1S75.] W. T. Blanford — Notes on some species of Reptiles. 207 



XIX. — Note on (i) Elachistodon Westermanni, (ii) Platyceps semifaseiatus, 



and (iii) Ablepharus pusillus and Blepharosteres agilis. — By W. T. 



Blaotobd, E. E. S. 



(Eeceived Nov. 9 ;— Eead Dec. 1, 1875.) 



§ I. — A young snake was recently presented to the Indian Museum by 

 Mr. G. Shillingford, of Purneah, and Mr. Wood-Mason, the Curator, asked 

 me to determine it. For a long time I was unsuccessful, for the specimen 

 presents the peculiarity of a pit behind the nostril, scales much like those 

 of a Bungarus, except that the subcaudals are divided, and no poison fang ; 

 but after a good deal of research I at last identified the specimen with 

 Elachistodon Westermanni, Bernhardt, Oversigt K. Dansk. Vid. Selsk. 

 Forh. Kjobenhavn, 1863, p. 210 (Gunther, Rept. Brit. Ind., Appendix). 



This snake is admirably figured in the original paper, and a remarkable 

 character not mentioned in Dr. Gunther' s description is shewn in the figure. 

 This character consists in the presence of a post-nasal pit. 



A loreal pit has been found in two other genera of harmless snakes, 

 both West African ; one Bothrolycus belonging to the Eycodontidce, (Gun-/ 

 ther, P. Z. S., 1874, p. 444, PI. LVII, fig. B), the other Bothr ophthalmitis 

 belonging to the Colubridce. In Elachistodon the loreal shield is united 

 to the nasal above and a suture runs from the edge of the pit to the labials 

 below. In the original description "the nasal was said to lie between two 

 shields and the loreal was considered to enter the orbit, but there is cer- 

 tainly no suture above the nostril in the Purneah specimen and, considering 

 the presence of the pit, I think that the lower preeocular is not the loreal 

 and that the homologies of the shields are as I have suggested. 



From the character of the scales I am inclined to refer Elachistodon 

 to the JDipsadidcs, and the dentition as described by Bernhardt agrees with 

 this view, the posterior maxillary teeth being grooved. The following is a 

 description of the specimen obtained. 



Head scarcely broader than the neck, flat above, body somewhat com- 

 pressed, tail rather short, pupil vertical, body surrounded by 15 rows of 

 smooth scales, those on the sides as broad as long, the dorsal row enlarged, 

 hexagonal, much broader than long. Nostrils lateral, each in a single shield, 

 which contains a deep pit behind the nostril, the shield is divided below the 

 pit, the suture running forwards to below the nostril and then downwards. 

 Both palatine and maxillary teeth are present, but the specimen is too small 

 for their characters to be made out. Ventrals 210, subcaudals in 65 pairs, 

 anal undivided. Length 8-f inches, of which the tail is 1*4. 



Head-shields normal except that there is no separate loreal, this beino- 

 united with the nasal above. Rostral twice as broad as high, just reaching 

 the upper surface of the head. Anterior and posterior frontals equal in 

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