CHIAMELA LINEATA. 95 



CHIAMELA, Grmj. 



Scales smooth, not striated or keeled. Body and tail elongate, tapering, 

 without any keels or spines. Nostrils lateral, in a single shield. Limbs 

 four, short, feeble, far apart, each with four clawed toes. 



Only one species is known. 



ChIAMELA LINEATA. 



Chiamela lineata, Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. ii. p. 333. 



Two band-like, transverse, contiguous supranasals. Opening of the ear small, nearly 

 hidden under the scales. The first hind toe very short, the second and third gradually 

 longer ; the third and fourth equal and longest. Brownish, with black lines corresponding 

 to the series of scales. 



I have seen only a very small specimen of this Slow-worm-like Lizard ; it is not known in 

 what part of the East Indies it is found. 



Anguis melanosticta. — Russell (Ind. Serp. i. tab. 42) figures a small Blindworm-like Reptile which has 

 not been recognized by later naturalists. The figure does not give suificient characteristic details to enable 

 us to determine the genus to which this reptile belongs, or even to ascertain whether it is a Lizard or a 

 Snake. Merrem names it Tortrix melanosticta : Gray refers it provisionally to Anguis. The specimen 

 figured was obtained on the coast of Coromandel, and is described as follows : — 



" Ventral shields 151, subcaudals 120. The head not broader than the neck, ovate, obtuse, convex, 

 covered with laminse of unusual shapes. The first pair small, perforated by the nostrils ; then one lamina, 

 transverse, resembling a flask with a short neck ; the next between the eyes, broad-oval ; the next sagit- 

 tate ; and, behind all, two, long-oval, lying obliquely on the occiput. The mouth not wide ; the jaws 

 unequal. The teeth small, numerous, reflex; a marginal and two palatal rows in the upper jaw. The 

 eyes lateral, small, suboval, not prominent. The nostrils close to the point of the rostrum, very small. 

 The trimk cyUndric, nearly of equal thickness from the head to the end of the tail. The scales small, 

 orbicular, imbricate, and each having a black dot : eight or ten parallel dotted lines are formed, running 

 from the head to the end of the tail. The length IO5 inches ; thickness about that of a swan-quill. The 

 tail round, smooth, hardly tapering, point blunt ; measures 4^ inches. The colour a reddish brown ; but 

 part of the tail is cineritious, or of a pale blue ; the abdominal and subcaudal squamee are of a glossy white, 

 without dots. It quickly buries itself in the sand when pursued." 



