310 BULLETIN 17 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and fourth labials; nasals, remainder of labials, and posterior half of 

 ocular pale yellow; ocular above eye dark brown; each dark body 

 scale with an abruptly light base; under side pale yellow, the colora- 

 tion of upper and lower surfaces blending very gradually together, 

 with no abrupt transition anywhere. 



Variations. — A specimen labeled simply Santo Domingo, No. 

 66887, agrees with the described specimen in possessing the very 

 conspicuously enlarged parietals. On the right side of the head are 

 two postoculars; the left side is normal, possessing but one. This 

 snake is smaller in size, darker in coloration, and has dark centers 

 through the nasals and preocular, as well as on the rostral plate. 

 Another large but bleached snake, No. 10276, from Puerto Plata, has 

 enlarged parietals and a single postocular, just as in No. 55298. A 

 recently collected specimen, No. 75893, has enlarged parietals but 

 possesses two postoculars, the upper one of which, however, is quite 



Figure 



-Typhlops sulcaius: a, Top of head; b, side of head; c, chin. U.S.N.M. No. 

 12371, type, from Navassa Island. Three times natural size. 



small. It is more purplish than the preceding specimens, and the high 

 lights falling on the smooth scales give it a metallic appearance. 



As I stated in a former paper on the species, the variation in the 

 Hispaniolan form is not sufficiently known to justify separation as a 

 distinct species. Much more material ought to be secured from the 

 Bahamas and Navassa, as well as from Hispaniola itself. 



On this page is a drawing made from a photograph of the actual 

 type of Cope's Typhlops sulcatus (U.S.N.M. No. 12371, Navassa 

 Island. 14 More topotypic material from Navassa is urgently needed 

 before the validity of this species can be settled. The main difference 

 that is instantly apparent upon comparing the type of T. sulcatus 

 with T. lumbricalis from Hispaniola is that in the former the nasal 

 suture does not reach the rostral, but stops short at the nostril, while 

 in the latter a perfectly distinct suture from the rostral to the upper 

 labial divides the nasals into two separate scales. But the value of 

 this character will be known only by the regularity with which it 

 occurs in a series of blindsnakes from the respective type localities. 

 The number of ventrals is about 385 in sulcatus, a much higher count 



