SNAKES OF CEYLON. 377 



(d) Period of Gestation : Not known. 



(e) The Brood : The five breeding events that have been 

 investigated by me show that the brood numbers from two to 

 six. In one the sex could be established, and included three 

 males and two females. 



Growth. — (a) The Young : I have seen no unborn young 

 sufficiently near their nativity to conjecture their length at 

 birth. I have one record of a juvenile male specimen, killed in 

 Bombay on June 4, 1917, that measured 457 mm. (18 inches). 



(b) Maturity : My smallest pregnant specimen, was exactly 

 610 mm. (2 feet) in length. 



(c) Maximum Length : The longest specimen I have ex- 

 amined was a female and measured 737 mm. (2 feet 5 inches). 



Poison. — Nothing known. No casualties are on record, and 

 the poison has not been investigated in the laboratory. 



Lepidosis. — The lepidosis of the head is fairly constant, 

 except for the posterior supralabials and the temporal region. 

 The shields in adults are covered with minute asperities that 

 make them very rough. The ranges of body scales are 

 considerable. 



(a) Typical — Rostral : Broader than deep ; the visible 

 portion about one-half the length of the suture between the 

 nasals. Nasals : Sutures from the nostril, when present, 

 pass backwards to the prefrontals, and outwards to the 

 2nd supralabial. Prefrontals : Touch the 2nd supralabial. 

 Frontal : Entire ; longer than broad ; the fronto-parietal 

 sutures longer than the fronto -supraoculars. Supraoculars : 

 Length about three-fourths to three-fifths the frontal, breadth 

 about three-fourths the frontal. Parietals : Entire ; not 

 touching the upper postoculars. Prseoculars : One. Post- 

 oculars : One. Temporals : Small and most irregular, not 

 deserving the name. Usually three or four superimposed 

 scales anteriorly. Supralabials : Seven or eight ; the anterior 

 four or five entire, rest small and subject to division. The 1st 

 and 2nd touch the nasals, 3rd and 4th the eye. Sublinguals : 

 Variable ; sometimes two well -developed pairs, often no well- 

 developed pair ; the posterior, when present, usually separated 

 by small scales. Infralabials : Four ; the suture between the 

 first shorter than that between the anterior sublinguals when 



