Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (109)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1861. Excerpt: ... 132. E. intricatns Dum. and Bibr. vii. p. 855. Var. scales of the white (red or yellow) spaces without black tips. One sp. S. America, Dr. Neill. 133. E. venustissimus Boie, 1. c. Coronella venustissima Schl. Essai ii. p. 53. Erythr. venustissimus Dum. Bibr. vii. 851. Giinther Cat. Brit. Mus. 47. Var. B. Dum. Bibr. Two sp. S. America, Mr. Cuming in ex. Var.? Head black from a single collar forward, except anterior halves of upper labials, which are red. The vertical plate appears to be broader anteriorly than ordinarily, but the specimen is not in sufficiently good state of preservation to offer distinct characters. One sp. S. America, Dr. Strain. 134. E. Aesculapii Wagler, Nat. SyBt. Amphib. 187. Dum. etBibr. vii. p. 845. Coronella venusta Schleg. Essai, i. p, 135. Var. D. Dum. Bibr. 1. c. p. 849. One sp. Surinam, Dr. Hering. In this specimen twenty-two pairs of reddish brown rings encircle the body from head to tail. These bands are three and a half scales wide and are separated by equal light spaces of one scale in width. It is only on the belly that the former appear in pairs. Head as in the true Aesculapii. A speoies? Var. E. nobis. The distribution of colors on the head as usual. Twelve pairs of black rings, those of each pair becoming confluent on the middle of the back. The broad interspaces are shaded with brown, which is deeper on the tip of each scale. This variety (a speoies?) resembles the C of Dumeril & Bibron, where the rings composing the pairs are separated by a very narrow interval, and the spaces between the pairs are very dark. One spec. Surinam, Dr. Colhoun. 135. E. a lb os t olatu s nobis. Number of the plates of the head the same as in the venustissimus. In form, the fifth and sixth upper labials are narrower and higher; and the for...