226 [December, 



Abstract of a Report to Lieut. James M. Gilliss, U. S. JV"., upon the Reptiles collected 

 during the U. S. N. Astronomical Expedition to Chili. 



By Charles Girard. 



BATRACHIANS. 



1. Cystignathus TiENiATtrs, G. Vomerine teeth situated a little behind the 

 inner nares, well separated upon the middle of the palate. Tongue subelliptical, 

 free posteriorly, and slightly notched upon the same margin. Color greenish 

 yellow, with two dorsal telackish stripes. Limbs barred above. A dark vitta 

 upon the sides of the head, extending from the nostrils, across the eye to the 

 shoulder. 



From the neighborhoods of Santiago, Chili. 



2. Phyllobates auratus G. Tongue narrow and elongated, free for about 

 the half or two-thirds of its length. Anterior limbs, when stretched backwards, 

 reaching the vent with the tip of longest finger. Inferior surface of thighs 

 granular. Color, above, metallic golden ; beneath, uniform bluish brown. 



Collected on the Island of Taboga, in the Bay of Panama, by the late Prof. 

 C. B. Adams, of Amherst College, Mass. 



OPHIDIANS. 



3. Elaps nigrocinctus, G. Head subelliptical, broader than the body, which 

 is long and cylindrical. Tail conical, abruptly tapering from its base. Scales 

 smooth, disposed upon fifteen rows. Color reddish, annulated with jet black. Tip 

 of scales blackish. Anterior portion of head black. An occipito-temporal yellowish 

 ring. Tip of tail black. 



From Taboga, Bay of Panama. 



4. Dryopetis vittatus, G. Three postorbital plates, two of which constituting 

 the posterior rim of the orbit, the third being placed behind them. Fifth and 

 seventh, or fourth, fifth and sixth labials constituting the inferior rim of the orbit. 

 A black vitta along the upper margin of the upper maxillary plates, extending 

 posteriorly along a portion of the neck. 



From Taboga, Bay of Panama. 



5. Tachymenis chilensis, G.Coronella chilensis, Schl. Ess. Phys. Serp. II. 

 Part, descr. 1837, 30 Guich. in Gay, Hist, de Chile. Zool. II. 1848, 19. Erpet. Lam. 

 iv. fig. 1. a. b. c. d.Dipsas chilensis, Dum. Mem. Acad. des. Sc. xxiii, 1853, 112 ; 

 Dum. & B. Erp. gen. VII. i. 1854, 608. Two anteorbitals. Third and fourth 

 labials constituting the inferior rim of the orbit. Dorsal scales in nineteen rows. 

 Color olivaceous brown, with crossing lines of black. Beneath yellowish, with 

 anterior margin of scutellaa black. Two postocular black vittas. 



From the neighborhoods of Santiago, Chili. 



T^eniophis, G Head depressed and detached from the body, which i3 slender 

 and subcylindrical. Tail tapering to a point and comparatively short. Cephalic 

 plates normal. One anteorbital, and two postorbitals. An elongated, quad- 

 rangular loral. Two nasals, nostrils between them. Eye above the medium 

 size, situated above the fourth and fifth labials; pupil circular. Mouth deeply 

 cleft. Scales smooth, disposed upon nineteen longitudinal series. Postabdo- 

 minal scutella bifid. Subcaudal scutella? all divided. Colors disposed upon 

 uniform lodgitudinal bands. 



Obs. Distinguished from Diadophis, to which it is closely related, by the 

 presence of one anteorbital plate, instead of two, by a larger number of longi- 

 tudinal rows of scales, and the distribution of colors. 



Besides the species hereafter diagnosed, a second one (T. imperialis, B. & G.,) 

 an inhabitant of the province of Tamaulipas, Mex., was sent to the Smithsonian 

 Institution, by Capt. Van Vliet, U. S. A., as collected near Matamoras. 



