110 COLUBER GUTTAT ITS. 



elongated, quadrilateral, with its outer margin but slightly projecting. The 

 occipital plate is irregularly triangular, with its apex rounded and its basis directed 

 forwards, and joined to the vertical and superior orbital. The frontal plates are 

 pentagonal, and broadest internally; the temporal are small and variable. The 

 rostral is pentagonal, large, projecting and obtuse. There are two small posterior 

 orbital and one large anterior orbital plates. The upper jaw is covered with eight 

 quadrilateral plates, two of which form the lower margin of the orbit. The 

 nostrils are lateral, large, and near the snout. The eyes also are lateral and 

 rather small; the pupil black, the iris reddish. The neck is cylindrical, rather 

 smaller than the head. The body is greatly elongated. The tail is small, and 

 tapers to a point. 



Colour. The head is of a brick-dust colour above, with two bands of a much 

 darker shade bordered with brown; the larger of these lines forms a semicircle, 

 the convexity of which is near the snout, and the two ends passing across the 

 eyes terminate at the occiput. The other forms an oval on the top of the head, 

 following the figure of the anterior; in the midst of this is an oval spot of the 

 same colour as the circles. The whole superior surface of the body is light brown, 

 in which appears a reddish tinge; along the back is a row of large subquadrate 

 spots of a deep brick-dust colour, bordered with the darkest brown. The sides are 

 of a lighter shade than the back, with small spots; these also are lighter than the 

 spots on the superior surface. The abdomen is silver white, with black squares 

 irregularly dispersed and of unequal size; two or three close together occur on 

 one side, and then on the other. Below the vent is a longitudinal line on each 

 side, formed by a black spot on each scale; these become irregular, and meet 

 across as they arrive at the tip. 



Dimensions. Length of head, 1 inch 2 lines; breadth of head, 7 lines; length of 

 body, 39 inches; length of tail, 7 inches; greatest circumference of body, 3 inches 

 11 lines; total length, 47 inches 9 lines. They sometimes grow to a greater size 

 than this — I have seen one nearly six feet in length. 



