"Coluber" Quotes from Famous Books
... formation, as well as the lunulites and corals, favour the idea of a warm climate having prevailed, which is borne out by the discovery of a serpent, Palaeophis typhoeus (see Figure 193), exceeding, according to Professor Owen, twenty feet in length, and allied in its osteology to the Boa, Python, Coluber, and Hydrus. The compressed form and diminutive size of certain caudal vertebrae indicate so much analogy with Hydrus as to induce Professor Owen to pronounce this extinct ophidian to have been marine. (Palaeontological Society ... — The Student's Elements of Geology • Sir Charles Lyell
... and so pulled and pulled till he looked in danger of severing himself in two. Meanwhile Ophio, slowly but surely advancing, caused its head and neck to disappear, grasping tightly with his venomous jaws, as if he would say, "We'll see who is master." It was a close tussle, so firmly did the little coluber retain his hold on the "tree"; but as the upper part of him was gradually drawn into those unrelaxing jaws, he by degrees gave way, and by ... — A Book of Natural History - Young Folks' Library Volume XIV. • Various |