described as British India with Burma and all other dependencies, and with the addition of Ceylon Baluchistan, Kashmir, Ladak, and all Cis-Himalayan States being included, and Afghanistan, Tibet Proper, China, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula south of Tenasserim excluded.
The following comparison of the number of species described, from within the limits adopted in the present work, in Gunther's ' Reptiles of British India 'with those enumerated in Theobald's Catalogue and in the present volume will serve roughly to indicate the additions to our knowledge of the Reptilia and Batrachia of India in the last quarter of a century. As already noticed, one subfamily of Snakes, the Hydrophiinae, was omitted by Theobald.
Giintber, Theobald, Boulenger, 1864. 1876. 1890. KEPTILIA. EMYDOSAURIA (Crocodiles) 4 4 3 CHELONIA (Tortoises & Turtles) ..30 54 43 SQUAMATA. Lacertilia (Lizards) 95 173 225 Khiptoglossa (Chameleons) 1 1 1 Ophidia (Snakes) 180 225 264 310 457 536 BATRACHIA. ECATTDATA (Frogs and Toads), .37 . . 124 CAUDATA (Newts &c.) . . I APODA (Caecilians) 2 . . 5 39 130
In cases where the numbers have been reduced the reduction is due to the union of species formerly supposed to be distinct. The additions in the present volume are much more numerous than the preceding comparison indicates.
By permission of the Trustees of the British Museum, through the kindness of Professor Flower and Dr. Gunthtr,
