46 
DESCRIPTION OF 
lateral, somewhat like crescents; the posterior pair roundish, acuminate at top: some smaller 
laminse on each side. 
The mouth, not wide; the jaws nearly equal. The teeth very small, reflex; a marginal 
row in the upper jaw, and two palatal rows. 
The eyes lateral, orbicular. The nostrils small, round, near each other. 
The trunk round, nearly of equal thickness from the neck to the anus, covered with very 
small, ovate, scales. 
The length , fourteen inches; the diameter where biggest, one inch. The tail measures 
three inches, and is remarkable for the combination of scuta and squamae. From the anus 
to the commencement of the squamae, it diminishes gradually; after which it tapers rapidly, 
and ends in a sharp point. 
The colour, black, with a brownish-yellow fillet, on each side, the whole length. The 
scuta of a pearl-white. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
This snake was found at Hyderabad, by Mr. Alexander Russell, who sent a sketch of the 
head, the neck, and the tail, together with a description, from which the rest of the drawing 
was made. 
He remarks, that it was not uncommon, and not reputed venomous. 
I have met with nothing like the anomalous singularity in the tail, except in the Bora 
of Bengal. 
