ON THE COMMON INDIA N SNA KES . 721 



Dimensions. — The krait grows to 4^ feet. I have measured the 

 skin of one from Bannu 4 feet 6^ inches, and seen half a dozen others 

 over 4 feet, but specimens of this size are rare. Murray* gives the 

 length as 5 feet, but of this I have doubts. I think he probably 

 referred to the Sind krait [B. sindamis), a larger form which was 

 confused with ecernleus for some years, and only recognised as a 

 distinct species by Boulenger in 1897.1 



It would appear that this snake in common with many other 

 attains a greater length in the North than in the South. The only 

 specimens over four feet in length I have seen were in Orissa, in 

 Fvzabad, and on the North-West Frontier. Colonel Dawson, who 

 reports the krait a very common snake about Trivandrnm, says the 

 largest record there he is aware of was 3 feet 4 inches. The largest 

 specimen known to Dr. J. R. Henderson in Madras was 3 feet 

 8 inches. Again a hatchling I obtained in Cannanore was 10| 

 inches, whilst specimens from Fvzabad varied from 11$ to llf 

 inches. 



Physiognomy, bodily configuration, etc. — One noticeable feature, 

 which some of our vernacular names show has not escaped obser- 

 vation, is the highly polished and glistening character of the scales. 

 The black in which some see a bluish tinge is thus lustrous like a 

 highly polished boot, and the white almost enamel-like. The head 

 is less flattened than in many snakes, the snout rounded, and the 

 neck but little evident. 



The eye is peculiar in that the iris is not coloured, and as a result 

 the shape of the pupil, which is round, cannot be discerned in life. 

 The organ as a whole looks like a jet bead, and in this respect the 

 snakes of this genus are nearly unique among the Colubrid?e. The 

 Lycodons alone, as far as I am aware, share this peculiarity. Figure 

 1 of our Plate does not clearly illustrate this. The nostril is rather 

 large, occupying the full depth of the suture between the nasal 

 shields. The tongue is pinkish and in having white tips presents a 

 peculiarity I can only recall having seen in Dipsadomorphus trigonatus. 

 The body is round, and of very even girth in its whole length. The 

 tail tapers evenly and rapidly, and is short, being about one-eighth to 

 one-ninth the total length of the snake. 



* Ilept. of Sind, p. 55. t Bomb. N. H. Journ., Vol. XI, p. 73. 



