18 
AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 
Gray’s Blind Snake. Typlilops nigrescens. 
(Plate Y, figs. 12, 12a, 12b.) 
Typlilops nigrescens, Gray , Cat. of Lizards in Col. Brit. Mus., p. 135. 
Dr. J. E. Gray gives the following description of this species:—“ Body 
slender, blackish; chin and under side white, the line of separation rather 
ragged; the dorsal scales pale edged, especially on the front; head whitish 
in front, the head shields more or less clouded with grey in the centre; 
the rostral moderate, rounded above, rather curved on the sides; central 
crown-shields rhombic, as long as broad, the first the largest, the second 
and third of equal sizes; tail short, and tapering, rather longer than wide, 
tip rather blunt, scarcely incurved.” The typical specimen in the British 
Museum collection was found at Parramatta; another example in Vienna 
was obtained by the naturalists of the “Novara,” probably from the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Sydney. The last specimen measures 33 inches 5 lines, the 
tail being one inch long. The figures are considerably enlarged. 
"West Australian Blind Snake. Typlilops australis. 
Typlilops australis, Gray, Cat . of Lizards in Col . Brit. 2fus. 
Coloration a uniform pale yellow; rostral shield brown, nasal brown 
and rounded above ; the central crown-shields nearly as long as broad, six- 
sided, the second (frontal) the smallest, the first and third nearly equal 
sized; tail very short, about as long as wide. 
Dr. Gray, from whose description the above notes are taken, mentions 
"West Australia as the habitat of this species. 
Ruppell’s Blind Snake. Typlilops riippelli. 
(Plate Y, fig. 11.) 
Typlilops riippelli, Jan , Icon., libr. 9, pi. 1, f. 2. 
Scales in 22 rows. 
Total length, 22 inches. 
Tail, 1 inch. 
Rostral shield large and broad above, narrowing below ; preoculars 
much larger at the base than at the tip, third upper labial in contact with 
the ocular and preocular; anterior scales smaUer than the posterior 
ones; tail short, cylindrical, very obtuse, three times the length of its 
diameter, and ending in a small spine. 
Coloration, brownish grey above, and yellowish below; each scale 
of the back being bordered with yellowish white, the markings becoming 
obsolete posteriorly. The form is cylindrical, enlarging towards the tail. 
Habitat, New South Wales. The typical specimens in the Erankfort 
Museum were obtained in the neighbourhood of Sydney. 
