6, MELANOPHIDIUM, 163 
Total length 400 millim. 
Wynad (Chambra Hill). 
a. ¢ (V. 164; C. 12). Chambra Hill. Col. ry [C.}. 
) 
b-c. g (V. 170; C. 11) Chambra Hill. Col. Beddome [C.]. 
& 2 (V. 177; C.8). 
. 6. MELANOPHIDIUM. 
Melanophidium, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 193 (1864); Beddome, 
Ann. § Mag. N. H. (5) xvii. 1886, p. 2, Bouleng. Faun. Ind., 
Rept. p. 272 (1890). | 
Eye in the ocular shield. A median groove along the chin. 
‘No supraocular; no temporal. Tail cylindrical or slightly com- 
pressed, the terminal scute pointed or with one or two vertical 
ridges. Palatine teeth present. 
Southern India. 
Synopsis of the Species. 
I, Suture between the ocular and the frontal more than one 
third the length of the latter shield. 1. wynadenge, p. 163. 
II. Suture between the ocular and the frontal less than one third 
the length of the latter shield. 
Ventrals and subcaudals black, edged with 
MN 6c CI CE 4 65 civ. aot es helnt GRae ae 2. punctatum, p. 164. 
Ventrals black, subeaudals white ........ 3. bilineatum, p. 164. 
1. Melanophidium wynadense. 
Plectrurus wynandensis, Beddome, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 228. 
Melanophidium dense, Giinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 104, pl. xvii. 
fig. 3 (1864) ; Theob. Cat. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 138 (1876); Bed- 
dome, Ann. § Mag. N. H. (5) xvii. 1886, p. 30; Bouleng. Faun. 
Ind., Rept. p. 272 (1890). 
Snout rounded; rostral small, just visible from above; frontal 
as long as its distance from the end of the snout; suture between 
the ocular and the frontal more than one third the length of the 
latter shield. Eye very small. Diameter of body 44 to 48 
times in the total length. 15 scales round the middle of the body, 
17 or 19 behind the head. Ventrals rather more than twice the 
size of the contiguous scales, 176-185. Subcaudals 10-15. 
Black, beautifully iridescent, uniform or with large yellow spots 
on the belly. 
Total length 445 millim. 
Wynad, Malabar, 3000-5000 feet. 
a. 9 (V. 185; C.11). Near Manantoddy. Col. Beddome [C.}. 
b, ¢. ° (V. 185, 176; Near Manantoddy. Col. Beddome [C.]. 
C. 11, 12). - 
M 
