ee 
155 
angle pointed in the specimen from Sikkim, and obtuse in those 
from Nepal. The occipitals are of moderate extent. The nostril is 
between two shields; one loreal, one anterior and two posterior oculars; 
six upper labials, the third and fourth of which enter the orbit ; two 
temporals, one behind the other, the anterior elongate ; seven lower 
labials, those of the first pair forming a suture behind the triangular 
median shield ; two pairs of chin-shields, those of the anterior pair 
being the largest. 
The scales are rhombic, perfectly smooth, in fifteen rows in the 
middle of the body; anals and subcaudals bifid. 
Sikkim specimen: ventrals 191, subcaudals 60. 
Nepalese specimen: ventrals 198. 
The colour has been described above. The teeth are small, equal, 
smooth. The specimen from Sikkim isan adult female with mature 
eggs in the oviduct ; its total length is 163 inches, the length of the 
head 4} lines, that of the tail 3} inches. 
The species is called after Prof. von Rapp, of Tiibingen. 
ABLABES OWENII, Gthr. (Pl. XXVI. fig. A.) 
Diagnosis.—Scales in fifteen rows ; six upper labials, the third 
and fourth of which enter the orbit. Greyish-brown, with a broad 
black collar and many black transverse spots on the anterior part of 
the body. 
Hab. Sikkim, Himalaya (10,200 feet above the level of the sea). 
Description.—The head is of moderate length, flat and depressed, 
not distinct from the neck; the snout is rather broad ; the rostral 
much broader than high, and not extending backwards on the upper 
surface of the head. The frontals are broader than long, the ante- 
rior ones half the size of the posterior, which are bent downwards on 
the side of the head. The vertical is pentagonal, with the anterior 
margin convex and equal in length to the lateral one, and with the 
posterior angle pointed. ‘The occipitals are of moderate extent and 
rounded posteriorly. The nostril is between two shields. One loreal, 
one anterior, and two posterior oculars; six upper labials. There 
are two narrow temporal shields of nearly equal length, one behind 
the other. Six lower labials, those of the first pair forming a suture 
together behind the median shield, which is triangular and longer 
than broad. The two pairs of chin-shields are of equal size. The 
trunk is rounded, of moderate length, surrounded by fifteen rows of 
rhombic, perfectly smooth scales. Ventrals 200, anal bifid; sub- 
caudals 59. The upper parts are greyish-brown ; there is a broad 
black collar immediately behind the occipitals, and not extending on 
to the abdominal side; the anterior portion of the trunk exhibits 
many narrow and rather irregular black transverse spots, gradually 
disappearing towards the middle of the length of the body. The 
lower parts are uniform yellowish. 
inches. lines. 
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This species is called in honour of Prof. Richard Owen. 
