REMARKS ON SOME RECENTLY ACQUIRED SNAKES. 779 



4th touching the eye on the right. Posterior Sub-linguals subequal 

 to anterior, in contact with the 4th and 5th infralabials on the right 

 side, the 5th and 6th on the right. Infralabials. — The 5th is the 

 largest on the right side, and touches two scales behind, on the left 

 side these shields are damaged. Cosials. — Two-heads lengths behind 

 the head 17, midbody 17, two heads-lengths before the vent 15. 

 The reduction from 17 to 15 is brought about by the confluence 

 of the 2nd and 3rd rows above the ventrals on the right side, the 3rd 

 and 4th on the left. The last»row is barely or not enlarged. Keels 

 appear to be very obscurely present in the median rows in the pos- 

 terior part of the body. Apical pits present, single. Ventrals. — 217, 

 obtusely angulate laterally. Anal. — Entire. Subcaudals. — 82, 2nd, 

 3rd and 4th entire, rest divided. 



Colour. — Glossy black with 27 pure white, narrow, well defined 

 arches over the body and 13 over the tail. These involve a scale or a 

 scale and a half vertebra lly and dilate in the flanks. The belly is 

 pearly white, but on the tail the dorsal black forms complete bands. 

 The eye has the pupil vertical. 



I have not been able yet to satisfy myself that the dentition agrees 

 with that used by Mr. Boulenger to characterise this genus, but two 

 points in external characters are, I think, sufficiently important to 

 justify my doubts on the generic title. In life* the iris is invisible so 

 that the whole eye is black. This appears to be a feature peculiar to 

 the Lycodon group and is not seen in other Dinodons, at least not in 

 the Japanese japonicus nor the Chinese rvfozonatus, both of which I 

 have seen in life. Further the apical pits are single as I find them in 

 9 species of the Genus Lycodon, not in pairs as in the Dinodons I 

 have examined. 



Lycodon fasciatus. 



In addition to several specimens of this snake from Major Evans 1 

 have lately received eight examples from Mr. Hampton from the Ruby 

 Mines. 



The specimen alluded to by Major Evans and me in a previous 

 Journal (Vol. XIII, p. 372) as having no prseocular I find on 

 re-examination shows us in error. There is a very small prseocular 



I recently acquired a live specimen from Jeypore, Assam, near the foot of the Naga 

 Hills. 



