150 OPHIDIA. 
8. Homalocranium breve, sp. n. 
Hab. British Honpuras (Salvin). 
Head narrow, depressed, somewhat contracted in front; eye small, one-third of the 
length of the snout. Vertical shield rather broad, with a very obtuse angle in front 
and a pointed one behind. Seven upper labials, of which the hindmost is much higher 
than the sixth ; posterior nasal in contact with the anteocular; one ante- and two post- 
oculars; temporals1+1. ‘The first pair of lower labials are in contact with each other. 
Scales in fifteen rows. Ventrals 111. Upper parts uniform light greyish-olive, some- 
what darker on the head; no collar or white spots. Lower parts white. 
One specimen, 5 inches long without tail, which is injured. 
9. Homalocranium michoacanense. (Tab. XXXVI. figg. B, C.) 
Contia michoacanensis, Cope, Proc. Am. Phil. Soc. xxi. p. 178 (1885)*. 
Hab. Mexico, Michoacan (Dugés), Mezquital del Oro (A. C. Buller). 
Body moderately slender ; tail rather short ; head depressed, elapiform. Rostral shield 
much wider than high; anterior frontals two-thirds the size of posterior; vertical five- 
sided, with the posterior angle pointed ; supraoculars large, pointed in front ; occipitals 
as long as the vertical and posterior frontals together; nasal undivided above, but 
divided below the nostril, in contact with the first and second upper labials. Loreal 
nearly square; one pree- and two postoculars. ‘Temporals 1+2. Seven upper labials, 
the third and fourth entering the orbit, the sixth much larger than the seventh ; anterior 
chin-shields several times larger than the posterior, in contact with four lower labials. 
Scales in fifteen rows; ventrals 161-162, anal divided, subcaudals 50. 
Red, with black cross-bands, which are arranged in pairs, the rings of each pair being 
separated by a yellow interspace; the rings do not extend to the abdomen. Head 
yellow, with a broad black patch across the vertical, supraoculars, and anterior part of 
the occipitals. The ring of the anterior pair forms a broad collar, interrupted in the 
median line below. In one specimen the trunk shows thirteen pairs of black bands 
and three on the tail. In the second the bands of the posterior half of the trunk are 
more crowded and numerous, and nearly equidistant, without yellow between them. 
In Cope’s specimen the bands of each pair seem to have been confluent. 
Total length 11 inches, of which the tail measures 2. 
10. Homalocranium annulatum. 
Tantilla annulata, Bottger, Zool. Anzeig. 1892, p. 419. 
Hab. Nicaragua (Mus. Liibeck). 
Vertical shield longer than broad; posterior nasal in contact with the preocular; 
* See anted, p. 104 nota. 
