154 [August, 



SCINCIDiE. 

 Gen. PLESTIODON. 

 Plestiodon sinense ? Dumeril and Bibron. 



Char. Head cuneiform, slightly swollen at the temples ; nostrils lateral, 

 opening in a single plate; two supero-nasals, broad and contiguous; an inter- 

 ternasal, quadrangular, posterior angle acute, enclosed by the fronto-nasals ; 

 (in one specimen the fronto-nasal and internasals are all fused into one plate ;) 

 a frontal-hexagonal, broader in front ; two fronto-parietals ; one inter-parietal ; 

 two parietals ; no occipital ; a freno-nasal ; a large and broad frenal ; two freno- 

 orbitar plates ; seven superior labials ; nostrils pyriform, broader end above, 

 three or four scales upon its anterior border ; third and fourth fingers of equal 

 length ; body robust ; scales hezagoaal, 24 rows ; tail long and tapering, robust 

 and cyclo-tetragonal at base ; posterior extremities much shorter than anterior ; 

 second toe much the longest, with 14 distinct transverse scales ; palms of ante- 

 rior and lobes of posterior extremities tuberculated ; six prseanal scales, the two 

 middle ones quite large ; pterygoid teeth ; tongue slightly notched in front, 

 broad and deeply notched posteriorly, squamiform posteriorly. 



Color. Olive above, with four dark colored and more or less interrupted bands 

 upon the back and tail, the black spots forming these bands, which are not very 

 distinct, occupying the posterior half of each scale ; in some specimens they are 

 much larger than in others ; posterior part of scales upon sides marked with 

 black. 



Dimensions. Length of head 10 lines, greatest breadth 6^ ; length of neck, 

 body and vent 3 inch, (Fr. ;) of tail 4 inches 6 lines. Total length 8 inches 3 

 lines. Circumference of body 2 inches 2 lines ; of tail at base 1 inch 7 lines. 

 Another specimen measured 9 inches in length, and the circumference of the 

 apparently older one was 2 inches 8 lines. 



Habitat. Ningpo, China. Five specimens presented by B. H. McCartee, M.D. 

 Nothing is known of its habits. 



Gen. Remarks. This animal is very probably the Plestiodon sinense of Du- 

 meril and Bibron, Tiliqua rubriventris, Gray, (Hardwicke's Illustrations of 

 Indian Zoology,) the descriptions of the scales corresponding, viz., olive bordered 

 with yellow, but they make no mention of the four dotted lines down the back, 

 which, however, are shown in Gray's figure, and they give one more row of 

 scales, viz., 25. We have one specimen from the same locality with three white 

 lines down the back bordered with black, probably the young of the above, and 

 which is perhaps identical with Plestiodon pulchrum, Dumeril and Bibron or 

 Tiliqua trivittata, Gray. 



Gen. EuPREPis. 



EUPREPIS SURINAMENSIS, nob. 



Char. Nostrils in a single plate, near its posterior border ; two supero-nasals 

 contiguous ; a large and broad internasal, its lateral and inferior margin in con- 

 tact with the first frenal ; two fronto-nasals not contiguous ; a frontal more ex- 

 tended in the longitudinal direction, bi'oader in front; two fronto-parietals ; a 

 short inter-parietal ; two parietals ; no occipital ; a small naso-frenal ; two frenals 

 and two freno-orbitar plates ; seven superior labials ; four supraciliary plates ; 

 a transparent disk to the inferior eyelid; 30 rows of scales, those upon back 

 Iricarinate ; carinae indistinct ; of the prseanal scales the two middle the largest. 



Color. Olive above, with brown spots, arranged into two longitudinal rows : 

 a brown band on each side from one and a half to two lines in breadth, com- 

 mencing behind the eye and passing over the ear, losing itself upon the tail ; 

 extremities blotched with brown above ; under parts silvery white without spots. 

 Total length '7 inches 3 lines. 



Ilabiiat. Surinam. One specimen presented by Dr. Bering. 



