OCR Text |
Show 232 DR. A. GUNTHER ON INDIAN REPTILES. [MAR. 1 6, TROPIDONOTUS MODESTUS. Scales in nineteen series, rather feebly keeled. Head narrow, though distinct from neck ; eye of moderate size. Anterior frontals not pointed in front. Loreal nearly square ; one prae- and three postoculars. Nine upper labials, the fourth, fifth and sixth entering the orbit. Temporals 14-1+2, the anterior in contact with the middle postocular. Maxillary teeth slightly increasing in size behind, and the last not separated from the preceding by an interspace. Ventrals 164-166; anal double; subcaudals 102. Dusky brownish ash-coloured above, with very indistinct small spots of a lighter or darker colour; the dark colour of the upper parts extends more or less over the scutes of the lower parts. T w o specimens from the Himalayas, presented by the late Dr. Jerdon ; the largest is 19 inches long, the tail measuring 4 | inches. ACONTIOPHIS. The position of the nostril of this snake is so peculiar, that it must be regarded as the type of a distinct family, Acontiophida, the place of which is near to the Colubrida. Snout acutely pointed, terminating in a rostral shield which has the shape of a "four-sided pyramid, is deeply grooved below, and provided on each side with a longitudinal slit, the nostril, as in Acontias. The posterior maxillary tooth is longest, not grooved. Subcaudals two-rowed. Scales smooth, in nineteen rows. ACONTIOPHIS PARADOXA. The shields on the upper surface of the head are normal; the vertical being very broad, with concave lateral margins and an obtuse Fig. 5. Magnified 2 diameters. posterior angle. The shield which is the homologue of the nasal in other snakes is elongate, smooth, not perforated, and distinct from the loreal. Three prae- and two postoculars. Eight upper labials, |