INDIAN SERPENTS. 
35 
cordate pair truncate, obscurely divided, and marked with four darkish dots ; the hind 
head covered with smooth orbicular scales. 
The mouth large ; the under jaw considerably shorter than the upper. The teeth 
remarkably small ; a marginal row above, and no fangs. The eyes large, sub-orbicular. 
The nostrils small. 
The trunk. The neck , at first smaller than the head, swells into the trunk, which is 
well and proportionally formed : the tail round, remarkably short, terminates in a 
slender point. The scales oval, smooth, and every where very small in size ; and the 
usual row of larger scales bordering the scuta is wanting. The scuta remarkably wide. 
The length , three feet four inches, of which the tail measures seven inches four lines. 
The colour above cineritious, with large darkish ragged spots along the ridge of the 
back, while others smaller and more faint are scattered on the sides. The abdomen 
and under part of the tail uniformly white without spots. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Two specimens in good preservation were received from Dr. Scott, of Bombay, sent 
to him from Buchier, by Mr. Bruce. The serpent, it seems, is found also in the 
Mahratta country. 
The natives pretend that its bite is in a short while followed by blotches on the skin, 
and proves mortal in a fortnight, or within the month. 
The serpent, however, has no venomous organs. 
The smaller of the two specimens is here described. The only difference found was 
in the abdominal scuta, the number of which in the largest was 2,3 8. 
In the lesser, 220. 
18 . 
No. XXXI. 
BOA. 
Scuta Abdominalia 204. 
Scuta Subcaudalia 44 . 
Called by the natives Seu Walalay. 
The head obtuse ovate, a little thicker than the neck, the crown flat, the rostrum 
rounded at the point, but flattish on the sides. The first pair of laminae between the 
nostrils very small, sub-orbicular ; the next pair thrice as large, oblong-square, anteriorly 
