boidjE. 105 



Diametex* of body 30 to 33 times in total leugth ; tail broader 

 than long, ending in a spine. 26 scales round the body. Upper 

 half black, lower yellowish white. 



Total length 360 niillini. 



Malay Peninsula (Peuaug, Prov. Wellesley, Jalor [Bukit Besar], 

 Kelantan, Perak, Singapore) and Sumatra. 



113. Typhlops mutilatiis. 



Werner, Zool. Anz. xxiii, p. 196, fig. (1900). 



Snout rounded and strongly projecting ; nostrils lateral. Rostral 

 narrow, its upper portion about one third the width of the head, 

 not extending to bet\^'een the eyes ; nasal completely divided, the 

 cleft proceeding from the first labial ; a praeocular, separated from 

 the labials by a small shield ; eyes distinct, separated from each 

 other by a broad frontal and, on each side, by a small supra- 

 ocular ; 4 upper labials. Diameter of body 53 to 59 times in total 

 length ; tail blunt, without spine. 21 scales round the body. 

 Brown, each scale with a darker dot ; head and end of tail 

 yellowish white. 



Total length 296 millim. 



The types, stated to be from Malacca, are preserved in the 

 Berlin Museum. 



Family BOID^. 



Maxillary, palatine^ and pterygoid movable ; transpalatine 

 present ; pterygoid extending to quadrate or mandible ; supra- 

 temporal present, attached scale-like to cranium, suspending 

 quadrate ; both jaws toothed ; lower jaw with coronoid bone. 

 Vestiges of pelvis and hind limbs, usually terminating in a claw- 

 like spur visible on each side of the vent. 



Inhabit all the warmer parts of the world. 



Only one genus occurs in the Malay Peninsula. 



Genus PYTHON. 

 Daud. Hist. Rept. v, p. 226 (1803). 



Praemaxillary bone toothed ; anterior maxillary and mandibular 

 teeth very long, gradually decreasing in size. Head distinct from 

 neck ; snout covered with shields ; nostril supero-lateral ; rostral 

 and anterior upper labials with deep pits ; some of the lower 

 labials also pitted. Eye moderate, with vertical pupil. Scales 

 small, smooth ; ventral shields narrow. Tail moderate or short, 

 prehensile ; subcaudals all or greater part in tx^o rows. 



Africa, South-Eastern Asia, Papuasia, Australia. 



