HYDROPHIS CHLORIS. 
“Head very small, of moderate width ; neck very slender, the length 
of the thin part of the body being more than one-third of the total. 
Rostral shield very small, much broader than long ; one post-ocular; the 
third upper labial is not in contact with the nasal. Two pairs of chin- 
shields, in contact with each other. Thirty-one to thirty-three series 
of scales round the neck ; scales on the back with a faint keel, and with 
a small tubercle near the apex. Ventral shields distinct, especially on 
the thin portion of the body, but not much larger than the scales of the 
adjoining series, 473-500 in number. Four anal shields, the outer of 
which are very large. Trunk greenish-olive above, yellowish on the 
side and below, from fifty-nine to sixty-seven rhombic blackish bands 
across the back, which are much narrower and fainter on the sides, and 
extend round the belly ; their angles on the vertebral line are some- 
times confluent, especially on the anterior part of the body, where 
the yellowish ground-colour between the cross-bands is sometimes 
reduced to round spots disposed in pairs. Head and anterior part of 
the belly entirely black. Young specimens have the markings of a 
deep black,” 
