Excerpt from Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Vol. 1: Serpents General color above, that of roll sulphur beneath, whitish yel low. Along the back is a double series of subrhomboidal blotches, looking as if they had been in contact, and then the line of junction partially efihced for the three or four central rows. The Impression conveyed of the color of these blotches is that of coarse mottlings of soot or gunpowder grains, more crowded exteriorly. There are twenty-one of these blotches from the head to the anus, the tail being entirely black. The rhomboids are enclosed within about twelve dorsal series of scales. Directly opposite to these spots on each Side is a series of subtriangular blotches similarly constituted as to colour, and extending from the abdomen to about the fifth lateral row, and some six or seven scales long. Anteriorly these are distinct from the dorsal series, but posteriorly they are confluent with them, forming a series of zigzag blotches across the body. The scutellae below show more or less of the grain-like mottlings. Posteriorly the yellow of the body is suffused with darker. There are no markings of lines distinctly visible on the sides of the head. In the centre of the spaces between the dorsal and lateral series of blotches are indications of small Obsolete spots and in some cases the yellow scales external to the blotches are of lighter colour than the rest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.