SNAKES OF CEYLON. 343 



Gostals : Longer than broad, and imbricate in the slender 

 anterior part of the body ; as broad as long, subimbricate or 

 juxtaposed in the posterior compressed part. A short keel 

 occupies about the median third of the scales. In 32 to 41 

 rows two heads-lengths behind the head ; 37 to 54 in midbody ; 

 and 34 to 46 two heads -lengths before the vent. Ventrals : 

 374 1o 460 (305 to 438, Boulenger) ; entire throughout ; nearly 

 twice the breadth of the last costals. 



(b) Anomalies — Prefrontals : Do not touch the 2nd supra 

 labial on one side in one specimen. Postoculars: None on 

 one side in one specimen ; two and three on one side in two 

 others. Temporals : The anterior is broken up into two or 

 three parts on one side in three examples. Supralabials : The 

 3rd, 4th, and 5th touch the eye on one side in four examples. 

 Cuneate : Rarely two after the 3rd, or more rarely still after 

 the 2nd infralabials. 



Dentition. — Detailed under the genus. 



Distribution. — (a) General : Coasts from the Sunder- 

 bunds to Burma (Siam and Borneo, Boulenger). 



(b) Local : I have examined seventeen examples apart from 

 those in the British Museum. There are no records from the 

 Coromandel Coast south of the Sunderbunds The British 

 Museum has a specimen from Sandheads, Hugli river, and 

 there are two others from the Hugli river in the Indian Museum. 

 I have had three from Chittagong and eight from the coasts 

 of Burma. Two in the British Museum are from the Pegu 

 Coast, and two others from the Bassein river. Gunther's type 

 of stricticollis is labelled Bay of Bengal. One in the British 

 Museum is from the Siamese Coast and one from Borneo. 



Hydrophis torquatus Gunther. 



This species, which is appaiently very closely allied to dia~ 

 dema, is based on five specimens in the British Museum. 

 Boulenger gives the habitat as " Bay of Bengal and Straits of 

 Malacca." I have not included them in this work, as Gunther 

 says that four of these were collected by Cantor off the coast 



