54 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



B—VENTRALS 

 NARROW. 



Snalces with the belly 

 covered with transverse 

 plates (yentrals) which how- 

 ever do not extend com- 

 pletely across the belly, so 

 that when the specimen is 

 laid on its bach the whole 

 of the last costal row, or 

 even many costal rov;s are 

 visible on each side {see 

 figs. 3 and 4). 



C—VENTRALS 

 BROAD. 



Snakes with the belly 

 shields stretching so far 

 across as to permit only 

 part of the last costal row 

 to be seen when the specimen 

 is laid on its bach {see 



fig- 5). 



Family. 



3 Boidee. 



4 Ilysiidae. 



5 Uropeltidas. 



6 Xenopeltidse. 



7 Colubridse. 

 {Subfamily Homalop- 



sinse.) 



HARMLESS. 



Sea snakes. 



7 Colubridse (except the 

 Sub-families Homalop- 

 sinse and Hydrophiidee.) 



8 Amblycephalidae. 



9 ViperidJfi. 

 TAILS COMPRESSED. 



{i.e., flattened like an eel's — see fig. 1 A.) 

 Family Oolubridse. Subfamily Hydrophiidse. POISONOUS 



INCLUDES HARM- 

 LESS AND POISON- 

 OUS VARIETIES. 

 HARMLESS. 

 POISONOUS. 



Fig. 2. -Belly of Typhlops (X 5) 



CpsletU 



Venhafa 



FIG, 3. — Belly of Hipistes nydrinus (nat. size). 



