SNAKES OF CEYLON". 315 



Distribution. — {a) General : Ceylon. Hills on the western 

 side of Peninsular India. The Eastern Himalayas, Eastern 

 Bengal, Assam, Burma, Indo -China to South China. Malay 

 Peninsula, and the Malay Archipelago from Sumatra to the 

 Philippines. 



(b) Local : In Ceylon it frequents the low-country, but 

 cannot be called a common snake. Mr. Green in a letter tells 

 me it does not appear to ascend the hills above about 1,500 

 feet. Mr. Drummond-Hay tells me he killed one at 

 Weyvelwatta, one in the Kanthalai resthouse, two at 

 Punagalla (below 1,000 feet), and one near Balangoda, but 

 has seen no others. 



Sub-family 6 Elachistodontinae 



(Greek " elachistos " small, " odous " tooth.) 



There is only one representative ot a single genus, viz. 

 Elachistodon westermanni, peculiar to Western Bengal. 



Series C PROTEROGLYPHA. 

 Sub-family 7 Hydrophiinae. 



(Named from the type Genus Hydrophis.) 



As a result of many years' special study of the Hydrophiinse , 

 I find I can only recognize as distinct with certainty those 

 species from the Indian seas from the Persian Gulf to Tenas- 

 serim that are enumerated and dealt with hereafter. Many 

 others have been described by various authors. Some of 

 these are known from a solitary specimen, and all rest upon 

 characters that are either known to be inconstant in most of 

 the seasnakes, or depart but slightly from normal specimens 

 of the species recognized herein by me. 



