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On the Anomalous Snakes in the Oollections of the 

 Zoological Institute, Strassburg. 



By 



Lewis Henry Gough, Ph. D., 



Assistant iu the Collections of the Zoological Institute of the 

 University Strassburg. 



Whilst classifying- the snakes belonging to the Collections of 

 the Zoological Institute of the University Strassburg, I was Struck 

 by the frequent occurrence of morphological anomalities in the head- 

 shields of the specimens. Thinking that they would be of interest 

 to science, I kept a list of them, which is given here. 



The Anomalities referred to consist chiefly in a difference of 

 the numbers or arrangement of the shields on either side of the 

 head. Such anomalities have often been noticed already, so for 

 instance by Mr. Boiilenger in his „Catalogue of the Snakes in the 

 British Museum" and also by Mr. Meerwarth in his paper ;,Die 

 Westindischen Eeptilien und Batrachier des naturhistorischen Museums 

 in Hamburg", and probably by many other authors besides them, 

 but yet every such abnormity is of great interest, showing as it 

 does the great scope open to individual Variation in snakes. In a 

 great number of cases I have found that the limit of Variation given 

 by Mr. Boulenger in the above-mentioned Catalogue have been sur- 

 passed by individuals, whose heads were normal on one side and 

 abnormal on the other. Such cases would seem to me to prove that 

 the liniits given by Mr. Boulenger for those species ouglit to be 



