184 OP HID I A. s 



uniting with the occipital patch, which passes downwards behind the 

 angle of the mouth, hence extending forwards along the lower jaw, and 

 backwards to the adjacent black patch, which does not form a complete 

 ring around the neck. There are from thirty-two to thirty-three jet 

 black rings, from the occiput to the tip of the tail, to which four of 

 these rings belong. Along the dorsal region they are equal in width 

 to the intervening spaces, whilst along the sides, the latter widen at 

 the same time as the rings become narrower, and along the abdomen, 

 for every two black scutellae there are five intervening white ones. 

 On the lower half of the sides and the abdomen, the spaces between 

 the black rings are yellowish or whitish. On the dorsal region, the 

 tip of each scale is yellowish, whilst its base is dark greyish. The 

 posterior margin of the tail is yellow. 



Log. — Specimens were collected at the Feejee and Tonga Islands, 

 where they are said to be " very common." 



Genus PELAMYS, Daud. 



Gen. Char.— Two pairs of frontal plates. No nasals. Nostril in the 

 prefrontal. No loral. One anteorbital ; two postorbitals ; one infra- 

 orbital ; labials not entering into the orbit. Gape of mouth ascend- 

 ing posteriorly. Body compressed, much deeper than broad. Back 

 thickish, convex. Abdomen narrow. Tail very much compressed. 

 Scales small, smooth, hexagonal, pavement-like, subeqiial. Abdo- 

 men and tail covered with scales like those of the back : hence 

 neither abdominal nor subcaudal scutellae. Colors : uniform ; tail 

 occasionally blotched. 



Syn.— Pe?amys, Daud. Hist. nat. Kept. Til, 1802, 357.— Wagl. Naturl. Syst. Amph. 

 1830, 166.— Gray, Catal. Snakes Brit. Mus. 1849, 41.— -Dum. & Bibr. Erp^. gen. 

 VII, II, 1854, 1333. 



Thalassoj)his, Schmidt, Abhandl. Naturw. Ver. Hamb. II, 1852. 



Observ. — Here is another genus of marine snakes, including so far 

 the single species whose description follows. Like those of the pre- 

 ceding genus, it never reaches to any size that could for a moment 

 give origin to the mythic stories about such a " sea serpent" as we hear 



