NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 263 



distinct, the shields broad ; muzzle prominent. Two nasals, two postoculars, 

 one preocular, the loreal sometimes reaching the orbit beneath it. Scales 

 either smooth or partially carinate. Pupil elliptical. 



The serpents for which we propose this name are colubrine in form, but 

 possess a peculiar dentition, most resembling that of Dinodon and Odontomus 

 Dum. $ Bibr. From both these forms they differ in having the anterior pala- 

 tines no longer than the posterior (i. e. pterygoids), and the posterior su- 

 perior niaxillaries abruptly longer than the three or four which precede them. 



150. E. semicarinatus nobis. Head depressed, conic, the width at 

 the eighth labial plate less than half the length. Muzzle rounded conic, pro- 

 minent, acute in profile. Pupil ? Body cylindrical, tail one-fourth of total 

 length. Scales short, obtuse, in seventeen longitudinal rows ; anteriorly 

 smooth, near the middle of the body three or four rows, and finally seven or 

 eight, having distinct keels on the anterior half of each scale. Those of the 

 tail smooth. No larger vertebral series. Rostral plate exhibiting a large 

 crescentic inferior surface ; superior surface large, presenting an obtuse angle 

 between the prefrontals. Postfrontals three thnes the size of the prefrontals. 

 Vertical broad, short, pentagonal, the anterior border greater than the lateral, 

 and equal to the greatest length of the plate. Superciliaries not acute in front. 

 Occipitals elongate, not bifurcate, bordered by two large temporals on each 

 side. The anterior of these is narrow, and separated from the sixth and 

 seventh labials by a broader and shorter plate, both in contact with the post- 

 oculars. The posterior is broad, and bordered by two others on its postero- 

 inferior border. 



Superior labials eight, third, fourth and fifth entering the orbit. Two post- 

 one preocular. Loreal low, elongate, acute behind, not reaching the orbit. 

 Nasal plates two, nostril large. Inferior labials ten, geneials two pair. 



Coloration. Above yellowish brown, crossed by forty-two large black spots. 

 The scales which fall in the border of each spot are absolutely black, but those 

 enclosed have a large central spot of the ground-color. The latter appears 

 above as light transverse bands one scale wide. There are seventeen spots on 

 the tail, darker than those of the body. Head above brownish black, con- 

 tinuous with the first dorsal spot. From the posterior extremity of each occi- 

 pital plate a yellowish band proceeds outwards and backwards, uniting with 

 an area of the same color which extends from the throat upon the sides of the 

 neck. In the centre of this area is a brownish black spot. Spottings of yel- 

 lowish on the temporal plates form an irregular postocular band, and another 

 equally indefinite and irregular extends from the eye round the muzzle. Su- 

 perior labials (except their edges) chin, throat, belly and under surface of tail 

 brownish yellow. The ends of the gastrosteges on the flanks, partly in- 

 cluded in a series of spots which alternate with the larger ones of the back. 

 Urosteges spotted with blackish. Gastrosteges 221 ; one entire post-abdomi- 

 nal ; urosteges 92 pair. Total length, 37 inches ; the tail 9 in. 3 lines. One 

 specimen, captured by Mr. Heine of the U. S. Japan expedition at Loo Choo, 

 presented by the Smithsonian Inst. 



151. E. striatus nobis. Coronella striata Hallowell, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 1856, p. 152. 



This serpent resembles the preceding in many point3 remarkably in the 

 dentition yet presents differences which may at some time be regarded as 

 generic. The entrance of the loral plate into the orbit, the smooth scales with 

 the vertebral series slightly larger, and the elliptic pupil, approximate it to the 

 Dinodon cancellatum Dum. & Bibr. In the palatine and superior maxil- 

 lary teeth the differences are of a kind which would be considered generic by 

 the authors of the Erpetologie Generate. In specific characters there is much 

 resemblance, but our serpent has fewer urosteges, there being 70 to 193 gas- 

 trosteges ; in the Dinodon 168 to 194. The spots above are reddish brown, not 

 Hack ; and the belly is not punctulated posteriorly. 



We at one time thought that our specimen belonged to the Lycodon rufo- 



1860.] 



