24. ACONTIAS. 427 



enlarged. Tail two thirds the length of head and body. Blackish 

 brown, each scale with a narrow lighter edge. 



From snout to vent lUU millim., tail lU5. 



Madagascar. 



a-d. Ad. Anzahamaru. (Types.) 



5. Acontias hildehrandtii. 

 Acontias hildebrandti, Peters, Mon. Bed. Ac. 1880, p. 510. 



Ilostral covering about half of the snout; five supraoculars. 18 

 scales round the body, 02 along the belly. Anal cleft bordered by 

 several scales anteriorly. 2s^o limbs. Tail as long as head and 

 body. Purplish, the scales edged with lighter. 



From snout to vent 34 millim., tail 33. 



N.W. Madagascar. 



0. Acontias meleagris. 



Acontias melagris, Gray, Cat. p. 127. 

 Anguis meleagris, Limi. S. N. i. p. 390. 

 Eryx nieleagiis, Baud. liept. vii. p. 272. 



Acontias meleagris, Merr. Tent. p. 89; Guer. Icon. R. A., liept. 

 pi. xvii. fig. 3 ; Dtim. ^- Bibr. v. p. 802, pi. Iviii. 



Head conical ; snout obtuse, projecting ; ear hidden ; rostral 

 enormous, covering the greater part of the snout ; mental enormous, 

 its posterior border reaching to below the eye ; frontonasal hardly 

 half as long as the rostral, much shorter than the frontal, which is 

 broader than long ; tliree supraoculars, first about as large as the 

 two others together; four supraciliaries: interparietal much narrower 

 than the frontal, as broad as long or longer than broad ; as broad 

 as or narrower than the parietals ; none of the labials entering the 

 orbit. 16 to 20 scales round the middle of the body, those of the 

 two vertebral series broader than the others. No limbs. A single, 

 very large praeanal plate. Length of the tail not more than one 

 fifth of the total. Olive-brown above, yellowish inferiorly ; or 

 yellowish or pale brown above, each dorsal scale with a dark brown 

 spot ; these spots may be confluent and form six longitudinal 

 streaks. 



From snout to vent 215 millim., tail 40. 



South Africa. 



a-b. Ad. Damaraland. 



c. Ad. Cape of Good Hope. Lord Derby [P.]. 



d. Ad. Cape of Good Hope. G. H. Ford, Esq. [P.]. 

 e-f, g, h, i-l. Ad. & Cape of Good Hope. 



hgr. 



F. P. M. Weale, Esq. [P.l. 

 F. P. M. Weale, Esq. [P.J. 

 F. P. M. Weale, Esq. [P.]. 

 H. Trevelyau, Esq. [P.]. 



