1871.] F. Stoliczka — On Indian and Burmese Ophidian!}. 425 



as figured by Giinther in bothriorhynclius, and not as in Uorsfieldii ; 

 the circumference (£ distant from the head) is T V the length of the 

 body ; total length 1 1 inches, tail about I inch ; above brownish 

 olive, paler below ; the upper coloration appears at first sight uni- 

 form, but when the specimens had been a little dried, the base of 

 each scale appears darker, and is separated from the slightly less 

 dark terminal half by a pale line. 



Professor Peters, as already observed, identifies this species with 

 Uorsfieldii (and Diardii), but when we find specimens with constant 

 characters distributed over such a large geographical area, as the 

 one I have noticed, there is, I think, reason to believe, that they 

 constitute a good species, and, therefore, I would consider bothrio- 

 rhynchus as such, until its identity with the previous species has been 

 more satisfactorily proved. 



Typhlops braminus (I E., p. 175). 

 This is the most common Indian species, occurring in Ceylon, 

 and extending, through South and Central India, northwards into 

 the warm valleys of the lower Himalayas, westwards all through 

 Bengal and Burma into the Malayan Archipelego. In some 50 

 specimens (several of which were only 3 inches long) from Burma, 

 Bengal, North- West and Central Provinces, I almost invariably 

 found the 20 long, rows of scales, when counted in a distance 

 of one-third the length of the body from the head. In very 

 few instances only was there one scale less on the neck, or one 

 more in the middle of the body, but the variation was never 

 greater. This makes me believe that the number of longitudinal 

 rows of scales is among others a very good character. As a rule 

 the number of scales appears to be independent of the diameter 

 of the body, as I shall again notice when speaking of T. porrectus, 

 n. sp. The usual length of full grown specimens is 6 inches, some 

 examples reaching 7, but very rarely 8 inches ; the thickness is nearly 

 uniform throughout, except at the neck, which is slightly thinner, 

 and the head is more or less flattened. I found the proportion of 

 the circumference of the body to its length vary between T \ and T x y , 

 the former being the most common, ^ not unusual, ^th. very 

 rare, and ^yth was only observed in one half grown specimen. 



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