MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 921 



No. XXVII.— KRAITS IN INDORE. 



In September last a case of death from snake bite occurred in Indore. The 

 snake was a Krait, corresponding closely, as will be seen, with the description 

 of the Bungarus cceruleus in Boulenger, from which it differs principally in the 

 possession of 17 rows of scales. Major Wall cites this feature to differentiate 

 the Bungarus sindanus from the Bungarus acruleus ; but of the sindanus he says 

 that the first three supralabials are equally broad, that the ventrals are 220 to 

 237, that the colour of the snake is black with white cross-bars, and that the 

 vertebrals are slightly longer than broad in the middle of the body. These 

 four characteristics are all wanting in the snake in question : it is therefore not 

 Bungarus sindanus. If the possession of scales in 17 rows is conclusive against 

 its being Bungarus cairuleus. the only alternative left seems to be that it is 

 Bungarus walli. 



The full description of the snake (which we will call A) is as follows : — 

 Scales 17, vertebral scale broader than long. 

 Ventrals 198. 

 Sub-caudals 44. 

 Supralabials 7 (3rd and 4th entering eye). The second, the only slightly 



narrower than the first, very much narrower than the third. 

 Prseocular 1. 

 Postoculars 2. 



Pupil of the eye apparently round. 

 Total length 3 feet. 

 Colouring. — Deep electric blue. Lower half of rostral and supralabials white. 

 Marking. — A series of white spots all the length of the vertebrals at irregular 

 distances, but more or less f inch apart. Two white spots in front of the eye 

 on the prseocular and 3rd supralabial. An arrangement of white spots tending 

 upwards from the ventrals to the vertebrals giving the effect of a succession 

 of small triangles, the base being on the junction of the scale with the ventral, 

 and the apex about half way up to the vertebral. 



Is this snake to be classed as Bungarus cosndeus or Bungarus wollit 

 With a view to ascertaining how many species of Kraits we have in Indore, I 

 have re-examined two specimens, which have been in bottles for some years, 

 together with two specimens which have been brought to me within the last 

 fortnight. 



Of the two specimens in bottles, the first, B, corresponds closely with A, the 

 snake described above. 



The second, C, has 15 scales, with the 2nd supralabial slightly narrower than 

 1 and 3. 



Of the two, D and E, killed within the last fortnight, D corresponds with 

 A and B, though the marking is more in the nature of regular transverse bars 

 than in A, 



