216 Lacertidie. 



I. 2. 

 Deptli of liead ..... 8 6 



Fore limb 20 19 



Hiudlimb 35 36 



Foot 19 20 



Tail 1-28 105 



1. (J, Saperghau. 2. (J.Niriz. 3. $ , Sapergbau. 4. 

 Habitat. — Ojihiojjs elegans occurs over tbe greater part of Persia, 

 but is apparently absent from tbe Elburz Mountains, wbilst iu tbe 

 soutb it is found only between 1000 and 3000 ni. altitude, according to 

 Blauford.* 



Var. MIZOLEPIS, Stoliczka. 



A single specimen from tbe low country S.W. of Kalabagb on tbe 

 Indus bas been made tbe type of a distinct species, and even referred 

 to a separate genus on account of tbe presence of a single postnasal 

 instead of two. I bave not seen tbe specimen, stated to bave 34 scales 

 and plates round tbe body and 12 femoral pores on eacb side, but 

 tbere is notbing in tbe original description to warrant a separation 

 from 0. elegans, and I sbould bave been inclined to regard tbe presence 

 of one postnasal instead of two as an individual peculiarity, sucb 

 as I bave noted iu 0. occidentalis, were it not tbat Blauford bas 

 rediscovered tbe same form at Basra, Mesopotamia, wbere it is said to 

 occur iu abundance, and wbere tbe cbaracter appears to be fixed. f It 

 is also notewortby that tbe only two specimens from Haifa in Palestine 

 examined by Boettger are distinguisbed from all otlier Syrian in- 

 dividuals by tbe same cbaracter. In view of tbe constancy of tbe 

 single postnasal iu individuals from certain localities, I retain 0- 

 tnizolepis under a varietal name. 



I bave examined two of Blanford's Basra specimens as well as two 

 recently obtained at tbe same place by Col. Wall,;]: also 2 from tbe 

 Felujab-Eamadieb Road (C. L. Boulenger), 9 from the banks of the 

 Euphrates, near Suk esh Sbuyuk, and 2 fi-om Amara, Mesopotamia, 

 received from Capt. P. A. Buxton ; except for the presence of three 

 shields bordering the nostril, I cannot distinguish them from tbe var. 

 elirenherg'ii. 



* The altitude of 3000 m. is also reached on Mt. Heruion by the var. chren- 

 bergii (Festa Collection in Turin Museum). 



t According to Blanf ord it occurs as a rare exception in S. Persia : "In two 

 specimens . . . the lower nasal is joined to the lower postnasal, so that the 

 nasal shields resemble those in Chondrophiops [= Gynmops] or Eremias." 



X Preserved in the Collection of the Bombay Natural History Society. 



