32 Col. R. H. Beddome on the 



only very faint traces of keels on a few of the last ; tlie 

 terminal horny scute in tlie male broad, with a sharp hori- 

 zontal edge, grooved or somewhat concave below, and com- 

 pressed into a ridge on the upperside, which terminates in a 

 single point ; in the female very similar but smaller, ending in 

 a single point, the horizontal ridge inconspicuous ; the first 

 pair of lower labials form a suture behind the median, followed 

 by a pair of chin-shields ; no median groove along the chin ; 

 teeth conspicuous, gradually longer behind, about 8 in the 

 maxillary and 5 in the mandibular bones. 

 Hab. S. India. 



Synopsis of 8])ectes. 



Brick-red, with three longitudinal inteiTupted black lines , . tritineatus. 



Uniform brownish, beljj^and sides dotted viadurensis. 



Blackish, with a lougitumnal yellow line down each side of 



the back bUhieatus. 



Platyplectrurus trilineatus. 



Platyplectmrus trilineatus, Gunther, I. c. 



Plectrurus? trilineatus, Bedd. Madr. Journ. Med. Sciences, 18G7, p. 14. 



Snout very obtusely rounded ; rostral pointed behind, very 

 small, one third the pize of a nasal ; nasals forming a suture 

 behind the rostral ; supraorbital three times as large as the 

 postocular ; a long temporal shield always present ; tail com- 

 pressed towards the end, the scales all quite smooth, or a few 

 of the terminal ones very inconspicuously 2-3-keeled ; 

 terminal scute in the males shovel- shaped, with a horizontal 

 edge, concave below, and with a ridge along the upper sur- 

 face which ends in a sharp point ; in the females very small, 

 equalling 1 to 2 scales, ending in a single point, but gene- 

 rally with an inconspicuous ridge. Scales in 15 rows round 

 the middle of the body ; ventrals twice as large as the ad- 

 joining scales, from 165 to 168 in the males, to 174 in the 

 females ; subcaudals 14 or 15 in males, 8 to 10 in females. 

 Length about 15 inches, the females much stouter than the 

 males, being If inch in girth, the males only |- inch. 

 Body and belly of a bright brick-red colour, with 1 dorsal and 

 2 lateral black punctated lines, which extend from the neck 

 to the end of the tail, the black dots each occupying a scale ; 

 the lines are sometimes here and there interrupted by 1 to 3 

 consecutive scales wanting the black marks. 



Hab. Anamallay forests, above Ponachi, at an elevation of 

 about 4000 feet. A rare snake ; only six have been found, 

 with ventrals and subcaudals as follows : — 



