PREFACE. 



Two classes of Vertebrata, the Reptiles and the Batrachiaus 

 or Amphibians, are described in this volume of the ( Fauna 

 of British India/ These two classes have often been 

 associated in zoological works, and were, by many writers, 

 until recently, not regarded as distinct. The study of both 

 is usually prosecuted by the same observers, and no practical 

 advantage would result from publishing the descriptions of 

 the two separately. 



Mr. Boulenger, to whom Indian naturalists are indebted 

 for the present work, has already classified and described all 

 known Crocodiles, Tortoises, Lizards, Chamaeleous, and 

 Batrachians in Catalogues of the British Museum that have 

 appeared during the last eight years. Many of the characters 

 of genera and species now published are taken from those 

 Catalogues, but numerous additions have been made and 

 several alterations have been inserted. Wherever the com- 

 plete synonymy is given in the Catalogues it has been 

 considered unnecessary, in the present work, to insert more 

 than a reference to the original description of the species, 

 to the page in the British Museum Catalogue where full 

 details can be found, and to the general works on Indian 

 Reptiles by Giinther and Theobald. 



