NO. 39.-1889.] ZOOLOGICAL TABLES. 



191 



■certainty. In the case of birds this system would, I believe, 

 be invaluable. The great " British Museum Catalogue of 

 Birds" now extends to eleven volumes, and is not nearly 

 finished, and there are no descriptions given of either orders, 

 families, or genera : the work is almost entirely occupied 

 with descriptions of colour and with the synonomy. Now 

 I find that it is possible to shorten descriptions of 250 words 

 to 80 or 90, and no particulars omitted ; but if minute 

 differences of tint are omitted, and brown made to include 

 blackish-brown, pale-brown, and rich-brown, for instance, a 

 still further compression could be effected ; and if closely 

 allied birds are compared, and their differences from the 

 first in the list only expressed, in many instances very few 

 words would suffice. The section under which the colour is 

 described is given in the colour column. The tyro should 

 try this character first and learn the rest afterwards. 



Classification. 



With the classification of snakes this table has nothing to 

 do ; the student can adopt any classification he likes from 

 that of Linnaeus to the present day. The arrangement 

 followed is that of the latest authority, Dr. Boulenger, in the 

 " Fauna of British India." Whatever may be the merits or 

 demerits of this classification, it is far too advanced for the 

 beginner. I will therefore give the synopsis of it, and then 

 give a modification of it founded on that in Dr. Gunther's 

 " Reptiles of British India," which will be much more easily 

 understood : — 



Order III. — Squamata. Quadrate bone free distally; no 

 lower temporal arch ; ribs single-headed ; no plastron ; 

 teeth not implanted in alveoli ; anal opening transverse ; 

 copulatory organ present, paired. 



Sub-Order III. — Ophidia. Nasal bones bounding nasal 

 apertures ; vomers distinct ; mandibular rami connected 

 by ligament ; no trace of pectoral arch ; tongue flattened 

 and bifid at the end, and sheathed at the base. 



