ODONTOMUS NYMPH A. 233 



ODONTOMUS, Bum. S^ Bibr. 



Body and tail slender, strongly compressed ; head of moderate size and 

 width, depressed, distinct from neck ; ventrals more than 200 in number, 

 angularly bent on the sides. Scales in thirteen or fifteen rows, smooth. 

 Shields of the head regular ; nostril in a nasal shield which is divided into 

 two by a more or less distinct suture. Two praeoculars, the lower of which 

 is sometimes united with the loreal. Maxillary and palatine teeth subequal 

 in length, none grooved ; the anterior mandibulary teeth but little larger 

 than the following. Eye of moderate size, with round pupil. 



Having previously seen only two specimens of Odontomus, in an indifferent state of preser- 

 vation, I adopted the diagnosis given by Dumeril and Bibron, and placed these snakes in the 

 family of Lycodontidos (Colubr. Snakes, p. 206); but I have since convinced myself that their 

 dentition is very different from what I supposed it to be from Dumeril's description, and that 

 their natural place is near Dryocalamus. 



The following species occur in British India : — 



Scales in thirteen rows ; upper labials eight O. mjmpha, p. 233. 



Scales in thirteen rows ; upper labials seven O. semifasciatus , p. 234. 



Scales in fifteen rows 0. gracilis, p. 234. 



Odontomus nympha. 



Russell, Ind. Serp. ii. tab. 36, 37. 



Coluber nympha. Baud. Rept. vi. p. 244. 



Lycodon nympha, Boie, Isis, 1827, p. 522. Schleg. Phys. Serp. ii. p. 120. 



Odontomus nympha, Bum. ^ Bibr. vii. p. 450. 



Rostral shield low, nearly twice as broad as high. Anterior frontal subquadrangular, as 

 long as broad, more than half as large as posterior. Posterior frontal broader than long ; 

 vertical and occipitals of moderate size, the latter rounded behind. Nasal subdivided ; the 

 loreal is generally united with the lower praeocular, entering the orbit, but there is some- 

 times a lower detached prgeorbital ; the upper reaches just to the upper surface of the head. 

 Two postoculars. Eight upper labials, the third and fourth of which enter the orbit. Tem- 

 porals 2 + 3 : the anterior narrow, elongate, in contact with the postoculars. Scales in 

 thirteen rows, with an apical groove ; ventrals 234-243 ; anal bifid ; subcaudals 82-87. 

 Maxillary teeth small, subequal in size ; palatine teeth not prolonged ; the anterior of the 

 mandible are but very little longer than the posterior. White, with about thirty-eight 



2h 



