Earth- Snakes of India and Ceylon, 29 



Teretrurus travancoricusj n, sp. 



Head as in T. sanguineus^ which, this species mucli resembles, 

 but with the following difFerences : — Tail in the male with 

 7 to 9 subcaudals, the caudal scales being prominently keeled, 

 as are also some of the last ventrals and adjoining scales 5 in 

 the female, with 5 or 6 subcaudals, the caudal scales are smooth, 

 or with very faint keels only on a few of the terminal ones ; 

 ventrals 130 to 135 without reference to sex. Length 7-8^ 

 inches ; the girth of adult males | inch, of females lyy inch, 

 being a larger and stouter snake than T. sanguineus, and the 

 females of much greater girth than the males. Colour brick- 

 red or reddish brown above ; belly red, very much blotched 

 with black, or sometimes the belly is all black, with only a few 

 small red markings. 



Hab. The mountains between Travancore and Tinnevelly, 

 above Paupanassum, 3000 to 5000 feet elevation ; common, 

 and easily found under large stones or decaying logs in these 

 forests. 



Melanophidium. 

 Melanophidimn, Giintlier, Kept. Brit. lud. p. 193. 

 Tail tapering, slightly compressed, covered with smooth 

 scales ; the terminal scute small, smooth, horny, variable, 

 ending in a single point slightly turned upwards, with or 

 without a slight ridge down the centre of the scute, or with 

 two parallel ridges above terminating in small points, gene- 

 rally side by side, or rarely superposed ; snout obtuse ; rostral 

 small, simply convex ; nasals forming a suture together 

 behind the rostral ; eye very small, in the front part of the 

 ocular shield, well within the margin ; no supraorbital ; a 

 median groove along the chin ; the first pair of labials form 

 a suture behind the median, followed by two pairs of chin- 

 shields ; the anterior large, the posterior pair small. Scales 

 round the body in 15 rows; subcaudals 10 to 12 in females, 

 15 to 17 in males. 



The snakes of this genus appear to be very rare, very few 

 specimens having been found, though much search has been 

 made in the localities they are known to inhabit. They are 

 more beautifully iridescent than those of any other genus. 



Hab. S. India. 



Synopsis of Species. 



All uniform black, or the belly with irregular yellowish or 



■whitish blotches wi/naudense. 



Black, a broad yellow streak ou each side from snout to 



tail bilineatum. 



Black ; belly and sides whitish, spotted with black punctatum. 



