Lacerta. 315 



of opinion, but what is impox'tant is to dispose of tlie statements 

 hitherto made by different authors as to the characters which were 

 believed to justify a specific separation, such as a longer and flatter 

 head, lon^^er limbs, the shape and size of the occipital shield, the 

 temporal scutellation, the coloi*ation, etc.,* by showing liow far they 

 are to be relied upon, and what importance is to be attached to them 

 by analogy Avith the variations recognised in other l>etter-known allied 

 species, such as L. mural is and L. oxycephala . 



The head is often somewhat flatter and more elongate than in 

 L. daiifnrdii, but not constantly, one adult male (from Kumbos) being 

 in this respect absolutely identical with one of the types from Asia 

 Minor (see p. 312, measurements, column 2). This individual variation, 

 which is not even so great as in L. uiurallfi, var. bocayii, is best shown 

 by measurements of a few specimens : 



The head is thus seen to be roughly 1 } to If times as long as broad, 

 the length of the pileus about twice its width ; the depth of the head 

 equals the distance between the centre of the eye and the anterior 

 border of the tympanum ; snout obtusely pointed, as long as or a little 

 longer than postocular part of head. Proportions of limbs and tail 

 as in the typical form. 



Rostral usually entering the nostril, sometimes narrowly separated 

 from it. Upper head-shields as in the typical form, except tliat, when 

 the head is moi'e elongate, the frontal and the fi'ontonasal are longer 



* It may be interesting to reproduce here the reasons given by the original 

 describer of L. grxca for distinguishing it from L. danfordii: " Da man kiirz- 

 lich versiicht hat L. davfordi mit L. f/r.vra zii vereinigen, so will ich hierselbst 

 auf die Hauptiinterschiede, welche ich zwischen dem mir vorliegenden Exemplar 

 von L. danj'ordi und don gra^ca gefunden zu haben glaube, hinweisen : D. dan- 

 fordi. Kopf pyramidal, Rumpf nahezu walzenfurmig. Ofcipitale kleiner als 

 das Interparietale, Massetericum vorlianden ; gewiilbte, gegen den Sehwanz hin 

 gekielte Rumpfschuppen. 19 Schenkeldriisen. L. grceca. Kopf und Kumpf 

 abgeplatted. Occipitale grosser als das Interparietale, Massetericum fehlend ; 

 ziemlich flache, gegen den Sehwanz hin schwach eingedriicktc Rumpfschuppen. 

 22-24 Schenkeldnisen." (Bedriaga, op. cit. p. 246.) 



