276 COLUBUIB.?:. 



F. Uniform reddish browu above and on the sides ; lateral ventral 

 dots well marked. 



o. (S (V. 125 ; C. 46). Port Elizabeth. J. M. Leslie, E?q. [P.]. 



2. Homalosoma shiranum. (Plate XIII. fig. 1.) 

 Homalosoma lutrix (non L.), Giinth. Proe. Zool. Soc. 1892, p. 555. 



Eostral broader than deep, visible from above ; suture between 

 the internasals thrice as long as that between the prsefrontals ; 

 frontal once and two thirds as long as broad, longer than its 

 distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals, 

 nearly twice as broad as the supraocular ; nostril in the anterior 

 half of the nasal ; no loreal, nasal forming a suture with the prte- 

 ocular ; one proe- and one postocular ; temporals 1 + 2 ; six upper 

 labials, third and fourth entering the eye ; two pairs of short chin- 

 shields in contact with each other, the anterior in contact with 

 three labials. Scales in 15 rows. Yentrals 142 ; anal entire ; sub- 

 caudals 33. Uniform olive-brown above ; belly yellowish white in 

 the middle ; outer ends of ventrals and lower rows of scales grey. 



Total length 310 millim. ; tail 47. 



Nyassaland. 



a. 2 (V. 142 ; C. 33). Shire Highlands. H. H. Johnston, Esq. [P.]. 



3. Homalosoma abyssinicum. (Plate XIII. fig. 2.) 

 Homolosoma lutrix (wo?? L.), Blanf. Zool. Abyss, p. 458 (1870). 



Eostral broader than deep, visible from above ; suture between 

 the internasals hardly half as long as that between the praefrontals ; 

 frontal scarcely longer than broad, as long as its distance from the 

 end of the snout, shorter than the parietals, a little broader than 

 the supraocular ; nostril in the anterior half of the nasal ; no 

 loreal, nasal forming a suture with the prsocular; one prae- and 

 one postocular ; temporals l-|-2 ; six upper labials, third and fourth 

 entering the eye ; two pairs of chin-shields in contact with each 

 other, the anterior in contact with three labials. Scales in 15 rows. 

 Yentrals 120 ; anal entire ; subcaudals 32. Olive-brown above, with 

 a fine, interrupted, black vertebral line ; sides black, dotted with 

 ■whitish ; belly greyish olive, spotted and freckled with black on 

 the sides. 



Total length 235 millim. ; tail 43. 



Abyssinia. 



a. S (V. 120; C. 32). Ashangi. W. T. Blanford, Esq. [P.]. 



4. Homalosoma variegatum. 



Homalosoma variegatum, Peters, Mmi. Berl. Ac. 1854, p. C22, and 

 Peise n. Mossnmb. iii. p. 107, pi. xvi. fig. 1 (1882) ; Boitleng. Ann. 

 Sf May. N. H. (6) ii. 1888, p. 140. 



