92 



PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL, MUSEUM 



VOL. 6G 



Miis. ; A. E. Pratt, collector); Cat. 

 Snakes Brit. Mus., vol. 2, 1894, p. 349, 

 pi. 20, fig. 1 (Mts. N. of Kiukiang, 

 Hongkong, Chusan Arcliip., ami main- 

 land opposite) ; Proc. Zool. Soc. Lon- 

 don, 1899, p. 165 (Kiiatun, Fiikien).— 

 Wall, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1903, 

 p. 93. — Werner, Abh. Bayer. Akad. 

 Wiss., II Kl., vol. 22, pt. 2, 1903, p. 

 365. — Stanley, Journ. N. China Asiat. 

 Soc, vol. 45, 1914, p. 26 (Wnlui; 

 Weichow ; Fukien) . 



The series of seven specimens now 

 in the National Museum, thanks to Dr. 

 Louis R. Thompson, C. H. Barlow, 

 and A. deC. Sowerby extends the 

 known range of this species to south- 

 Avestern Hunan. It consequently em- 

 braces all of southeastern China 

 south of the Yangtse and up that river 

 as far as Kiukiang. 



Our series shows great uniformity 

 both in structure and color. The 

 scale formulas may be seen from the 

 table below, which show no deviation 

 from those given previously by Bou- 

 lenger for ten specimens, except that 

 the maximum for the subcaudals of 

 the males is raised from 17 to 18. The 

 snout in all is blunt, with the rostral 

 barely visible from above. The colora- 

 tion in all the specimens agrees closely 

 with the figure given by Boulenger. 



It will thus be seen that the charac- 

 ters relied upon in the Herpetology of 

 Japan (p. 376) for the separation of 

 Calamaria herezowshii^ from Szech- 

 wan and Formosa, are fully confirmed 

 by the present series of C. septen- 

 tnonalis to which it is probably inti- 

 mately related. The curious fact that 

 several of the Formosan species show 

 greater similarity to species from 

 Szechwan and the Himalayan region 

 than to those of the intermediate re- 

 gion is thus emphasized. 



