VOT, XVI ~1 



im. J PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 717 



Rrnuo-h-s.—The present spe(;ies, in its general features, resembles 

 Fh. mada<j<(seai-iense, having the same arrangement of the scales sur- 

 rounding the nostrils, but it lias a eonsiderably shorter and somewliat 

 broader snout, and the su])r;vlabials are higher. It is probably also a 

 much smaller animal, as the specimens before me have every ajipear- 

 ancc of being full grown. The coloration is also very different when 

 compared with individuals of the same size from the Seychelles, the 

 lateral stripes of the head being quite characteristic. 



In some respects, especially the length of the head, Ph. abbofti 

 approaches Pit. laticatida, but the shape of the tail of the latter seems 

 to be quite different, while in the former it is exactly like that of 

 Ph. madarffiscarietm'. From l)oth of these species, as well as from 

 Ph. c<'2)e(lianum, from Mauritius, our new species differs in the much 

 greater size of the scales which cover the upper and lateral surfaces of 

 the tail, these scales l)eing regularly hexagonal and Hat. Boettger's 

 description of these scales in Ph. diibium, from Nossi Be, as quoted by 

 Boulenger, Cat. Liz. Br. Mus., I, p. 215, is not exphcit enough, but it 

 would seem as if they may l)e similar to ttiose in Ph. abbotti. From 

 F>oettger's species the latter seems easily distinguishable by its large 

 chin shields which are fully as well developed as in Ph. madagascar- 

 ioisc, while in Ph. di(bium they appear to be more like those of PA. 

 ccpedianum. 



Agama colonorum DAtD. 



Six specimens (IT. S. National Museum, Nos. 20081-20086) collected 

 by Mr. Chanler at the Tana River are so nmch alike typical western 

 specimens that I am unable to separate them. The eastern ones have 

 possibly the nuchal crest on the average consisting (d fewer (10-12) 

 and slightly larger spines than in specimens from the West Coast (12-15). 



It will be noticed that Peters records .4.. conf/ica, which Bouh'nger 

 unites, with A. colonorum, as having been collected by Hildebrandt^at 

 Ukamba (Monatsber. Ak. Wiss. Berlin, 1878, p. 202). ' 



Varanus saurus (Lack.). 



By recording the two young specimens collected by Mr. Chanler on 

 the Tana Eiver (Nos. 20072-20073) as above 1 wish to express the tact 

 that they have the scales on the nape larger than the dorsal scales, as 

 Peters asserts that the reverse obtains iiLtrue V. niloUcus from Northern 

 Africa. 



Latastia spinalis (Petkrs). 



A single specimen of this species, hitherto found only in Abyssiida, 

 was collected by Mr. Chanler on the Tana Eiver (U. S. National Mu- 

 seum, No. 20070). This discovery is the more interesting since Boett- 

 ger has recently described a nearly related new Lnfn.^tia from Lafarug, 

 Somaliland, but this species, />. hfterokphs, is distinguished by liaving 



