shield; one series of scales between the nasal shield and the preoculars. On the upper surface of the head the snout is covered with fifteen subimbricate smooth scales, in addition to the canthals and apicals. A frontal shield and a pair of parietals are well developed, although smaller than in an average V. berus; the parietals are in contact with the frontal, between which and the supraoculars two series of scales intervene. The supraocular, as in V. berus, extends backwards considerably beyond the vertical of the eye. Eleven scales round the eye; two series of scales between the eye and the labials. Temporal scales smooth. Upper labials nine, fourth and fifth below the eye. Scales in twenty-one rows, outer row smooth. Ventrals 159; subcaudals 31.

Grey-brown above, with a reddish-brown or mahogany-coloured zigzag vertebral band and a lateral series of paler reddish-brown spots; temporal band ill-defined in front; no markings on the upper surface of the head; lips pinkish, with a few reddish-brown spots. Ventral shields pale brownish, finely speckled or powdered with blackish, and with small whitish spots on the free edge and reddish brown spots on the sides. Tail orange red below. Iris fire red.

Total length 2 feet 2-1/3 inches; tail 2-2/3 inches.

Distribution.--The typical form is known from Northern Venetia, Austria-Hungary (Styria, Carinthia, Southern Tyrol, Carniola, Illyria, Istria, Croatia, Slavonia, and eastward through Southern Hungary to Transylvania), Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and Servia. In the Alps up to 1,300 feet, in the Balkan Peninsula up to 7,500 feet. The var. montandoni inhabits Roumania and Bulgaria. The var. meridionalis inhabits Greece, with the Archipelago, Asia Minor, and Syria.

The specimens from Transcaucasia constitute a further variety (var. transcaucasiana, Boulenger), agreeing with the var. montandoni in the rostral scutellation and in the number of ventral shields (150 to 156), but differing in the markings on the back; these consist of dark bars or alternating paired dark spots, as in the typical form of V. aspis. The dark and light markings on the lower lip are as in the typical V. ammodytes, and the lower surface of the tail is pale yellow or greenish towards the end.

Habits.--Notwithstanding its name ammodytes, this Viper is by no means restricted to sandy localities; on the contrary, it shows a predilection for dry stony hills with low vegetation, and has often been found climbing bushes. It avoids thick forest, but occurs on the edges of woods and in clearings, as well as on the borders of roads through woods. In the cooler regions of the mountains, which it ascends to a considerable altitude, it is essentially diurnal, leaving its retreat only when the sun shines; but in warm localities it is stated to be principally nocturnal, appearing in numbers by moonlight. The length of its period of hibernation depends entirely on the climate, but when the winter is mild it may be seen about in midwinter whenever the sun shines. The poison of this Viper is stated to be more active than that of V. berus and V. aspis, and, as the snake is very common in some parts of Austria and the Balkan Peninsula, fatal accidents to man are frequent.

The food consists of small mammals and birds, and also of lizards. V. ammodytes does much better in captivity than its European congeners, and takes food more readily.

The hissing is louder than in V. berus and V. aspis, and it is often produced, on the approach of man, by specimens lying in such perfect concealment that their presence would not otherwise be suspected; this habit, like the rattling of the Crotalus, is evidently detrimental to the species in its relation to man.

This species is extremely abundant in some parts of Austria, and over 7,000 specimens were killed in a district of Southern Styria in the course of two years (1892, 1893). According to Werner, it is the commonest of all snakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Reproduction.--Pairing takes place in the spring, sooner or later according to altitudes, and the young, five to fourteen in number, are born in August.

27. VIPERA LEBETINA, Linnæus The Blunt-Nosed Viper, or Kufi

Form.--Short and heavy. Snout rounded, obtuse, usually with well-marked canthus, and the loreal region slanting towards the mouth. Eye small, its vertical diameter less than its distance from the mouth in the adult. Nostril large and directed backwards. Length of tail six (males) to ten times (females) in the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral as deep as broad, a little broader than deep, or slightly deeper than broad, reaching or nearly reaching the upper surface of the snout, and in contact with two or three apical shields. Upper surface of head covered with small subimbricate scales, which are all more or less distinctly keeled, or, rarely, smooth on the snout and forehead; seven to twelve longitudinal series of scales between the eyes (supraoculars included); two to four canthal shields, of which the anterior is the largest, and may be regarded as a supranasal. Supraocular narrow, usually broken up into two or more small shields. Twelve to eighteen scales round the eye; two or three series of scales between the eye and the labials; two or three vertical series of scales separate the preoculars from the nasal, which is single and often strongly hollowed out, and usually partially fused with the naso-rostral. Upper labials nine to twelve, usually fourth and fifth below the eye. Temporal scales keeled. Four or five lower labials in contact with the single pair of chin-shields.

Scales in twenty-three to twenty-seven rows, usually twenty-five, with two apical pits, strongly keeled, those of the outer row smooth or feebly keeled. Ventral shields 151 to 177 in males, 153 to 180 in females; anal entire; subcaudals 42 to 51 in males, 38 to 49 in females.

Coloration.--Very variable. The typical form, which alone is represented in Europe, and was originally described from Cyprus, is grey, greyish-buff, or pale brown, above, with two dorsal series of darker spots, which may stand in pairs, alternate, or unite to form cross-bars, and a lateral series of large dark spots or bars. A more or less distinct dark band on each side of the head, passing through the eye and often extending to the neck; a dark bar or triangular spot below the eye, and usually another below the nostril. Lower parts pinkish-white, powdered with grey-brown, with or without dark brown spots; end of tail yellow. The ground colour of the young is pink or flesh-colour. In specimens from desert sandy regions in Asia and North Africa the markings may be very indistinct, the snake being of a nearly uniform pale buff.

In the var. mauritanica, Guichenot, from Morocco and Algeria, the back has three series of very large dark brown or reddish-brown spots, separated by a network of the yellowish ground colour, or the middle series may be transformed into a wavy or zigzag band. The scales in this variety are usually in twenty-seven rows, instead of twenty-five (rarely twenty-three) as in the typical form.

Size.--This species, the largest of European Vipers, grows to a length of 4-1/2 feet.

Distribution.--The European habitat of V. lebetina is restricted to the Cyclades, where it is not uncommon on the island of Tinos, and appears to be found also on Kimoli. It is common on Cyprus, where it is called Kufi, or Deaf Snake, and extends from Syria and Asia Minor through Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Northern Baluchistan, to Afghanistan and Cashmere. It is further found on the Atlas of Morocco and Algeria, near Oran and Bona, and in Tunisia. Its reported occurrence in Egypt has not been confirmed by recent investigations.

Habits.--According to M. Doumergue--who has had ample opportunities of observing this Viper near Oran, where it is common--it is a nocturnal reptile, rarely moving about in the daytime. It inhabits rocky localities, where there is brushwood, and vineyards. During the day it remains sluggish under large stones. It is most frequently met with in April and May.

On Milos, Dr. de Bedriaga observed this much-dreaded snake, the bite of which is probably as bad as that of its Indian ally, the Daboia, V. russelli, to occur frequently in gardens, and to crawl about near houses in villages after sunset. The same observer has noted a sort of valvular closing of the nostril through raising of the posterior part of the nasal shield when the snake prepares to strike.

The food consists principally of mammals up to the size of a rabbit.

Reproduction.--According to Doumergue's observations in Algeria, the young, up to thirteen in number, are born in May and June.

GENUS ANCISTRODON, PALISOT DE BEAUVOIS

Head distinct from neck, its upper surface covered with large shields, as in the normal Colubridæ; a loreal pit; eye moderate or small, with vertical pupil. Body moderately elongate or short. Scales keeled (or smooth), with apical pits. Tail moderate or short.

This genus is distributed over nearly the whole of Asia, the eastern parts of the United States of America, and Mexico and Central America. One of the Asiatic species just penetrates into South-Eastern Europe, and is the sole representative of the Crotalinæ in this part of the world.

28. ANCISTRODON HALYS, Pallas Pallas's Pit-Viper

Form.--Moderately elongate. Head subtriangular, flat or slightly concave above, swollen in the temporal region, very distinct from neck; snout rounded or obtusely pointed, slightly turned up at the end, with obtuse canthus and vertical or slightly oblique loreal region; eye rather small. Tail seven to eight and a half times in the total length.

Head-Shields.--Rostral as deep as broad or slightly broader than deep, just visible from above. A pair of internasals and a pair of larger prefrontals. Frontal as broad as the supraocular, as long as or a little longer than its distance from the end of the snout, as long as or a little shorter than the rather short parietals. Supraocular extending beyond the vertical of the posterior border of the eye. Loreal pit between three shields, separated from the labials. Nostril between two nasals, the posterior of which is separated from the upper preocular by a loreal. Two preoculars, one or two postoculars, and a subocular. Three large lower temporals, anterior largest. Upper labials seven or eight, third and fourth largest, third entering the eye. A pair of small chin-shields.

Scales sharply keeled, with two apical pits, in twenty-three rows. Ventral shields 149 to 174; anal entire; subcaudals 31 to 44 pairs.

Coloration.--Pale yellowish-grey, greyish-brown, or reddish, sometimes greenish in young specimens, with transverse series of darker spots or with more or less regular dark bars with serrated edges across the back (Plate XIV.); these bars may be narrower than the interspaces between them, or so large as to cause the back to appear brown with light cross-bars; the bars sometimes broken up on the vertebral line, and the two halves alternating. The sides usually paler and bearing two alternating longitudinal series of small spots, the lower of which are usually darker, and sometimes extend on the outer ends of the ventral shields. Head pale above, with a dark spot on the middle of the snout, a cross-bar or a pair of spots between the eyes, a spot or short band on each side of the parietal region, and a horseshoe-shaped band on the occiput, the branches of which are more or less produced on the nape; all these markings sometimes confluent. A broad, dark, light-edged band on the temple. Lips whitish, speckled with brown. Lower parts whitish, more or less profusely speckled with grey or brown. The horny shield terminating the tail usually dark brown or black at the end.

Size.--This species rarely reaches a length of 29 inches. The largest specimen in the British Museum measures only 19 inches.

Distribution.--From the north and east coasts of the Caspian Sea, across Central Asia to the Upper Yenissei, as far north as 51°. In Europe it is only known from two arid tracts between the Volga and the Ural, near the Caspian Sea, viz., the Saltan-Murat desert and the Induski hills.

Habits.--Nothing has been published on the habits of this snake, but they are probably similar to those of its near and more eastern relative, A. blomhoffi, Schlegel, which inhabits China and Japan. A. blomhoffi is said to be more or less nocturnal, although showing a predilection for localities well exposed to the sun. It is ovoviviparous. The symptoms of its bite, which is rarely fatal to man, are the same as in the Vipers.

All the species of Ancistrodon, so far as they have been observed, are in the habit of raising and vibrating the tail, like the Rattlesnakes, when coiling themselves up in a defensive attitude.

INDEX

Acanthocephala, 110

Acrochordinæ, 5

Adder, 230

Æsculapian Snake, 187

æsculapii (Coluber), 187

Aglypha, 4, 151

Ailurophis vivax, 217

Albinism, 39

Aldrovandi's Snake, 182

Altitudinal range, 118, 123

Amblycephalidæ, 5

ammodytes (Vipera), 249

Anal pockets, 83

Anal shield, 17

Ancistrodon, 261

Ancistrodon halys, 262

Antitoxic serums, 66

Apical pits, 15, 75

Arteries, 77

Ascariasis, 111

asianus (Zamenis gemonensis, var.), 173

Asp Viper, 239

aspis (Vipera), 239

astreptophorus (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 154

ater (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 156

atrovirens (Coluber), 170

aurolineatus (Coluber), 167

austriaca (Coronella), 197

Bacteria, 113

berus (Pelias), 221

berus (Vipera), 230

Bezoar stones, 141

bilineatus (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 154

Blind Snake, 144

Blood-supply, 77

Blunt-nosed Viper, 257

Body, 8

Boidæ, 4, 146

Boinæ, 4, 146

bosniensis (Vipera berus, var.), 236

Brain, 73

Burrowing Snakes, 91

cæruleus (Coluber), 233

Canker, 113

Canthus rostralis, 13

Captivity, 100

carbonarius (Zamenis), 172

caspius (Zamenis gemonensis, var.), 172

Cat-Snake, 217

Caucasian Cat-Snake, 219

cervone (Elaphis), 182

Cestoda, 112

cettii (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 155

chersoides (Tropidonotus), 167

Classification, 2

Cobra di capello, 9

Coelopeltis, 207

Coelopeltis monspessulana, 208

collaris (Contia), 207

Coloration, 29

Colour, 29

Coluber, 181

Coluber æsculapii, 187

Coluber atrovirens, 170

Coluber aurolineatus, 167

Coluber cæruleus, 233

Coluber dione, 185

Coluber dumfriesiensis, 200

Coluber flavescens, 187

Coluber hydrus, 160

Coluber insignitus, 208

Coluber leopardinus, 191

Coluber longissimus, 187

Coluber quadrilineatus, 191

Coluber quatuorradiatus, 182

Coluber quatuorlineatus, 182

Coluber riccioli, 202

Coluber rubens, 204

Coluber sauromates, 183

Coluber scalaris, 194

Coluber torquatus, 152

Coluber viridiflavus, 170

Colubridæ, 4, 150

Colubrinæ, 4, 151

concolor (Tropidonotus tessellatus, var.), 162

concolor (Vipera berus, var.), 234

Coniophis, 7

Constriction, 96

Contia, 205

Contia modesta, 205

Coral-Snakes, 32, 34, 35

Coronella, 196

Coronella austriaca, 197

Coronella girondica, 202

Coronella italica, 197

Coryphodonts, 58

Crotalinæ, 5, 220

Crotalon, 20

Crotalus, 21

cucullatus (Macroprotodon), 213

Dahl's Whip-Snake, 177

dahlii (Zamenis), 177

Dasypeltinæ, 5

Defecation, 99

Definition, 1

Deglutition, 98

Dentition, 53

Desert Snakes, 36

Development, 88

Diacranterians, 58

Dicephalous young, 89

Digestion, 99

dione (Coluber), 185

Dione Snake, 185

Dipsadomorphinæ, 5, 151

Disgorging, 99

Distribution, 118

Dolichosauria, 1

dorsalis (Pelias), 234

Drinking, 101

dumfriesiensis (Coluber), 200

Dwarf Snake, 205

Economic value, 138

Eggs, 85

Egg-eating Snakes, 53, 80

Egg-tooth, 89

Elachistodontinæ, 5

Elaphis cervone, 182

Elapinæ, 5

Elaps, 35

elsneri (Coluber leopardinus, var.), 193

Embryo, 88

Epiglottis, 79

Eryx, 147

Eryx jaculus, 147

European Whip-Snake, 170

External characters, 8

Exuviæ, 20

Exuviation, 105

Eyes, 11, 73

False Smooth Snake, 213

fallax (Tarbophis), 217

Fangs, 55

Fascination, 104

Fat-bodies, 81

Faunistic works, 130

Feigning death, 104

fitzingeri (Coronella), 197

flavescens (Coluber), 187

flavescens (Tropidonotus tessellatus, var.), 163

Flukes, 112

Flying Snakes, 94

Food, 95

Form, 8

Fossils, 6

Gape, 11

Gastrosteges, 15

gemonensis (Zamenis), 170

Genital organs, 82

girondica (Coronella), 202

Glauconiidæ, 4

Glottis, 79

Grass Snake, 152

Greek Blind Snake, 144

Ground Snakes, 91

Habits, 91

Hæmogregarines, 112

hagenbecki (Tropidonotus tessellatus, var.), 162

halys (Ancistrodon), 261

Head, 10

Head-shields, 17

Hearing, 74

Heart, 77

Helagras, 7

Hemipenes, 82

Hibernation, 105

Hind limbs, 10

hippocrepis (Zamenis), 179

Hissing, 102

Homalopsinæ, 5

Hood, 9

Horseshoe Whip-Snake, 179

hugyi (Vipera aspis, var.), 244

Hybrids, 90

Hydrophiinæ, 5

hydrus (Coluber), 160

Hyoid apparatus, 42

iberus (Tarbophis), 219

Iguanognathus, 54

Ilysiidæ, 4

Immunity, 66, 71

incertus (Tropidonotus viperinus, var.), 167

Incubation, 88

Intelligence, 101

insignitus (Coluber), 208

Integument, 8

Intestines, 79

Iris, 37

Isodonts, 58

italica (Coronella), 197

Jacobson's organ, 73

jaculus (Eryx), 147

Javelin Sand-Boa, 147

Key to the identification, 22

Kidneys, 80

Kufi, 257

Labial pits, 76

Lacertilia, 1

lacertina (Natrix), 208

Ladder Snake, 194

Largest Snakes, 21

Larynx, 79

Lataste's Viper, 247

latastii (Vipera), 247

lebetina (Vipera), 257

Leopard Snake, 191

leopardinus (Coluber), 191

lineaticollis (Tropidonotus tessellatus, var.), 162

Liver, 81

Livery of the young, 38

Locomotion, 93

Long-nosed Viper, 249

longissimus (Coluber), 187

Loreal pit, 75

Loreal region, 12

Lungs, 78

Lycodonts, 58

Lymph-hearts, 78

Macroprotodon, 212

Macroprotodon cucullatus, 213

macrops (Vipera), 224

Marine Snakes, 92, 95

Markings, 29

mauritanica (Vipera lebetina, var.), 259

Melanism, 39

Mental groove, 13

meridionalis (Vipera ammodytes, var.), 253

Mimicry, 35

modesta (Contia), 205

monspessulana (Coelopeltis), 208

montandoni (Vipera ammodytes, var.), 252

Montpellier Snake, 208

Mortality from Snake-bite, 133

Mosasauria, 1

murorum (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 154

Natrix lacertina, 208

Natrix vulgaris, 152

natrix (Tropidonotus), 152

Neck, 9

Nematoda, 111

Nerodia, 152

Nervous system, 73

neumayeri (Coelopeltis monspessulana, var.), 210

niger (Coluber longissimus, var.), 188

nigrescens (Tropidonotus tessellatus, var.), 162

Nocturnal Snakes, 93

Northern Viper, 230

Nostrils, 13, 74

Oesophagus, 79

Olfactory organ, 73

Ophidia, 1

Opisthoglypha, 4, 151

Organs of a sixth sense, 75

Orsini's Viper, 221

Oviparous Snakes, 86

Oviposition, 85

Ovoviviparous Snakes, 85

Pairing, 84

Pallas's Pit-Viper, 262

Parasites, 107

Pelias berus, 221

Pelias dorsalis, 234

Pelvic arch, 52

persa (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 154

persicus (Zamenis gemonensis, var.), 172

picturatus (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 155

Pit-Vipers, 75, 262

Poison apparatus, 62

Poison fangs, 55, 62

Poison glands, 62

Poisons, 66

prester (Vipera), 235

Proteroglypha, 4, 151

Protozoa, 112

pseudaspis (Vipera berus, var.), 236

Pupil, 12

Pythoninæ, 4

quadrilineatus (Coluber), 191

quatuorradiatus (Coluber), 182

quatuorlineatus (Coluber), 182

Rattle, 20

Rattlesnakes, 20, 103

Rattling, 103

Reflex movements, 106

Relation to man, 133

Renard's Viper, 227

renardi (Vipera), 227

Replacement teeth, 55

Reproduction, 82

Reptation, 93

Reptilia, 1

Rhiptoglossa, 1

riccioli (Coluber), 202

Ring-Snake, 152

romanus (Coluber longissimus, var.), 188

rubens (Coluber), 204

rubro-maculosus (Tropidonotus tessellatus, var.), 162

Rustling, 102

Sand-Boa, 147

Sand-Snakes, 91

Sand-Viper, 249

sardus (Zamenis), 172

sauromates (Coluber), 183

scalaris (Coluber), 194

scalaris (Coronella austriaca, var.), 199

Scales, 14

schwoederi (Coluber leopardinus, var.), 193

scutatus (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 155

semimaculata (Contia modesta, var.), 207

Sense organs, 73

seoanei (Vipera berus, var.), 235

Serotherapy, 66, 134

Serum treatment, 67

Shedding of the epidermis, 20

Shields, 14

Sixth sense, 75

Skeleton, 40

Skull, 40

Smallest Snakes, 21

Smooth Snake, 197

Snake-charmers, 139

Snake-stones, 141

Snake swallowing her young, 88

Snake-worship, 139

Snout, 12

Solenoglyphs, 56

Southern Smooth Snake, 202

Squamata, 1

steindachneri (Vipera ammodytes, var.), 252

Stomach, 79

Subcaudal shields, 15

subfasciatus (Tropidonotus natrix, var.), 155

subgriseus (Coluber longissimus, var.), 189

Symoliophis, 7

Syncranterians, 58

Tail, 9

Tarbophis, 216

Tarbophis fallax, 217

Tarbophis iberus, 219

Teeth, 53

Tessellated Water-Snake, 160

tessellatus (Tropidonotus), 160

Thymus gland, 78

Ticks, 108

Tongue, 74

Tongue-worms, 108

torquatus (Coluber), 152

trabalis (Zamenis gemonensis, var.), 172

Trachea, 78

transcaucasiana (Vipera ammodytes, var.), 256

Tree-Snakes, 36, 92, 94

Trematoda, 112

Tropidonotus, 152

Tropidonotus chersoides, 167

Tropidonotus natrix, 152

Tropidonotus tessellatus, 160

Tropidonotus viperinus, 165

Typhlopidæ, 4, 143

Typhlops, 144

Typhlops vermicularis, 144

Ureters, 81

Uropeltidæ, 5

Urosteges, 15

ursinii (Vipera), 221

Veins, 77

veithi (Coronella austriaca, var.), 199

Ventral shields, 15

vermicularis (Typhlops), 144

Vertebræ, 50

Vertebral column, 50

Vipera, 221

Vipera ammodytes, 249

Vipera aspis, 239

Vipera berus, 230

Vipera latastii, 247

Vipera lebetina, 257

Vipera macrops, 224

Vipera prester, 235

Vipera renardi, 227

Vipera ursinii, 221

Viperidæ, 5, 220

Viperinæ, 5, 220

Viperine Water-Snake, 165

viperinus (Tropidonotus), 165

viridiflavus (Coluber), 170

Viscera, 77

vivax (Ailurophis), 217

vosseleri (Tropidonotus tessellatus, var.), 162

vulgaris (Natrix), 152

Warning coloration, 35, 36

Water-Snakes, 92, 94, 160

Whip-Snake, 170

Worms, 110

Xenopeltidæ, 5

Zamenis, 170

Zamenis carbonarius, 172

Zamenis dahlii, 177

Zamenis gemonensis, 170

Zamenis hippocrepis, 179

Zamenis sardus, 172

Zoogeographical Regions, 119

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Footnote A:

For a key to the identification of the species, see above, p. 22.

Footnote B:

The only specimen with twenty-one rows I have examined is a male from Albano, near Rome (Genoa Museum).