184 MB. G. A. BOOXENGER ON NEW REPTILES [Mar. 6, 



Xenelaphis ellipsifer. (Plate XVI.) 



29 teeth in the upper jaw. Eye large, twice as long as its 

 distance from the edge of the mouth. Rostral once aud a half as 

 broad as deep, visible from above ; internasals nearly as long as 

 the prefrontals ; frontal once and two-fifths as long as broad, as 

 long as its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the 

 parietals ; loreal a little longer than deep ; one praeocular, with a 

 rather large subocnlar below it, wedged in between the third and 

 fourth upper labials ; two postoculars and an elongate subocular 

 separating the eye from the fifth and sixth upper labials ; temporals 

 2-f2; eight upper labials, separated from the eye by the sub- 

 oculars, or fourth entering the eye ' ; five lower labials in contact 

 with the anterior chin-shields, which are slightly shorter than the 

 posterior. Scales smooth, in 17 rows, vertebrals not distinctly 

 enlarged. Yentrals 1S6; anal divided: subcaudals 134 ( d ). 

 Head aud neck pale brown, sides of neck with interrupted black 

 longitudinal markings ; body with 18 large, elliptic, black-edged 

 brown areas separated by cream-coloured narrow interspaces ; sides, 

 between and below the brown areas, cream-coloured, spotted or 

 marbled with black ; tail, at the base marked like the body, in 

 the second half uniform brown above with a black lateral streak ; 

 upper lip and lower parts uniform yellow. 



Total length 2 metres ; tail GO centimetres. 



Head-waters of Sarawak River. The type, preserved in the 

 Sarawak Museum, was caught in a fish-trap. 



This beautiful new Snake connects Zamenis with Xenelaphis. 

 It agrees with the latter in the number of teeth and strikingly in 

 the number and arrangement of the head-shields, but differs in the 

 •vertebral scales not being larger than the rest, a character which 

 cannot be regarded as very important in view of its slight 

 development in Xenelaphis he.vagonotus. 



Distira saravacensis. (Plate XIV. fig. 2.) 



Head moderate ; body moderately elongate. Rostral broader 

 than deep ; nasals shorter than the frontal, twice and a half as 

 long as the suture between the prefrontals ; frontal nearly twice 

 as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral, shorter 

 than the parietals ; one or two prae- and one postocular ; seven 

 upper labials, second largest, fourth or third and fourth entering 

 the eye ; two superposed anterior temporals ; two pairs of chin- 

 shields, in contact on the median line. 27 scales round the neck, 

 43 round the body ; scales imbricate, keeled. Ventrals distinct 

 throughout, bicarinate, 300. Blackish, with 85 yellowish rings 

 interrupted by the series of ventral scales ; a chevron-shaped 

 marking on the upper surface of the head, the apex on the nasals, 

 the branches on the prefrontal, supra- and postocular shields, and 

 on the temple. 



Total length 710 millim. ; tail 80. 



Sarawak coast. Type in the Sarawak Museum. 



1 The former arrangement, is shown on the right side of the unique speci- 

 men, the latter on the left. 



