72 BULLETIN 151, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



report on the Lang and Chapin Congo collections, also for detailed 

 notes on variation based on a series of 130 specimens. Schmidt 

 says that while the majority of females remain striped, occasional 

 specimens adopt the male coloring. Owing to the devisceration of 

 many specimens by the field collectors in both this and other series 

 it is not always easy to be sure of the sex; in the following remarks, 

 therefore, I have had to assume that all specimens lacking stripes and 

 with the vertical barring on the sides of the neck are males and 

 striped skinks are either females or young males. 



The largest male (No. 49169) measures 241 (104 + 137) mm.; the 

 largest female (No. 40153) 206 (85 + 121) mm. 



While the soles of the feet are usually not spinose, very occa- 

 sionally — 10 per cent of the present series — the soles are markedly 

 spinose. In applying Boulenger's key in the Catalogue of Lizards 

 to the latter they are thrown out of the quinquetaeniata section into 

 the striata-varia group. I presume that something of the kind 

 occurred when Werner described M. ohsti, for though he does not 

 actually state that the soles of its feet are spinose he compares his 

 specimens throughout with M. striata. His material consisted of five 

 adults and two young; though the spinosity is chiefly a juvenile 

 character, it is well marked in specimens in the present series (No. 

 66902, for example) even larger than Werner's largest female, which 

 was 145 (65 + 80) mm.; his biggest male, -^hich was 165 (60+105) 

 mm., is well imder the dimensions when males assume their fully 

 adult livery; this occurs when they are about 215 (85 + 130) mm. 

 Having collected such males at Dodoma and seen females at many 

 places in Dodoma Province, I have no hesitation in referring ohsti 

 to the synonymy of quinquetaeniata. Unfortunately the types of 

 ohsti have been lost, both those that were returned to the Ham- 

 burg Museum and the specimen or specimens retained by Doctor 

 Werner. In 1924 and again in 1929 both parties were approached 

 and endeavors made to trace the types but without success. 



Sternfeld's M. quinquetaeniata hiJdehrandtii was based on three 

 badly preserved males from Tail a which had from 44 to 46 mid- 

 body scale rows. Anderson gives 35 to 42 for Egyptian (therefore 

 topotypic) quinquetaeniata. In the present series I find from 38 to 

 46, with a probable average of 44, for only half the series have been 

 counted. The lowest number, 34 (Mount Lololok^\'i), 38 (Guaso 

 Nyiro), 40 (Indunamara Mtn.) 42 to 46 (Voi), 44 to 46 (Sagalla), 

 this last locality being near Taita. It is obvious that there is a tend- 

 ency for an increase of scale rows as one proceeds southwards, but 

 everj'where the overlapping is considerable. Schmidt gives 36 to 41 

 for the Congo. Peters records 42 to 44 in his description of mar- 

 garitifer from Tette, Mozambique. If a southerly race must be 



