222 REPTILES. 



7. PsEUDOHAJE, Gunther. 



Body rather elongate, with rounded sides ; tail moderate ; 

 head rather small, high, quadrangular, with spheroid crown and 

 short, rounded muzzle. Shields of crown moderate, superciligjry 

 large ; loreal replaced by ocular and posterior nasal ; two nasals, 

 nostril between ; one anterior, three posterior oculars ; third 

 labial forming nearly the lower half of front edge of orbit. Scales 

 large, smooth, imbricate, in thirteen rows, those of the vertebral 

 line much larger, hexagonal. Anterior ribs shortest. Anal 

 entire ; subcaudals two-rowed. Grooved fang in front ; two 

 smaller, not grooved ones behind. 



1. PSEUDOHAJE NIGRA. 



Uniform black, paler beneath, 



a. Adult. Sine patria. Presented by the Earl of Derby. 



Description of the specimen. — Body rather elongate, rounded ; 

 tail moderate, not distinct from trunk, tapering, ending in a 

 long, conical, very acute spine; head rather small, not very 

 distinct from neck, with spheroid crown and short, rounded 

 muzzle. Shields of crown regular, moderate ; rostral reaching 

 the surface of snout ; vertical five- sided, longer than broad, with 

 rather convergent outer edges, and a very obtuse angle behind ; 

 occipitals rounded behind, and forming together a right angle ; 

 superciliary large, prominent above the eye ; one anterior ocular, 

 not reaching the surface of crown ; three posterior oculars ; loreal 

 replaced by ocular and posterior nasal ; nostril between two nasal 

 shields ; seven upper labials : first and second small, suppressed by 

 the nasals ; third and fourth coming into the orbit ; sixth as in 

 Naja haje, very large, in contact with both lower oculars ; one 

 temporal shield in contact with both upper oculars, two or three 

 smaller ones behind. Scales smooth, large, very regularly dis- 

 posed, on the neck in fifteen, on the anterior part of body in 

 thirteen rows ; those of the vertebral line much larger, hexagonal, 

 as in Bungarus ; anal entire ; subcaudals bifid. Grooved longer 

 tooth in front, two small ones behind, not grooved ; mandibular 

 teeth small, those in front rather longer. Uniform black, paler 

 beneath. Length of cleft of mouth l^^g^"; length of tail 1' 7"; 

 total length 7' 7"- 



8. Naja, Laurenti. 



Body and tail moderate ; belly flat ; head high, quadrangular, 

 not very distinct from neck, with rather short, rounded muzzle. 

 Rostral moderate, rounded, sometimes produced backwards and 

 pointed ; frontals moderate, nearly equal ; vertical moderate ; 



