SNAKES OF CEYLON. 389 



(a) Typical — Rostral : About as broad as deep ; the 

 portion visible above three-quarters to equal to the suture 

 between the nasals. Nasals : Usually no sutures proceed 

 from the nostrils. Prefrontals : Do not touch any supra- 

 labial. Frontal: Entire; much longer than broad ; the fronto- 

 parietal sutures subequal to or rather longer than the fronto- 

 supraoculars. Supraoculars: Length about two-thirds to 

 three-quarters the frontal ; breadth about two -thirds the 

 frontal. Parietals : Entire ; touching the postoculars. Prse- 

 oculars : One. Postoculars : One. Temporals : Anterior 

 confluent with the sixth supralabial ; a well-developed 

 posterior shield also lies along the parietals. Supralabials : 

 Six ; all entire and well developed ; the 1st and 2nd touching 

 the nasals ; 3rd and 4th the eye ; 6th confluent with the anterior 

 temporal and the largest of the series. Sublinguals : One 

 or two small pairs, the anterior the larger. Infralabials : 

 Three ; the suture between the first subequal to or smaller 

 than that between the anterior sublinguals ; third touching 

 two scales behind. Cuneate : None. 



Costals : Broader than long and imbricate everywhere, 

 with a short keel, sometimes bidentate, occupying about the 

 median two-fourths of each scale. In 17 rows two heads- 

 lengths behind the head ; 19 to 21 at midbody ; and 19 to 21 

 two heads-lengths before the vent. Ventrals : 219 to 248 ; 

 entire everywhere, less than twice the breadth of the last 

 row, with a complete very obtuse median keel, and short 

 subterminal lateral keels. (See fig. 73, D.) 



(b) Anomalies — Prefrontals : Rarely meet the 2nd supra- 

 labial. I have seen a confluence with the prseocular bilater- 

 ally in one example. Postoculars : Rarely two. Sublinguals: 

 Rarely, even the anterior are too poorly developed to deserve 

 the name. Infralabials : Rarely four. 



Costals : Rarely in 16 or 18 rows two heads-lengths behind 

 the head. 



Dentition : Detailed under the genus. 



Distribution. — (a) General : Coasts of India from Travancore 

 to the Malav Peninsula. 



