PREFACE. 



The present volume on the Reptiles and Batrachians by 

 Mr. G. A. Boulenger forms the first instalment of a Verte- 

 brate Fauna of the Malay Peninsula, issued by authority of 

 the Federated Malay States Government. 



Though, to a large extent, the ground traversed is covered 

 by Blanford's 'Fauna of British India,' some eighty per cent, 

 of the Malayan species occurring also in Tenasserim, it is 

 considered that a comprehensive account of the Peninsular 

 fauna in a convenient and readily accessible form, will be 

 of advantage to Zoology in general and to local workers in 

 particular. 



The plan of the work has been that of the ' Fauna of 

 British India/ to which it may be regarded as supple- 

 mentary, and references to literature, especially in the case 

 of species common to both this and that fauna^ have been 

 cut down as much as possible, though a fairly full synonymy 

 has been given for all forms which do not occur outside 

 Malayan limits, Avhich, for present purposes, may be defined 

 as comprising the area from the British Indian border and 

 the Isthmus of Kra, south to Singapore, including all ad- 

 jacent islands within the twenty-fathom line, but excluding 



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