422 Dr. A. Giinther on new Species of Snakes 
slightly pointed, tetrahedral, the canthus rostralis being dis- 
tinct; loreal region scarcely concave; eye of moderate size. 
Rostral shield not quite so high as broad, reaching to the 
upper surface of the head; anterior frontals small, triangular, 
pointed in front, as long as broad; posterior frontals rather 
longer than anterior, bent downwards on the sides, and form- 
ing a broad suture with the second upper labial. Vertical 
elongate bell-shaped, as long as the occipitals, which are 
rounded behind. The nasal shield proper is trapezoid and 
large, pierced by the small nostril in its upper posterior por- 
tion. A smaller quadrangular shield, which is higher than 
long, is intercalated between the nasal and posterior frontal, 
and may be considered to be a posterior nasal; there is no 
loreal. One preocular, concave before the eye, and bent up- 
wards on the upper side of the head, without reaching the 
vertical. Two postoculars; eight upper labials, the fourth 
and fifth entering the orbit ; temporals small, rather irregular, 
2+3. The anterior chin-shields are shorter than the posterior, 
and in contact with four labials. Ventrals 151, 354; sub- 
caudals 62-170. 
Brownish yellow; a broad blackish-brown band, which is 
four scales broad in the middle of the body, runs from the 
upper side of the head, along the back, to the tip of the tail. 
Another, narrower and less intensely coloured stripe runs from 
the nostril, through the eye, along the meeting edges of the 
third and fourth outer series of scales; a third, of about the 
same width, but of a brighter colour, along the meeting edges 
of the two outer series of scales: all these bands have more or 
less distinct darker edges. Lower side yellowish, with four 
faint purplish longitudinal bands. 
Three specimens of this beautiful snake were presented by 
the Rev. W. Ellis to the British Museum. The largest is 
22 inches long, head 7% lines, tail 5 inches. They were 
collected in Madagascar. 
Rhagerrhis unguiculata. Pl. XTX. figs. G. 
Scales short, rounded, without apical groove, in seventeen 
series; ventrals 176; anal bifid; subcaudals 100. Body mo- 
derately slender; head short, high, with the upper profile 
convex, terminating in a broad rostral shield, which is bent 
downwards and provided with a sharp edge like a nail ; ante- 
rior frontals much broader than long; posterior frontals not 
twice as large as anterior, broader than long. Vertical six- 
sided, with the anterior and posterior angles equally obtuse, 
and as broad behind as in front; occipitals short, shorter than 
the vertical, rounded behind. Nostril in a single shield, the 
