PREFACE 



The first edition (of 2,500 copies) of this little work 

 having run out, I have been asked to revise and 

 bring it up to date. Though so short a time has elapsed 

 since its first publication, there are many important 

 additions to be made, notably the viper Pseudocerastes 

 persicus recorded within our Indian limits by Dr. 

 Annandale in 1904 and omitted from the first edition by 

 an oversight. In the first edition I adopted m toto Pro- 

 fessor Boulenger's arrangement of species though I have 

 for years tacitly dissented from some of his opinions. 

 Specimens which have reached me in the recent past 

 enable me to put forward, without hesitation, my own 

 views, and this I venture to do in the present edition. 



Under the title Ancisirodon hypnale two species have 

 I think been confused, the type a Ceylon form, and 

 a second known to me only from the Bombay Gh^ts 

 (Castle Pock), and Carwar. To this new species I have 

 given Mr. W. S. Millard's name in recognition of the ex- 

 tremely valuable work he has for years carried on in the 

 interests of the Bombay Natural History kSociety. 



My recent collections of Assam snakes have revealed 

 the occurrence in that area of two distinct species of 

 black krait, the smaller Bungarus lividus and a larger 

 form for which I propose the name Bungarus m'ger. 



Further, I have long believed that under the title 

 Bungarus candidus, Professor Boulenger has included at 

 least lour distinct species, to three of which he accords 



