362 Coe and Kunkel— California Limbless Lizard. 
rounded at the posterior end, but in several blunt-tailed individuals 
the tail was one half the length of the body proper, showing that 
when broken the tail always becomes rounded regardless of the posi- 
tion of the injury. Of some 50 adult specimens measured, the 
maximum length of the body from snout to cloacal opening was 
153™™, the average being 128.5"™; the length of the tail of the same 
specimens averaged 41.1™™; and the total length, 169.67". The 
greatest diameter of these specimens varied from 5 to 7™™, 
There are apparently two distinct varieties of coloring, corre- 
sponding to the varieties nigra and pulchra. In the more common 
variety, nigra, which made up about two thirds of the total number 
of specimens examined, the dorsal side is of a dark purplish brown; 
and in the less common prlchra, it is of a pale steel blue. In both 
varieties the color is uniform and extends on the dorsal surface for 
about one third the circumference of the body; that is, ten or eleven 
longitudinal rows of scales on the dorsal side are deeply pigmented. 
Adjacent to the pigmented scales on each side is a row of scales 
slightly paler than the dorsal ones. In some of the more deeply 
colored specimens, the row next but one to the unpigmented is 
slightly darker than any of the dorsal ones, thus giving rise to a 
lateral line of darker color. The ventral side is always very faintly 
colored; the individuals of the variety padchra are slightly more of 
a cream color on the ventral side than those of the darker colored 
variety, which tend more to a decidedly yellow color. There is 
comparatively little difference, however, in the coloring of the ven- 
tral side. In the variety nigra the scales on the ventral side show 
very slight and delicate pigmentation on their lateral borders, but 
this is entirely wanting in the paler individuals. The ventral side 
of the head and neck is pigmented like the dorsal side but is not 
quite so dark. This pigmentation extends back in the median line 
for nearly twice the length of the mouth, but not so far laterally, 
and gradually passes over to the general color of the ventral side of 
the body. A small number of scales immediately anterior to the 
cloacal opening are likewise pigmented in some individuals. The 
scales on the ventral side of the tail are pigmented on their lateral 
borders, giving the effect of slightly irregular zigzag lines equal in 
number to the longitudinal rows of scales on the ventral side. The 
pigment of the dorsal side extends around the tip of the tail fora 
distance of a millimeter or two on the ventral side. 
There is no trace of an external ear, but the position of the audi- 
tory capsule in the skull is posterior to the specialized plates of the 
