Malayan Peninsula and Islands, 97 



side of every third or fourth scutum a brown spot; scutella black, or 

 white, closely spotted with black. 



Adult. The livery of the young indistinct : the ground colour of 

 the upper parts pale greyish brown or olive ; the bands of a darker 

 shade of the same colour, edged with black ; sides and beneath impure 

 buff, the brown marks pale. Pupil black, elliptical, vertically closed 

 by the light ; tongue small whitish. 



Scuta 155 to 167, Scutella 73 to 89. 



Habit. — Pinang, Malayan Peninsirfa. 

 Java. 



From the small, nearly vertically opening nostrils, proceeds a furrow 

 downwards to the lower margin of the nasal. The anterior frontal is 

 either entire and of a large rhombic shape, or consisting of two triangu- 

 lar shields ; the frenal is elongated, rectangular, the small eye is situated 

 more laterally than in the preceding species, and surrounded by two 

 post-orbitals, one p roe-orbital, and two infra-orbitals. The seven anterior 

 upper labials are very high, the posterior five are double ; of sixteen 

 or seventeen lower labials, the nine anterior are the highest. The last 

 tooth in the upper jaw is furrowed, and as well as the 3 or 4 anterior 

 palatal and inferior maxillary teeth, longer than the rest. The folds 

 of gingiva enveloping the teeth are very ample, and contain in addition 

 to the fixed, numerous, 5 to 6 deep, accessory teeth. The chin is 

 covered by four pairs of elongated scales, decreasing in length from the 

 centre towards the labials. The scales of the trunk are rhombic, 

 imbricate, slightly keeled and finely lineatcd, disposed on- the anterior 

 part in 39, on the posterior in 25 longitudinal series. The tail is 

 robust, tapering and somewhat prehensile. The largest individual ob- 

 served was of the following dimensions : 



Length of the head, ft. 1 i inch. 



Ditto ditto trunk, I II 



Ditto ditto tail, 7 



2 ft. 7\ inch. 



Circumference of the neck, 2, of the trunk, 3f, of the root of the 

 tail, 1|- inch. 



In the valleys of Pinang and on the opposite continent, this 

 species is numerous in streamlets, tanks and in the irrigated fields, 



