70 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.60 



The specimen (U. S. Nat. Miis. 65389) is a male, collected by Mr. 

 Sowerby at Yenping-fu, with tuberculated chin-shields; the body 

 scales are very strongly carinated, even some of the outer row show- 

 ing indications of keel; the rostral is less high than in N. annularis, 

 and is only just visible from above; the parietals are A'ery short, the 

 interparietal suture being shorter than the frontal and shorter than 

 the latter's distance from the rostral; the snout is very elongate, as 

 shown by the exceedingly long internasals, the long anterior nasal, 

 the long loreal which is much longer than high; the supralabials, 

 nine in number, are unusually long, especially the seventh; they are 

 of subequal height, even the fifth which borders the eye below ; three 

 postoculars, of which the lower one is small and triangular so that 

 the upper anterior corner of the sixth supralabial just touches the 

 eye; the eye is relatively large, the diameter considerably exceeding 

 the width of the frontal at the middle; frontal rather large with 

 concave sides. The scale formula is as follows : sc. 19 ; v. 148 ; a. 2 ; 

 subc. 73; 1. 9; oc. 1.-3; temp. 2+3. 



It will thus be seen that structurally it agrees very Avell with the 

 original description of N. j^ercarinata which Boulenger characterizes 

 as distinguished from N. amiularis by the larger eye, broader rostral 

 and shorter parietals. 



The coloration, however, is very different, except in the absence 

 of dark edges to the supralabials. Boulenger's type has " the four 

 anterior upper labials grayish olive like the upper surface of the 

 head, the rest uniform yellowish white like the lower surface " and 

 our specimen has them all dark, but that seems of little importance 

 and may have to do with the greater size of the latter (718 mm. long; 

 tail 168 mm. against 500 and 130 mm. of the type). However, the 

 body pattern is different. Boulenger describes the type as being 

 " grayish olive above, sides with light edged black vertical bars ; belly 

 uniform yellowish white anteriorly, spotted and speckled with black- 

 ish posteriorly ; lower surface of tail with some black spots."' Sower- 

 by's specimen is brownish above with a pattern of more or less rhom- 

 bic spots of a more grayish color with broad margins of dark brown ; 

 these brown margins on the sides form with corresponding black 

 margins coming up from the belly a distinct large X; the black 

 ventral margins on the anterior third of the underside of the body 

 extend more or less continuously across the belly enclosing a space 

 of the yellowish white ground color, but further back each pair be- 

 comes consolidated into a broad black mark 3-4 ventrals wide either 

 forming a continuous broad black ring across the belly, or alternat- 



