. Ceylon : an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions. Natural history. CiiAP. III.] SNAKES. 195 upper jaw fixed to the skull as in mammals and birds, instead of movable as amongst the true ophidians. In this they resemble the amphisbsenidte; but the tribe of Uropeltidce, or " rough tails," has the further pecu- harity, that the tail is truncated, instead of ending, like that of the typhlops, in a point more or less acute ; and the reptile assists its own movements by pressing the flat end to the
. Ceylon : an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions. Natural history. CiiAP. III.] SNAKES. 195 upper jaw fixed to the skull as in mammals and birds, instead of movable as amongst the true ophidians. In this they resemble the amphisbsenidte; but the tribe of Uropeltidce, or " rough tails," has the further pecu- harity, that the tail is truncated, instead of ending, like that of the typhlops, in a point more or less acute ; and the reptile assists its own movements by pressing the flat end to the ground. Witliin a very recent period an important addition has been made to this genus, by the discovery of five new species in Ceylon; in some of which the singular construction of the tail is de- veloped to an extent much more marked than in any previously existing specimen. One of these, the Uro- jyeltis grandis of Kelaart, is distinguished by its dark brown colour, shot with a bluish metaUic lustre, closely approaching the ordinary shade of the cobra; and the tail is abruptly and flatly compressed as though it had been severed by a kiufe. The form of this singular reptile will be best understood by a reference to the accompanpng figure ; and there can be, I think, httle doubt that to its strano;e and anomalous structure is to be traced the fable of the transformation of the cobra de capello. The colour alone would seem to identify. UR0PELTI3 GRANDIS. the two reptiles, but the head and mouth are no longer those of a serpent, and the disappearance of the tail might readily suggest the mutilation wliich the tradition asserts. The Singhalese Buddhists, in thek rehgious abstinence from inflicting death on any creatm-e, are accustomed, after securing a venomous snake, to enclose it in a basket of woven palm leaves, and to set it afloat on a o 2. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration
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Keywords: ., booka, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectnaturalhistory
