20 Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washingloi). 



continuous with the superciliaries ; loreal rows five or six; subocular 

 semicircles in contact with supralabials; supralabials six, the suture 

 between the fifth and sixth under the centre of the eye ; temporals exces- 

 sively minute, granular, no enlarged series forming a supratemporal line; 

 dorsal and lateral scales minute, granular, none on the middorsal line 

 enlarged ; ventral scales medium in size, flat, imbricate, without trace of 

 keel; scales of throat and chest also smooth; forehmbs above with small, 

 imbricate, very feebly keeled scales, smaller than theventrals; femur and 

 tibia with similar but slightly larger and smooth or very feebly keeled 

 scales; fingers and toes above not distinctly carinate; digital expansion 

 narrow, about 15 lamellae under phalanges II and III of fourth toe; tail 

 broken in type; (in U. S. N. M. No. 26,731 — tail long, compressed, 

 without a "fin," divided into irregular segments of about 5, keeled scales 

 each, the limiting row of each segment slightly enlarged) ; in type, dewlap 

 rather large, with smooth scales, anterior edge slightly thickened ; post- 

 anal scales not enlarged. 



Color of the type in life, mottled gray brown, of more or less a "salt 

 and pepper" appearance. Dewlap white, with a large rich red brown 

 spot at its base, surrounded by the white; the scales of the brown area 

 white like the rest, the skin only colored. Belly whitish but throat with 

 longitudinal dark lines. (All the paratypes show this character. ) 



Variation. — There is marked variation in the degree of carination of 

 the head shields. U. S. N. M. No. 26,931 has them almost smooth, yet 

 we can not believe that this specimen represents a separate species. 



Habits. — The species seems to be one which is found almost wholly 

 along the edges of woods on the trunks of trees and in shrubbery. The 

 first author observed it often in the Valley of Luis Lazo and on his return 

 was surprised to find but two specimens among the Anoles secured. While 

 there with Prof, de la Torre and his assistant Sefior V. J. Rodriguez, 

 Barbour's companion, Mr. W. S. Brooks, was taken with a very severe 

 fever and in the hurried packing up of our booty and rather precipitate 

 departure we fear that some specimens may have been left behind. Suffice 

 it then to say that we recognized the species at once in life as one com- 

 pletely unknown to us and one which we have not seen elsewhere during 

 our many journeys throughout Cuba. Mr. and Mrs. Barbour collected 

 during part of 1912 at San Diego de los Banos but failed to find the 

 creature there as Palmer and Riley did — probably because they were at 

 San Diego during a singularly cool and dry season when all Anoles were 

 rare. 



We have named this species for an old friend. Doctor Aristides Mestre, 

 Adjunct Professor of Biology at the University of Havana. 



