A NEW BLIND SNAKE FROM THE DTJKE OF YORK ISLAND — "WAITE. 69 



A NEW BLIND SNAKE from the DUKE of YORK 

 ISLAND. 



By Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S,, 

 Zoologist, Australian Museum. 



The species herein described, is represented by two specimens, 

 collected, together with other material, in the Duke of York Island, 

 by the Rev. George Brown, D.D., and forwarded to the Museum 

 many years ago. For this snake I propose the name of — 



Typhlops subocularis, sp. nov. 



Habit stout, of even thickness. Head flat, much depressed. 

 Snout prominent, with a rather acute, but not sharp, edge. 

 Rostral above, very narrow, about one-sixth the width of the 

 head, reaching but little more than half-way to the level of the 

 eyes ; the portion visible from beneath somewhat longer than 

 broad ; nasal incompletely divided, the fissure extending from the 

 anterior portion of the second labial. Nostrils inferior, preocular, 

 but little narrower than the ocular, separated from the labials by 

 one scale, ocular separated by two scales. Four upper labials, 

 the anterior three very narrow. The mandible is ^-shaped, the 

 symphysis very acute, and the scales adjoining the labials oblique. 

 Diameter of the middle of the body thirty times in the total 

 length. Tail longer than broad, terminating in a large thorn- 

 like spine. Thirty-six (specimen A.) or thirty-four (specimen B.) 

 scales round the middle of body. 



Colotirs. — In spirits, dark brown above, yellow beneath, the 

 two areas strongly marked, line of union interrupted. 



Type. — In the Australian Museum, Sydney. 



