166 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIIl. 



noticed a circular, nucleus-like body which perhaps shows that segmenta- 

 tion has begun. My examination was, however, hurried and I have not 

 examined the teeth. The mouth, when the specimen was brought in, was 

 full of earth as if the snake's head had been held down very hard on the 

 ground while it struggled. This is the second specimen from this district. 



F. E. W. VENNING, Capt. 

 Pyawbwe, Yamethin District, 

 ISa lehruary 1914. 



No. XXIX.— OCCURRENCE OF CANTOR'S WATERSNAKE 

 {CANTORIA VIOLACEA) IN THE ANDAMANS. 



I have lately received a small adult specimen of this rare snake from 

 the Andamans. The two specimens in the Indian Museum are from 

 Amherst (Tenasserim) and Singapore. Two specimens are in the British 

 Museum, one collected by Evans and me in Wakema (Lower Burma). The 

 habitat of the second is not known. Theobald mentions one from the 

 mouth of the Moulmein River. These are the only records I am aware 

 of. Up to this it has not been recorded from the Andamans. 



My specimen has 241 ventrals and 69 subcaudals, and is quite typical. 

 There are 59 black bands on the body, and 18 on the tail. The maxilla 

 has 11 teeth, the last 2 twice the length of the preceding, grooved anteriorly, 

 and obliquely set. No gap separates these large fang-like teeth 

 from the preceding. Palatine teeth 6. Pterygoid 14 to 15". Mandibular 

 15. 



f. wall, c.m.z.s., f.l.8., 



Major, i.m.s. 

 Almora, 26th April 1914. 



■ No. XXX.— A NEW SNAKE OF THE GENUS TROPIDONOTUS 

 FROM THE EASTERN HIMALAYAS. 



TROPIDONOTUS FIRTHI, spec, no v. 



In 1907 in the records of the Indian Museum (Vol. I, p. 156), I 

 remarked upon two specimens of Tropidonotus from Nepal, submitted to 

 me by Dr. Annandale for identification. These I referred to the species 

 chrysargus, noting differences which I considered at the time insufficient 

 for the basis of a species apart. 



Last year Major Firth sent me a single specimen of a Tropidonotus from 

 Takdah in the Eastern Himalayas (circa 4,500 feet), which I also at first 

 took to be an aberrant specimen of chryAargus. On preparing the skull 

 I found the dentition widely different from that of chrysargus, and noted 

 that the lepidosis agreed with the two Nepal specimens previously referred 

 to. Lately I have had a chance of re-examining the two Nepal specimens 

 and find the dentition agrees with the Takdah specimens. I propose to 

 name the species after Major Firth, 2/10 Gurkhas. 



Description.— Rostral. — Touch 6 shields, the rostro-nasal greater than 

 the rostro-internasal sutures. Internasals. — Two, the suture between them 

 two-thirds that between the prtef rontal fellows ; two-thirds the inter-naso- 

 prsefrontal sutures. Proefrontals. — Two, the sutures between them sub- 

 equal to the prsBfronto-f rental. Frontal. —Towches. 6 shields, the fronto- 

 supraocular sutures twice the fronto-parietal. Supraoculars. — Length sub- 

 equal to frontal, breadth half to three-fourth frontal. Nasals. — Divided, in 



