LACERTA MURALIS IN WESTERN EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA, 399 
As regards the coloration, which is highly variable in individuals associating 
together, the resemblance to var. campestris is, as a rule, greater than to any other 
form, and some specimens approach the latter so closely that it is not surprising that 
most authors should have failed to draw a distinction between the two forms. 
The head is often comparatively larger than in the typical form and the var. 
campestris ; its width is contained once and a half to once and two-thirds in its length ; 
its depth equals the distance between the anterior border or the centre of the eye and 
the anterior border of the tympanum ; the snout is obtusely pointed and as long as or 
a little longer than the postocular part of the head. 
The hind limb reaches the collar, or between the collar and the ear in males, the 
axilla, the shoulder, or the collar in females; foot once and one-sixth to once and a 
half the length of the head. 
The tail is rounded in section and measures once and two-thirds to twice and four- 
fifths the length of head and body, 
The rostral never enters the nostril and is nearly always separated from the 
frontonasal by the nasals!; postnasal single; frontal as long as its distance from the 
end of the snout, or shorter; series of granules between the supraciliaries and the 
principal supraoculars rarely complete 7, the first supraciliary, and sometimes also the 
second, being in contact with the second supraocular ; parietals once and one-third to 
once and a half as long as broad, nearly always in contact with the upper postocular ? ; 
occipital usually shorter but frequently broader than the interparietal ; temporal scales 
granular, usually not much larger than the dorsals; tympanic shield distinct ; 
masseteric shield usually present 4, more or less developed, separated from the parietal 
or from the upper temporal by one to three series of scales; almost constantly four 
upper labials anterior to the subocular °. 
Collar with even edge (Pl. XXVIII. fig. 5) or very feebly serrated, composed of 
7 to 12 (usually 9 to 11) plates ; 25 to 33 scales and granules in a longitudinal series 
between the symphysis of the chin-shields and the median collar-plate ; gular fold 
distinct. 
Dorsal scales (Pl. XXVIII. fig. 3a) very small, convex, round or roundish-hexagonal, 
more or less distinctly keeled, sometimes smaller still and irregularly disposed on 
the vertebral line ; 58 to 77 scales across the middle of the body, usually 62 to 70; 
3 and 4, 4, or 4 and 5 transverse series correspond to one ventral plate, 35 to 60 
to the length of the head. 
Ventral plates in 6 longitudinal and 23 to 30 transverse series. Praanal plates 
usually smaller than in the typical form and with two semicircles of small plates. 
’ The rostral forms a suture with the frontonasal in a female from Modica and in a male from Rome. 
* Two specimens from Procida Id,, one from Casamicciola Id., one from Ischia, one from Syracuse. 
* Exceptions in three specimens from Catania, in two from Lipari Id. (Plate XXYVII. figs. 5, 5«@), in one 
from Giglio Id., in one from Ponza Id., in one from Capri, in one from Pompeii, and in one from Messina, 
* Absent in two specimens from the Faraglioni, in one from Capri. 
® Five on each side in one specimen from Pompeii and in one from Messina. 
