HYDRO PHIS JERDOMl 



Dr. Anderson describes this species as follows : — 



" Head short, with the snout declivous and rather pointed ; body 

 of moderate length. Frontal shields small, not much larger than prse- 

 ocular ; one post-ocular ; live upper labial shields, the third and fourth 

 of which enter the orbit, the last below the post-ocular ; two or three 

 large temporals on the side of each occipital, the anterior of which enters 

 the labial margin behind the fifth labial shield. Two pairs of chin- 

 shields, in contact with one another. Scales imbricate, large, higher 

 than long, with apex slightly truncated ; each scale with a strong keel ; 

 they are disposed in fifteen or seventeen series round the neck, and in 

 nineteen or twenty-one in the middle of the body. Ventral shields 

 distinct, but not twice as large as the scales of the adjoining series, 

 bituberculate 235-238 in number. Anal shields small ; terminal scale of 

 the tail large. A series of seven simple teeth behind the grooved fang 

 in front. Trunk with from thirty-four to thirty-eight black cross-bands, 

 broadest on the back and extending to the belly in young and half- 

 grown specimens." 



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