160 Mr. Gr. A. Boulenger on the Varieties 



the typical form in having larger scales on an average. The 

 same form occurs also in Syria (Amystes ehrenbergii, Wiegm.), 

 together with the small-scaled 0. schlueteri, Boettg. 



I count 28 to 34 scales and plates round the middle of the 

 body ; the posterior dorsals are sometimes nearly as large as 

 the upper caurlals, forming 7 to 10 longitudinal series between 

 the hind limbs. The lower border of the subocular is usually 

 longer than in the typical form, ^ to | the length of the 

 upper border, rarely \. 



The specimens examined by me are from Constantinople, 

 Smyrna, Xanthus, Meander Valley, Zebil Bulgar Dagh 

 (Cilician Taurus), Lebanon, Mt. Hermon, Mt. Tabor, Samaria, 

 Galilee, Jerusalem. 



Var. persicus, nov. 



The specimens from Persia (Superghan, L. Urmi, Ispahan, 

 Shiiaz, Karman) are distinguished by the larger occipital, 

 which may be twice or twice and a half the width of the 

 interparietal, and the more extensive share taken by the sub- 

 ocular in the border of the mouth, agreeing with the var. 

 ehrenbergii in the latter respect. The collar is often more 

 distinct, sometimes free across the throat. 30 to 37 scales 

 round the" middle of the body, usually 31 to 36. 8 to 11, 

 rarely 12, femoral pores on each side, 



Var. mizolepis. 



Gymnops meizolepis, Stoliczka, Proc. As. Soc. Beng. 1872, p. 124. 

 Ophiops meizolepis, Blanf. E. Persia, p. 3139, pi. xxv. fig. 2, 



A single specimen from the low country S. W. of Kalabagh, 

 on the Indus, has been made the type of a distinct species, 

 and even referred to a distinct genus, on account of the 

 presence of a single postnasal instead of two. I have not 

 seen the specimen, stated to have 34 scales and plates round 

 the body and 12 femoral pores on each side, but there is 

 nothing in the description to warrant a separation from 

 O. elegans, and I should have felt inclined to regard the 

 presence of one postnasal instead of two as an individual 

 peculiarity, such as I have noticed in the var. schlueteri and 

 in 0. occidenfalis, were it not that Blanford has rediscovered 

 the same form at Basra, Mesopotamia, where it is said to 

 occur in abundance, and where the character appears to be 

 fixed *, It is also noteworthy that the only two specimens 



* According to Blanford, it occurs as a rare exception in S. Persia : 



