Dipsas

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 4: Dionysius to Friction, p. 6–7

Dipsas, a genus of non-venomous serpents of the family Colubriformes. The body is much compressed laterally; the head is thick, blunt, and distinct from the neck; the scales are smooth. They are nocturnal, arboreal animals, feeding chiefly on lizards, frogs, and small birds, and are most abundant in neotropical and oriental regions.

D. dendrophila, from the East Indies, is over six feet in length. Dipsas cyanodon is a large and beautiful species found in Java and Sumatra.

A detailed botanical illustration of a snake, Dipsas cyanodon, coiled around a plant stem. The snake has a long, slender body with a patterned skin, and its head is positioned near the top of the stem, facing left. The plant stem is thick and has some leaves visible at the top.
Dipsas cyanodon.
Source scan(s): p. 0015, p. 0016