On the Presence of Echis coloratus in Africa. 419 



at the base. The scutellum is, if anything, more rugosely 

 punctured than the mesonotum ; the postscutellum is more 

 sparsely punctured. Median segment transversely striated 

 as usual. Propleura? punctured, more closely above than in 

 the middle. Mesopleurae more closely and strongly punctured ; 

 metapleura? much less strongly punctured, the middle almost 

 smooth. Coxae, trochanters, and femora black ; the fore 

 coxa? below, the fore femora above and below, and the hinder 

 at both sides below yellow ; the fore tibiae rufous, tinged with 

 yellow ; the middle tibiae rufous, lined with black at the base 

 behind ; the posterior entirely black behind ; the tarsi rufous, 

 the joints black at the apex. Wings fulvous, tinged with 

 violaceous, the hinder more hyaline in tint. Abdomen 

 black ; the apex of the petiole narrowly and the apical half 

 of the other segments testaceous. 



One of the examples bears a large species of Stylopidae. 



[To be continued.] 



LV. — On the Presence of Echis coloratus, Giinther, in 

 Africa. By John Anderson, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. 



This viper, along with four other species of reptiles, was 

 found by Mr. D. MacAlister in the neighbourhood of the 

 Emerald Mines on the coast of the Red Sea, in nearly the 

 same latitude as Assuan, and was presented by him to the 

 British Museum. I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. G. A. 

 Boulenger, F.R.S., for his permission to direct attention to 

 the occurrence of this snake in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, 

 as ihe species is not included in my work on the Reptiles and 

 Batrachians of Egypt, this being the first occasion on which 

 it has been met with on the African continent. 



Mr. MacAlister informs me that the five species of reptiles 

 collected by him in the afore-mentioned locality were obtained 

 in a tract of country not more than 9 miles in breadth at any 

 point, lying between the Wadis Rousbaid, Saket, and Nugrus, 

 which open one into another and ultimately join the Wadi 

 Genial. The first two of these Wadis are dry and stony, but 

 they are covered more or less with "low scrub, Gash (Bas- 

 silla) and Soyal (Mimosa), and occasionally with small 

 pumpkins." The Wadi Nugrus is sandy and with rather 

 more scrub than in the two preceding Wadis, and the Wadi 

 Genial partakes of the same character, but it is more open. 



