58 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



Lycophidion laterale, nob. 



Sp. Char. Uniformly reddish brown above and olive below, with the exception 

 of two lateral yellow vittEe on each side of the head, the one reaching to the 

 angle of the jaw, the other to the posterior margin of the occiput; 17 rows of 

 smooth scales. 



Description. Head cuneiform, flat above, shelving forward, the plates exhibiting 

 the appearance of a polished surface ; snout rounded ; rostral plate much 

 broader than high, with an obtuse angle at its summit ; the inter-nasals 

 are quite small compared with the pre-frontals, their external margins in con- 

 tact with the nasal and the first frenal ; the pre-frontals are quite large 

 presenting an acute angle externally, where they are in contact with the first 

 and second frenal and the antocular; the frontal is short and broad, its pos- 

 terior angle acute, its anterior and external corners bevelled, the inter- 

 mediate space undulating; it measures nearly a line and a half in length, by 

 one and a quarter in breadth ; the supra-oculars are quite short, about one-half 

 their usual length, broader posteriorly; the posterior half of their external 

 margin in contact with the superior post-ocular ; the parietals are large, much 

 longer than broad, in contact anteriorly with the supra-ocular; the first post- 

 ocular, and by a very small facet at their anterior and external angle, with the 

 second posterior ocular ; there is one frenal plate, longer than broad, with 

 ♦ an acute angle posteriorly ; it is in contact above with the pre-frontal ; it pre- 

 sents a somewhat obtuse angle, and two surfaces inferiorly, the anterior in 

 contact with the first supra- labial, the posterior with the second ; its anterior 

 and superior border is much broader than its posterior, which is externally 

 narrow ; the antocular is a remarkably large plate, more narrow above, in con- 

 tact inf, ricrly with the second and third supra-nasal, above by an oblique facet 

 with the frontal, anteriorly by a convex margin with the pre-frontal, posteriorly 

 with the eye, and the anterior border of the supra-ocular plate; there are two 

 post-oculars, the inferior the larger of the two ; there are eight superior labials, 

 no two precisely alike, the first the smallest, the sixth, which is pentagonal, the 

 largest, the eye resting on the third and fourth ; the third is separated from the 

 anterior margin of the orbit ; the fourth supra-labial and the antocular inter- 

 vening ; the nasal plate is somewhat quadrangular in shape, the nostril being 

 situated in its posterior half, its posterior border in contact with the anterior 

 border of the naso-frenal, which presents an oblique facet without any sinuation 

 whatever; the plates upon the top of the head are all highly polished; the eye 

 is small, the pupil ovoid, rather than round ; there are two rows of temporal 

 plates, three in the inferior, two in the row above, and a large quadrangular 

 plate between these and the parietals; immediately behind the parietals, are two 

 smaller plates than the latter, with a still smaller one between them ; the 

 mental and accessary labials present nothing remarkable ; the anterior geneials 

 are quite broad, larger than the posterior, which are much more narrow ; four 

 small teeth precede the larger one in the upper jaw, then follows an interspace 

 succeeded by nine or more small teeth of nearly equal size ; anterior to the large 

 tooth in the lower jaw are also several smaller ones, succeeded by a row of nine 

 or more small teeth, the anterior a little the largest on the left side, but not in 

 the right; the palatine teeth are in two long rows, and present an ovoid space 

 posteriorly ; the neck is of nearly the same thickness as the head behind, the body 

 thicker, the tail short and robust, rapidly tapering to a point ; the scales are 

 smooth and shining, those upon the neck more narrow, those upon the body 

 broader, with rounded posterior angles ; the inferior row perhaps a litile the 

 largest; there are 15 rows upon the neck, 17 upon the middle of the body, 8 

 near the root of the tail ; the scales upon the tail appe^ir to be irregular, about 

 three lines from the vent they are homogeneous, but posterior to this space may 

 be observed two parallel rows of hexagonal scales broader than the others, suc- 

 ceeded by siualler ones, and then a single row of four narrow and quite broad 

 hexagonal plates ; the gastrostega are narrow, the sides of the abdomen not 

 angular. 



[Feb. 



