232 DR. A. GUNTHER ON INDIAN REPTILES. _ [Mar. 16, 
TROPIDONOTUS MODESTUS. 
Scales in nineteen series, rather feebly keeled. Head narrow, 
though distinct from neck ; eye of moderate size. Anterior frontals 
not pointed in front. Loreal nearly square ; one pre-and three 
postoculars. Nine upper labials, the fourth, fifth and sixth entering 
the orbit. Temporals 1+1-+2, the anterior in contact with the 
middle postocular. Maxillary teeth slightly increasing in size behind, 
and the last not separated from the preceding by an interspace. 
Ventrals 164-166; anal double; subcaudals 102. Dusky brownish 
ash-coloured above, with very indistinct small spots of a lighter or 
darker colour; the dark colour of the upper parts extends more or less 
over the scutes of the lower parts. 
Two specimens from the Himalayas, presented by the late Dr. 
Jerdon ; the largest is 19 inches long, the tail measuring 43 inches, 
ACONTIOPHIS. 
The position of the nostril of this snake is so peculiar, that it 
must be regarded as the type of a distinct family, Acontiophide, 
the place of which is near to the Colubride. 
Snout acutely pointed, terminating in a rostral shield which has 
the shape of a four-sided pyramid, is deeply grooved below, and pro- 
vided on each side with a longitudinal slit, the nostril, as in Acontias. 
The posterior maxillary tooth is longest, not grooved. Subcaudals 
two-rowed. Scales smooth, in nineteen rows. 
ACONTIOPHIS PARADOXA. 
The shields on the upper surface of the head are normal ; the ver- 
tical being very broad, with concave lateral margins and an obtuse 
Fig. 5. 
Magnified 2 diameters. 
posterior angle. The shield which is the homologue of the nasal in 
other snakes is elongate, smooth, not perforated, and distinct from 
the loreal. Three prae- and two postoculars. Eight upper labials, 
