12 NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN TYPHLOPID^E, 



in view of the evidence above given, I should regard as a mere 

 oversight, did it not cause some difficulty with regard to another 

 species, T. affinis. 



When describing T. unguirostris, Peters stated that in an old 

 example the body scales are in twenty-four rows, while in a young 

 one there are eighteen rows only. In 1889 Boulenger* very pro- 

 perly elevated this small form to specific rank under the name 

 T. affinis, remarking that it agrees with T. unguirostris in every 

 respect except in having eighteen scales round the body (instead 

 of twenty-two or twenty-four) and a somewhat longer tail. 



From observations on the material at my disposal, I would 

 suggest that Boulenger is in error in stating that the nasal cleft 

 of T. unguirostris proceeds from the second labial, and if so his 

 description of T. affinis (being comparative) is also incorrect, for 

 he figures this speciesf as having the cleft connected with the 

 second labial. This figure I am able to verify, for the Queensland 

 collection contains a small specimen which, at the first glance, I 

 took to be a third T. unguirostris. I found that it differed from 

 my other examples and from Peters' figure in having the nasal 

 cleft in contact with the second labial. It perfectly agrees with 

 the figure of T. affinis, and if my conclusions are correct, this 

 species is much better marked than even Boulenger suspected. 



As the two examples of T. unguirostris have in addition to the 

 character mentioned twenty-four rows of scales and a short tail, 

 and as my single example of T. affinis has eighteen rows of scales, 

 and the tail longer than broad, I am able to agree with and verify 

 the other points of Boulenger's descriptions and now characterise 

 the species as follows : — 



TyiMops unguirostris, Peters. — Nasal cleft proceeding from the 

 first labial, twenty-four (or according to Boulenger, twenty-two or 

 twenty-four) scales round the body, tail nearly as long as broad. 



* Boulenger, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) iv. 1889, p. 363. 

 t Boulenger, Cat. of Snakes in B.M. i. pi. iii. f. 3. 



