THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 377 



unless both hands are free, and one has to accnstoni oneself to 

 the nse of a powerful Avatclunaker's lens. With this in the eye 

 (and it must be remembered that the eye not in use must be kept 

 open in order to retain the lens) the snake is grasped in both 

 hands, and irradiuxllv rolled round as one rolls a cioarette, the eve 

 never straying or blinking while the count is being made, and it is 

 necessary to make a pinprick or some such mark on one of the 

 scales from \\hich the count is commenced, or translix the specimen 

 with a fine needle. With the head shields too it is necessary usually 

 to have the freedom of both hands, but some points may have to be 

 elucidated with the aid of a glass much stronger than that of the 

 usual watchmaker's lens. 1 have a special lens made by Messri^. 

 Baker and Co., Opticians, Holborn, for this work, and the examina- 

 tion of teeth, etc., in minute skulls. I have also used a special 

 make of watchmaker's lens with double glasses, employed in the 

 trade to examine the holes in watches in which gems are set, and 

 this has proved suitable for the fine work the examination of 

 these snakes necessitates. With the best lens available, however, 

 it is impossible to see the true outline of the scales unless the light 

 is allowed to strike obliquel}^ across them, a trick which takes a 

 little time to acquire dexterouslj'. 



Within our Indian limits 20 species have up to the present been 

 difterentiated, the three commonest of which form the subject of 

 this paper. 



All the species are probabty a great deal commoner than Museum 

 collections make it appear. Natives usually take them for worms, 

 and in consequence rarely bring them in for rewards. Most Euro- 

 peans too do not recognise the smaller varieties as snakes. 



TYPHLOPS ACUTUS. 

 (Latin " acutus " sharp pointed, in reference to the beak.) 



The Beaked Blind Snake. 



Described by Dumeril and Bibron in 1844. It is not uncommon. 

 In Malabar it is called •• kooroodam pamboo "' meaning "blind 

 snake," a term applied equally in the same locality to the cgecilian 

 Urceotyphlus oxyurus. 



Identification. — It is the only Indian species with a beaked snout. 



Length. — Grows to about two feet. 



Colour. — Brownish or blackish above, paler beneath. Each scale 

 with a transverse lighter mark. 



Habits. — It lives beneath the ground, or takes refuge beneath 

 stones, and other objects, and sometimes strays into houses. It 

 uses the beak on the head much in the same way that other species 

 which are furnished with a spine on the tail use that little organ. 



