SNAKES FROM THE KHASI HILLS, ASSAM. 



329 



Fig* 



A.bla,bcs frenatws 



(* 2 ) 



Anomaly. — Two temporals on one side in one specimen. 



They are all olive-brown, and apparently uniform in colour till one 

 separates the scales when their edges and interstitial skin are seen to 

 be alternately black and white, excepting the last row which is black 

 both above and below and the vertebral which is black on both edges. 



Subfamily 5. — Dipsadomokphin^e. 



Dipsadomorphus cyaneus. 



One $ specimen from Nongpho on the Ghat road (1,800 feet). 

 Length, 4 feet 2 inches ; the tail 1 foot and \ of an inch. The scales 

 are 21 anteriorly, 21 in midbody and 15 posteriorly. The first reduc- 

 tion from 21 to 19 is effected by the absorption of the uppermost 

 costal into the vertebral; in the next from 19 to 17 the 3rd and 4th 

 rows above the ventrals blend ; and the last step from 17 to 15 is the 

 same as the first. The first and second steps occur close together. 



The posterior sublinguals are quite separated (an important point in 

 assisting the division of this genus into species). The anal glands 

 when pressed squirted out an extremely fine jet of thin limpid secre- 

 tion, similar to what I have observed in some vipers, but, as far as I 

 can recollect, not in other colubrines. This fluid was very abundant, 

 and possessed a peculiar odour neither agreeable nor offensive. 



The specific name cyaneus is not appropriate since the creature in 

 life is green. In this specimen the hue, though not bright, was 

 certainly one covered by the simile foliaceous-green. This colour 

 very rapidly disappears in spirit. I preserved my specimen in whisky 

 for want of another agent, and within 24 hours a decided change of 



