362 FAUNA OF BRITISH NEW GUINEA, 



Note by T. Steel. — I have placed the type specimen of this 

 snake in the Australian Museum, Sydney (Register No. R. 2380), 

 and purpose sending a specimen to the British Museum of Natural 

 History. 



3. DiPSADOMORPHUS IRREGULARIS. 



One specimen. 



4. Platurus sp. 



I am unable to determine to which species this example should 

 be referred — schistorhynchus or mue.lleri. The rostral is deeper 

 than broad; there is no azygous shield between the nasals, but a 

 large one is present between the prefrontals; the frontal is longer 

 than the parietals; eight upper labials; 1 + 2 temporals; scales in 

 22 series; ventrals 238; subcaudals 35. Black annuli 66. 



From muelleri, with which the example agrees best, it differs 

 in the presence of an azygous prefrontal shield, the frontal exceed- 

 ing the parietal, and the number of series of body scales. 



I am not quite satisfied with the generic names assigned to 

 some of our Australian HydrojMince by Dr. Boulenger. For 

 instance, the name Hydrus is restricted to the species which is 

 more commonly known as Pelamis bicolor; but it cannot properly 

 be used for that species, because the type of Hydrus, Schneider, 

 is H. colubrinus (Hist. Amph. i. p. 238, 1799); colubrinus, how- 

 ever, belongs to a group to which the generic name Laticauda had 

 previously been given by Laurenti (Syn. Rept. p. 109, 1768), the 

 type of whose genus is Coluber laticaudatus, Linnseus, and though 

 the name is intrinsically bad, I do not think that for that reason 

 only it can be ignored, since it had not been used by any earlier 

 author. The second species of Hydrus described by Schneider (I.e. 

 p. 240) is that which we now know as Hydrophis fasciatus, and if 

 the name can be used at all — which I am not prepared to concede 

 — it should be referred to the genus which is called Hydrophis 

 by Dr. Boulenger. Schneider's third species is the A nyuis plaUi^ra 

 of Linnjeus (Syst. Nat. i. p. 391, 1766), the Hydrus bicoJor of 

 Schneider (I.e. p. 242), and the Hydrus platurus of the British 

 Museum Catalogue; I am unable to understand how this latter 



