632 MR. BOULENGER ON TRANSCASPIAN REPTILES. [DcC. 1, 



Indian Snake, which is known from Sind, the Punjab, the North- 

 Western Provinces, and the hills below Simla to Southern India \ 



PSEUDOCYCLOPHIS WALTERI, Bttg. 



Since the description of this species by Boettger in 1888, from a 

 single specimen obtained by Dr. Walter in Transcaspia, close to the 

 North-eastern limit of Persia, I have examined a second specimen 

 found in Sind by Mr. Blanford. Quite recently the British Museum 

 has received, through M. WarentzoflF, a half-grown specimen, from 

 Ashabad. It has 235 ventrals and 73 subcaudals. Loreal absent. 

 The upper surface of the head, behind the snout, and the nape 

 blackish ; the blackish cross-bars or transverse series of spots well 

 marked on the whole body, but absent from the tail. 



Zamenis rhodorhachis, Jan. 



This species may be added to the list of Transcaspian Reptiles, as 

 M. Zaroudnoi's notes ^ on a dark grey Snake with a bright red 

 vertebral stripe, seen by him at Gjarmaou, Ashabad, Merv, and 

 Tedshen, evidently refer to it. I may add that I now regard 

 Z. rhodorhachis { = Go7iyosoma dorsale. And.) and Z. ladacensis as 

 colour varieties of one and the same species, which is perfectly 

 separable from both Z. ventrimaculatus and Z. karelinii. The 

 South-western Asian species of Zamenis may be distinguished as 

 follows : — 



A. Scales in 17 rows, smooth ; posterior chin- 



shields in contact -with each other 1. Z.mucoms,'L. 



B. Scales in 19 (exceptionally 17) rows, smooth ; 



posterior chin-shields separated from each 

 other by scales. 



a. Frontal not or but slightly wider than the 



supraocular, more than once and a half as 

 long as broad. 



Ventrals rather indistinctly angulate late- 

 rally, scales with two apical pits 2. Z. gemonensis,'LdMr. 



Ventrals very distinctly angulate laterally; 



scales with a single apical pit 3. Z. dah,lii,'P\\z. 



b. Frontal anteriorly considerably wider than 



the supraocuLar. 

 a. Isine upper labials, two of which enter 

 the eye. 

 Ventrals 214-255 ; subcaudals 124-145... 4. Z. rJiodorhachis. Jan. 



Ventrals 199-211 ; subcaudals 82-99 5. Z. ventrimacvlatvs, Gray. 



/3. IS'ine upper labials ; a subocular separates 



the eye from the sixth labial 6. Z. karelinii, Strauch. 



y. Eight upper labials 7. Z. eleganthsimns, Gthr. 



' In a recent paper on Indian Snakes (Journ. As. Soc. Beng. Ix. 1891, p. 233), 

 Mr. W. L. Sclater expresses doubts as to the existence of this Snake in 

 Southern India, its resemblance to L. tmvancoricus, Bedd., rendering, in his 

 opinion, confusion of the two by no means impossible. I therefore seize this 

 opportunity to state that several specimens, collected by Col. Beddome in Wynaad 

 and the Anamallays, are in the British Museum. In addition to the characters 

 I have previously indicated, L. sfriaius differs from L. travancoricus in having 

 the loreal shield in contact with the internasal, as in L. aulicus and L. anamal. 



I fins IS 



^ Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1890, p. 291. 



