1872.] REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 597 



to the angle of the mouth ; neck with a large rhombic blackish spot 

 edged with yellow in front and behind ; lower parts whitish, each 

 ventral scute with a brownish line across the front margin. These 

 dark lines become broader on the posterior half of the body, the 

 subcaudals being marbled with brown. 



Tbree specimens from Matang, the largest of which is 16 inches 

 long and appears to be adult, the length of the tail being 3 inches. 



Hydrophis brookii. (Fig. 5.) 



Allied to Hydrophis carinata. 



Head very small, not quite twice as long as broad ; neck very 

 slender, its length being one third of the total. One postocular ; 

 the third upper labial is not in contact with the nasal. Two pairs 



Fig. 5. 



of chin-shields, which are in contact with each other. Thirty-one 

 series of scales round the neck. Scales rather imbricate, those op 

 the back and sides with a short keel. Ventral shields 416, those of 

 the attenuated portion very distinct, and twice as large as the scales 

 of the adjoining series, the posterior being of comparatively smaller 

 size. Four anal shields. Trunk with sixty-three complete black 

 rings, which are broader than the interspaces of the yellowish 

 ground-colour, and not much broader on the back than on the belly. 

 Head and lower side of the foremost part of the trunk black ; the 

 former with a yellow horseshoe-shaped mark across the frontals and 

 nasals, and extending backwards over the supraciliary edge to the 

 temple. Tail with eight black rings. 



One adult female from the coast of Sarawak is 36 inches long ; 

 the foetuses in the oviduct are fully developed, and resemble the parent 

 in every respect. This shows that the species of Hydrophis are 

 subject to much less variation than was formerly supposed. 



Rana conspicillata. (Plate XL. fig. A.) 



Snout rather short, depressed, somewhat obtuse, with very indi- 

 stinct canthus rostralis and with the sides sloping ; loreal region 

 grooved. Eyes of moderate size. Tympanum entirely hidden. 

 Lower jaw with a pair of very prominent but not pointed apophyses 

 in front, which are much stronger in the male than in the female 



