166 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA, 
ON THE HYDROPHIDA IN THE COLOMBO MUSEUM. 
By Major F. Wart, LM.S., C.M.Z.8. 
T \URING a recent brief visit to Ceylon, through the courtesy 
of the Acting Superintendent of the Colombo Museum, I had 
the privilege of examining the collection of snakes preserved in that 
institution. I paid particular attention to the sea snakes, and pro- 
pose to make some remarks on the specimens of this family I saw 
there. 
The collection poorly represents the species available, com- 
prising as it does but ten species and only thirty-five specimens. 
It is remarkable among other things that a snake so common 
as Enhydrina valakadyen is around the coast of India should 
be represented by a solitary small specimen. I have had these 
brought to me in India (Cannanore) in bucketfuls. I have picked 
out as many as a dozen from a single net on the Coromandel 
Coast (Gopalpore). 
In reference to the scales, “anterior” implies at a point two 
heads’ lengths behind the head, and “ posterior ” two heads’ lengths 
in front of the vent. 
5] 
Hydrus platurus (Linneus). 
There are seven specimens. Three of these, one adult (No. 363), 
and two young (No. 153, and one unnumbered) are black 
dorsally, brown ventrally, with a yellow costal line separating 
these two hues. These correspond to Boulenger’s variety D. 
(Cat. Snakes British Museum, vol. III., p. 268). A fourth speci- 
men (No. 158) differs from the typical variety D in the absence 
of the yellow costal line, and constitutes a rare form of which 
I have only seen one other example. In two specimens the upper 
parts are black, the lower yellow, and these correspond to Boulen- 
ger’s variety E (loc. cit.), the Hydrus bicolor (Schneid.). One 
example (No. 108) is too faded to distinguish the variety. ; 
Hydrophis spiralis (Shaw). 
Represented by three specimens which I allude to as A, B, and C, 
All agree in the following particulars. Prefrontals touch the 
second labial. Postocular: one. Labials ; third and fourth touch 
