VIRGINIA. 



127 



Genus VIMGIl^IA, Baird & Girard. 



Gen. Char. Head subelliptical, detached from the body. Cepha- 

 lic plates normal. Two nasals ; posterior one not invaded by the 

 nostril. Postfrontals and loral entering into the orbit, and suppress- 

 ing the anteorbitals. Two postorbitals. Mental scutellai two pairs. 

 Eyes of medium size, circular. Scales smooth. Postabdominal 

 scutella bifid. Subcaudal all divided. 



Tir^ittia Valeriae, B. & G. — Yellowish or grayish brown above, 

 with minute black dots irregularly scattered, or constituting two series. 

 Beneath lighter. Dorsal scales in 15 rows. 



Vertical plate hexagonal, more or less elongated; occipitals ob- 

 long, exteriorly rounded. Postfrontals irregularly angular, produced 

 into the orbit. Prefrontals subtriangular, proportionally small. 

 Rostral narrow, and tapering upwards. Nostrils in the middle of 

 the posterior margin of the prenasal. Loral elongated, forming to- 

 gether with the postfrontals, the anterior portion of the orbit. Eyes 

 circular. Superciliarics rather large, oblong, elongated. Postorbitals 

 two (angular), lower one between the 4th and 5th labials. Mouth 

 deeply cleft. Upper labials 6, 5th largest; inferior labials 6, 4th 

 largest. Temporal shields four or five, well developed. Body slen- 

 der, subcylindrical, flattened beneath ; tail very short, diminishing 

 very rapidly towards its acute tip. 



The scales arc subrhomboidal and perfectly smooth ; the two outer 

 rows considerably broader than the rest, then diminishing gradually 

 towards the middle line of the back. 



Ground-color uniform yellowish or grayish brown ; dull yellow 

 beneath. Minute black dots are in most cases scattered along the 

 upper part of the body, forming sometimes two longitudinal series. 

 Along the middle of each scale is a faint light line, which makes the 



