Mr. Gray on new Reptiles from Australia. 87 



RoNiA, Gray. Fam. Scincidse. 



Head rather shelving, shielded with one transverse frontal and two 

 large vertebral plates, the hinder largest ; the rostral plates large, 

 with two unequal superciliary plates. The nasal plate trian- 

 gular, interposed between the rostral plate and the frontal ones, 

 with the nostrils in its centre ; loreal plates two, square ; labial 

 plates large ; ears none, only a very indistinct sunk dot in their 

 place. Body cylindrical; tail conical, tapering. Scales smooth, 

 ovate, imbricate, of the belly 6- sided. The front limbs very 

 small, rudimentary, undivided ; the hinder limbs moderately de- 

 veloped, ending in two very unequal toes, with distinct claws. 



Ronia catenulata. Gray. Back with eight series of small black 

 dots, one dot on the centre of each scale ; cheeks black, speck- 

 led ; sides and beneath whitish. 



Body 31, tail 2i inches. 



Inhab. Western Australia. Mr. J. Gould. 



The scales under the tail are rather larger, and the spots on the 

 tail are rather larger than those on the back. 



Grammaiophora cristata. Nape with a crest of distinct, rather 

 short, curved, compressed, spinose scales ; back and tail with a 

 series of compressed scales forming a slight keel ; occiput with 

 separate short strong conical spines ; sides of the neck and back 

 with folds crowned with series of short compressed scales ; base 

 of the tail with some scattered larger scales. In spirits, dull 

 olive ; crown black with large white spots, beneath black ; 

 middle of the belly and under sides of the base of the tail white ; 

 tail with black rings at the ends ; feet whitish. 

 Inhab. Western Australia. Mr. J. Gould. 



"^rhe underside is coloured somewhat like G. maculatus (G. Gai- 

 fnardii, Dum. and Bibron), but the sides of the head near the ears 

 are spinose, and the nape is distinctly crested. But as MM. Dumeril 

 and Bibron's species is only described from a single specimen, which 

 is in a bad state, and has lost its epidermis, and as the description 

 itself, though long, refers chiefly to parts which do not differ in the 

 species of the genus, this species may prove to be identical with it. 



These authors, in giving the character of Grammaiophora Gaimardii 

 and G. Decresii, appear to place great reliance on the one having 

 tubular and the other non-tubular femoral pores, which is a fact en- 

 tirely dependent on the state in which the animal might be at the 

 time when it was put into the spirits, as I have verified by com- 

 paring numerous specimens of different reptiles furnished with these 

 pores. 



But in this genus the size of the pores is apparently of less im- 

 portance than in many others, for they appear to be quite invisible 

 in some states of the animal : thus out of many specimens of G. mu- 

 ricata brought by Mr. Gould from Van Diemen's Land and Western 

 Australia, eight specimens have no visible pores; these specimens differ 

 from the others ;n being of a rather paler colour beneath. This state 



