NOTES. 



^9 



The rostral shield, which forms the pointed snout, has a length 

 of 3"75 mm/' on the upper side of the head separating the nasals ; it 

 is distinctly keeled, with an orange-coloured tip. There is also 

 some orange colour about the caudal shield, which is as long as 

 the shielded part of the head. 6'25 mm. There are seventeen scales 

 round the middle of the body as in all the Ceylonese species of 

 Rhmophis, and about 6 subcaudal shields (according to Beddome 

 8 or 9 in the males, 6 or 7 in the females). The total length is 

 about 14 inches with a diameter of 5'5 mm. 



Dorsal and lateral views of the head of R. punctatus. 



In his " Account of the Earth-snakes [Uropeltidae] of the Penin- 

 sular of India and Ceylon " (Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, vol. XVII., 

 1886, pp. 3-33) Colonel R. H. Beddome states that during the 

 course of his investigations he only found a single example of 

 It. punctatus. This, coupled with the fact that the present 

 example is the first to find its way to the Colombo Museum, 

 where there is a representative collection of Ceylonese snakes, 

 entitles the species to be regarded for the present as a rarity. 



Colombo, October 10, 1903. 



A. WILLEY. 



T- 



" Approximately 25 millimetres go to the inch. 300 to the foot. 



() ' 2O-03 



! 



