TYPHLOPS 



67 



^ ^> 



Fig. 4. Typhlops cumingii (Gray) ; after 

 Boulenger : a. head, dorsal view ; b, head 

 lateral view ; c, head, ventral view. 



Description of species. — (From Boulenger.) "Snout very 

 prominent, with a narrow, subcrescentic sharp transverse edge 

 and inferior nostrils. Rostral large, its upper part longer than 

 broad and about half the width 

 of the head, not extending to 

 the level of the eyes, its lower 

 part as broad as long; nasal 

 completely divided, the cleft 

 proceeding from the second la- 

 bial ; prgeocular present, narrow- 

 er than the nasal or the ocular, 

 in contact with the third labial 

 only; prjefrontal not enlarged, 

 parietals broad; eyes distinct; 

 four upper labials. Diameter of 

 body 48 to 52 times in the total 

 length ; tail four or five times as 

 long as broad, ending in a spine. Twenty-four scales round 

 the body. Olive-brown above, yellowish interiorly. 



"Total length 365 millim." 



Remarks. — I have been unable to find this species. The newly 

 described Typhlops longicauda is related to but apparently dis- 

 tinct from it. 



BOID^ 



Boidx, part, Gray, Zool. Misc. (1842) 41; Cat. Vip. Snakes (1849) 82. 

 Boidx Boulenger, Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus. 1 (1893) 71. 



"Maxillary, palatine, and pterygoid movable ; transpalatine 

 present ; pterygoid extending to quadrate or mandible ; supratem- 

 poral present, attached scale-like to cranium, suspending quad- 

 rate ; prsefrontal in contact with nasal. Mandible with coronoid 

 bone. Teeth in both jaws. Vestiges of pelvis and hind limbs, 

 usually terminating in a claw-like spur visible on each side of 

 the vent." {Boulenger.) 



This family is divided into two subfamilies, the Pythoninse 

 and Boinse ; the snakes of the former are characterized by the pres- 

 ence of a supraorbital bone, those of the latter by the absence 

 of a supraorbital bone and of premaxillary teeth. The Pytho- 

 ninfe are confined largely to the Old World. A single genus 

 is found in Mexico. The Boinae, on the other hand, are dis- 

 tributed over both hemispheres, the larger number of genera 

 occurring in the Western Hemisphere. The genera Corallus 

 and Boa are found in both America and Madagascar; Casarea 



