EEPTILIA. 17 



This species was referred by Dr. Anderson to Eremias cceruleo-ocellata of Dumeril and 

 Bibron, 1 but it appears to me to differ in several characters. The nasal shields are not 

 swollen, the dorsal scales are close together and scarcely any granules can be detected 

 amongst them, whereas in E. cceruleo-ocellata they are said not to be very close, and each 

 is surrounded by some granules. That species, moreover, has the tail scales keeled ; as a 

 rule, they are smooth in the Turkestan form, and the limbs are proportionally longer in the 

 former, the hind legs nearly reaching the ear. 



I have already " expressed doubts as to whether E. cceruleo-ocellata is the same as 

 E. velox, 3 as the former has no palatal teeth, and the latter appears to possess them ; but if they 

 resemble each other at all closely, as is probable from the circumstance of most authors 

 uniting them, I think the species now described differs much in habit, being a more slender 

 form, and it is also distinguished by having the scales beneath the feet granular and not 

 distinctly keeled. 



The closest ally appears to be a species described by Dr. Giinther from the Gobi Desert 

 under the name of E. multiocellata. It is possible that this may be the same, but it is de- 

 scribed as having an azygos shield between the postfrontals, a large central scale in the collar, 

 and eighteen longitudinal rows of scutes across the abdomen. None of these differences is of 

 much importance, but taking them together, they present a considerable distinction and 

 render it possible t na ^ other differences exist. I should not think Dr. Giinther would have 

 overlooked the peculiar character of the nasal shields not being swollen, in which the present 

 species differs from all other Eremias with which I am acquainted. 4 



. EUEMIAS YARKANDENSIS V0,r. SATURATA. PL II, fig. 4. 

 W. Blanf. : Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, 1875, xliv, Pt. 2., p. 194. 



E. yarkandensis magis infuscata, scuto infraorbitali horizontaliter diviso, parte 

 superiors a labro discretd. 



1-13, Valleys of the Kuenluen range, south of Yarkand. 



This variety differs from the typical form in being much darker in colour and fre- 

 quently in having much less distinct ocelli along the sides of the back. In one or two 

 specimens the back is uniformly slaty-grey. Another difference is generally found, and it 

 would, if constant, justify the giving a specific name to the variety. This is that the infra- 

 orbital shield is divided below the eye, and does not reach the lip, the lower divided portion 

 forming the seventh supralabial. But in one specimen this infraorbital descends to the 

 lip, as in the normal form. 



The specimens were not labelled, and they were amongst the last collected ; but Dr, 

 Stoliczka notices this form in his diary as replacing the ordinary Eremias of the Yarkand 

 plain at the commencement of the valleys leading to the Kuenluen. 



1 Erp. Gen. v, p. 295. 



Eastern Persia, ii, p. 374. 



3 Pallas : Eeise, i, p. 718. 



4 Since the above was written, Dr. Giinther has very kindly compared specimens of E. yarkandensis with the type of E. multi. 

 ocellata, and informs me that they are probably the same, the only distinction of any importance, so far as can be detected, being 

 that the fore and hind claws appear mv^ch larger in E. multiocellata. The type of this species is so much shrunk, that it is difficult 

 to ascertain whether it had swollen nasals, but apparently it had not. I leave the account of the species as originally written, but 

 I think there is every probability that E. multiocellata and yarkandensis are identical. 



E 



