238 Structure of the Teeth of some Poisonous Snakes. 



Anal III 5, longest ray f length of head, reaching root of 

 caudal. Pectoral as long as or a little shorter than head, not 

 reaching ventral ; latter below middle of base of dorsal. 

 Caudal fin deeply forked, upper lobe pointed and much longer 

 than lower. Caudal peduncle slightly longer than deep. 

 Scales 27 U, 2 between lateral line and ventral, 12 round 

 caudal peduncle. Olive-brown above, golden below, the 

 scales darker at the base ; fins dark. 



Total length 340 mm. 



Two specimens from the Kribi River. 



This species must be placed near B. perplexicans, Blgr., 

 from the Tana River, E. Africa; like that species and the 

 Abyssinian B. plagiostomus, Blgr., the shape of the mouth 

 approximates it to the species of Varicorhinus or CapoUa ; 

 whilst in the condition of its barbels it serves to connect the 

 species with two pairs of barbels with those with a single pair. 



XXVII. — Notes on the Structure of the Teeth of some 

 Poisonous Snakes found in Travancore. By R. SHUNKARA 

 Narayana Pillay. 



In offering the following notes on the structure of the teeth 

 of the poisonous Colubrine snakes I do not aspire to lay claim 

 to originality, as my observations have been based on the 

 lines of those already made by eminent men, and refer to a 

 few snakes found in Travancore. 



Since April 1901 I have been supplying snake-venom to 

 the Pasteur Institute of India, Kasauli, and to Messrs. Bur- 

 roughs, Wellcome, & Co.'s Research Laboratory. I had a 

 fancy for the study of snakes, and as Preparator to the 

 Museum I availed myself of the opportunity to make a com- 

 parative study of the poisonous and non-poisonous snakes, in 

 the course of which, while examining the skull of a hamadryad 

 (AVn'a bungarus) 14 feet long, the skeleton of which was 

 being articulated for the museum, I noticed a certain pecu- 

 liarity in the structure of the teeth which, to my mind, 

 appeared to be abnormal — namely, the presence of grooved 

 posterior maxillary teeth. 



According to Mr. G. A. Boulenger *, the genus Naia is 

 denned as having the poison-fang followed by one or more solid 

 teeth ; and in Sir Joseph Fayrer's ' Thanatophidia of India ' 

 mention is made of " a second simple tooth at some distance 

 behind the fang." Later on I examined a spirit-specimen of 

 Naia bungarus, and in this, too, I found the posterior maxillary 

 teeth were grooved, the grooving being shallow or ill-defined 

 * ' The Fauna of British India/ Reptilia and Batrachia (1890). 



