Coluber
a linnæan genus, comprehending all the snakes now included under the family Colubridæ. The same genus, as limited by Cuvier and his successors, is the typical one of the family Colubridæ, and the sub-order colubrina. The species are very numerous, some of them beautifully colored, and all are harmless. For a long time the common snake of England was called C. natrix; now it is termed Natrix torquata, or Tropidonotus Natrix.
C. dumfriesensis of Sowerby is probably an immature variety of the common species. C. austriacus is common in Germany and France. C. or Boscanion Constrictor, the black snake of Catesby, is common in all the Southern and South Atlantic States. It is very useful in destroying rats and kindred vermin. It sometimes attains a length of eight or nine feet.