'"isii;;"'] I'ROCKEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUbEUxM. 713 



t"). Ailurontix nituhdicnaia [riiclsiima s.]. 

 (!. J'eiopiis miililutitfi [W:ill:ico]. 

 't7. Mdhujid scchellensis [Enpre])es cyaiiooastcr]. 

 'fN. Chanufleo lif/rifi [Wallace]. 

 "19. L)/cofiiiafhophis fieychelleiisix [Dromiru.s s.]. 

 'flO. n<)<r(Joii <ievmviricn^ [Wallace]. 



HA ri:.v(iii.\. 



'til. Me(/alirali(s S€yrh('lle)isis [M. intVarufus], 



WJ. lUtiiu ma><care)iieiisis [K. iiiascaiieiisis]. 

 i UvnotjiphJus 0X1/ 1( run [Caecilia oxyiira]. 



*13. CrjiptopxDphix miiUij)lic<ttiis. 

 "tl4. Hjijiof/eopliifi rofifraiiis [Caecilia ro.strata]. ■- 

 *tl5. Hypogeophis allcruans. 



I. REPTILIA. 



LORKL^TA. 



Crocodylus niloticus E.vii?. 



^Fr. ('Iiaiiler .sends a small specimen from tlie Tana lliver (No. 120071 ), 

 :iii(l Dr. AbWott a nearly grown one; exact locality not .yiven (Xo. KJOL'T). 



TESTTJDINES. 



Sternothaerus nigricans (Doxxd.). 



There are fonr SteDwtha'ri in the collections sent home by Dr. Abbott, 

 three troni La ])igne Island, Seychelles (IT. S. jS'ational Masenni, Nos. 

 19802-19804) and one dried specimen from Gloriosa Island (No. 29.'U7, 

 Dept. Comp. Anat.). 



The determination of this species (foi' most certainly all fonr .speci- 

 mens are strictly couspeciflc) has caused me considerable doubt from 

 the fact that Boulenger, among the British Museum specimens, enumer- 

 ates one specimen from La Digue under >S'. sinuatKs (Cat. Chel. Br. IVhis., 

 ]). 195). 1 liave no undoubted specimen of the latter s])ecies to com- 

 jtare with, and consequently have to rely on the literature. Xow, S. 

 y////r/(V//^s■issaidby^)<»uleng■er(oj>.r/7.,}). ]9.'))tohave the ujtperjaw neither 

 liooked nor bicus})id, and it is ^ery certain that our si)e('imens (;an not 

 fairly be called ''bicu.spid," though there is an indication <»f a notch 

 with the faintest iiossible swelling on both sides. Then again he states 

 that in this species " the frontal suture [is] not or but slightly exceed- 

 ing the width of the iuterorbital space,"* while in /S'. sinHofus ''the 

 interorbital width [is] considerably less tlian the longitudinal suture 

 between tlie frontal shields." This would most certainly make our 

 specinn'us ^'. nU/riaim, as in all of them the interorbital space is at 

 least as wide as the length of the frontal suture. 



