144 COLUBRID. 
Snout projecting, obtusely pointed, with angular canthus. Rostral 
at least as deep as broad, wedged in between the internasals, its 
upper surface one half to two thirds as long as its distance from the 
frontal; internasals as long as or a little shorter than the pra- 
frontals ; frontal as broad as the supraocular, twice as long as broad, 
as long as or a little longer than its distance from the end of the 
snout, as long as or a little longer than the parietals; loreal as long 
as deep or deeper than long; one preocular (rarely divided), usually 
not reaching the frontal ; two (rarely three) postoculars; temporals 
2+2 or 3 (rarely 142); eight (rarely seven) upper labials, fourth 
and fifth (or third and fourth) entering the eye; four or five lower 
labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter 
than the posterior. Scales very indistinctly grooved, in 17 rows. 
Ventrals 159-176 ; anal divided; subcaudals 48-73. Pale buff or 
sandy grey above, with brown or blackish spots ; one or two oblique 
brown or blackish bars on each side of the head behind the 
angle of the mouth; lower parts white, uniform or spotted with 
brick-red. 
Total length 430 millim. ; tail 190. 
Northern Sahara, from Algeria to Egypt, Nubia, Arabia, Western 
1a. 
(V. 159; 0.48). Duirat, S. Tunisia. Dr J. Anderson [P.}. 
. (V. 159; C. 54). 
a, 
b. Abu Roash, nr. Cairo. Dr. J. Anderson | P. |. 
ce. 9 (V. 173; C. 55) Dooroor, N. of Suakin, Dr. J. Anderson | P. 
d. 9 (V.174; C. 54).  Suakin. Dr. J. Anderson | P. |. 
e. Hgr. (V. 176; C. 59). Nubia. Prof. Peters [P.}. 
Ft. 2 (V.176; C. 53). = Aden. Col. Yerbury [P.}. 
g. d6 (V.176; 0.73). Hadramaut. Dr. J. Anderson [P.]. 
h. 2 (V.172; C. 64). Muscat. A. 8. iP) Jayakar, 
t. 2 (V. 168; 0.52). Bushire. we A. Murray 
168, RHAMPHIOPHIS. 
Rhamphiophis, Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac. 1854, p. 624, and Reise n. 
Mossaméb. iii. p. 123 (1882). 
Dipsina, Jan, Arch. Zool. Anat. ae ii. 1862, p. 1318. 
Coslopeltis, part., Jan, Elenco sist. Ofid. p. 89 (1868). 
Maxillary short, with 6 to 9 teeth gradually increasing in length 
and followed, after an interspace, by a pair of very large grooved 
fangs situated below the eye; anterior mandibular teeth longest. 
Head distinct from neck, with projecting snout; rostral large, 
hollowed out beneath; eye moderate, with round pupil; nostril 
crescentic, in a divided or a semidivided nasal. Body cylindrical; 
scales smooth, with apical pits, in 17 or 19 rows; ventrals rounded. 
Tail moderate or long; subcaudals in two rows. 
Tropical Africa. 
