COMPSOSOMA RADIATUM. 243 



COMPSOSOMA. 



Compsosoma, sp., Dum. ^ Bibr. 



Body elongate, compressed ; ventral shields more than 200 In number ; 

 head narrow, with the snout rather elongate ; tail about one-fifth of the 

 total length ; eye of moderate size, with round pupil ; nostril lateral, between 

 two plates ; the shields of the head have a tendency to unite ; one anterior 

 ocular (exceptionally two in C. ret'iculare). Scales keeled, in 19—23 series ; 

 ventrals with a slight, or without any, keel ; anal entire, except in C. Iiodg- 

 so7in. Teeth numerous in the jaws and on the palate, equal in size. 



This genus, thus limited, forms a more natural group than when united with its American 

 allies under the name of Sjnlofes. All the species are Indian, and distinguished by a narrow- 

 head with a long, anteriorly truncated snout ; they are the following : — 



Scales in nineteen rows ; a black streak crosses the extremity of the occipitals . C. radiatum, p. 243. 



Scales in nineteen rows ; tail and hinder part of the body black C. melanurum, p. 244. 



Scales in twenty-one rows ; blackish or brownish, with numerous narrow, reti- 

 culated whitish cross bands C. reticulare, p. 245. 



Scales in twenty-three rows C. hodgsonii, p. 246. 



Compsosoma kadiatum. 



Russell, Ind. Serp. ii. tab. 42. 



Coluber radiatus {Reinw.), Schleg. Phys. Serp. ii. p. 135. pi. 5. figs. 5, 6. Cantor, Mai. Rept. p. 73. 



quadrifasciatusj Cantor, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 51. 



Tropidonotus quinque, Cantor, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 54. 

 Compsosoma radiatum, Dum. ^ Bibr. vii. p. 292. 



Body and tail elongate, compressed ; head narrow, fiat, rather distinct from neck ; snout 

 rather long, obtusely rounded. Rostral shield broader than high; anterior frontals of 

 moderate size, not quite half as large as posterior, subquadrangular, broader than long. 

 Vertical five-sided, very broad in front, its anterior margin being rather longer than the 

 lateral; lateral margins strongly convergent; hinder margins meeting at a right angle. 

 Occipitals longer than vertical, obliquely truncated behind. Loreal longer than high ; one 

 anteocular, large, extending to the upper surface of the head, nearly to the vertical; two 

 postoculars. Nine low upper labials, the fourth, fifth, and sixth entering the orbit; the 

 third and fourth, or the fourth and fifth, are sometimes confluent into one shield. Tempo]-als 

 generally 2 +2 + .3; the anterior are elongate, and the upper alone is in contact with the 

 postoculars. Scales rhombic, not elongate, in nineteen rows, those of the dorsal series 

 keeled. Ventrals 222-248 ; anal entire; subcaudals 82-94. The ventrals have an obtuse 



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