15. 8CINCU8. 391 



3. Scincus officinalis. 



Scincus ofRcinalis, Gray, Cat. p. 74. 

 Lacerta scincus, Linn. IS. X. i. p. 3Go. 

 Sciucus oliiciualis, Laur. iSyn. Rept. p. ou ; Schneid. Hid. Amph. ii. 



p. 174 ; Baud. Mept. iv. p. 2:28 ; Brandt Sf Ratzeb, Med. Zool. 



p. 106, pi. xix. iv^a. 2 it 3 ; And. Descr. Eyi/pte, Rcpt., Supplem. 



p. 179, pi. ii. ilg-. 8; IVicym. Arch. f. Nat. Is;i7, p. 127 ; Dum. Hf 



Jiibr. V. p. 504 ; Duvern. R. A., Rept. pi. xxii. fig. I ; Graveyih. N. 



Acta Ac. Lcop.-Carol. xxiii. 1851, i. p. 313, pi. xxxi. ; Strauch, 



Erp. Alg. p. 41. 



Snout cuneiform, truncate, strongly projecting; lorcal region con- 

 cave, canthus rostralis obtuse ; mouth inferior ; nostril i)ierced on 

 the canthus rostralis ; eye very small ; ear-opening distinguishable, 

 covered by two fringed scales, llostral very large, forming a suture 

 with the frontonasal or in contact witli the anterior angle of the 

 latter shield ; frontal more or less narrowed jiosteriorly ; six supra- 

 oculars, anterior not in contact with the frontal ; parietals shorter 

 than the interparietal, followed by three to five pairs of nuchals ; 

 seven to nine upper labials. Scales perfectly smooth ; dorsals usually 

 not or scarcely larger than vcntrals ; 20 to 28 (very rarely 30) scales 

 round the middle of the body. Sides of belly angular. Digits much 

 depressed and strongly toothed laterally. Yellowish or brownish 

 above, each scale with small brown and whitish spots or shafts ; 

 frequently with more or less marked dark transverse bands across 

 the body ; lower surfaces uniform whitish. 



millim. millim. 



Total length 205 Fore limb 34 



Head 24 Hind limb 37 



Width of head ... . 15 Tail 85 



Body 96 



Sahara and borders of the Red Sea ; Syria ? 



4. Scincus conirostris. 

 Scincus conirostris, Blanf. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1881, p. 677, fig. 1. 



Head shorter and more conical than in S. officinalis ; however, 

 distinctly wedge-shaped and with angular labial maigin ; nostril, 

 eye, and ear as in the latter species, llostral smaller, separated 

 from the frontonasal by the supranasals, which form a suture ; the 

 other head-shields as in S. officinalis. Scales perfectly smooth, the 

 largest dorsals twice as broad as long ; 26 or 28 scales round the 

 middle of the body. Coloration and size as iu S. officinalis. 



Persia. 



a-h. Ad. Tangyak, 7 miles south of Bushire. (Types.) 



