JOURNAL 



OF THE 



Bombay Natural History Society. 



Oct. 1911. Vol. XXI. No. 1. 



A POPULAR TREATISE ON THE COMMON INDIAN 



SNAKES. 



Illustrated by Coloured Plates and Diagrams. 



by 



Major F. Wall, I.M.S., C.M.Z.S. 



Part XVI with Plate XVI and Diagram and Maps. 



{Continued from page 953 of Volume XX.) 



Introductory remarks.— The subjects of this paper belong to the 

 Boidoe, a family comprising the boas, and the pythons. There 

 are many representatives scattered over all five Continents. These 

 snakes are characterised by the possession of rudimentary hind 

 limbs, and a rudimentary pulvis, the termination of the former 

 being more or less visible as claw-like processes situated on each 

 side of the body in a fold or dimple above the anus. 



The family is divided into two sub-families, viz., Pythonince in 



which there is a bone (the supraocular) distinct from the frontal 



forming the roof of the orbit, and Boinae in which the frontal 



alone forms the orbital roof. The latter includes 13 genera of 



l 



