274 Mr. A. W. E. 0'81iauglincssy on Norops aiiratus. 



Now the contrary of all this ia to be found in the Mexican 

 A. ft'opidonotuftj -whicli ha.s the toes dtstinctlif dihited^ never a 

 white fitripe on the tti'de, no lan/er oeciplt(d shield ^ and the 

 liinder limbs longvr, reachinti; beyond the head or to the nasal 

 aperture [not edr-opeiiiini^ as Air. O'Sliaui;-! messy thinks). 



Of course, by f<i(/)/H>siii(/, as ]\[r. ()'SliaiiL!,'huessy does sup- 

 pose, that l)uni(5ril antl Jiibron's descri])tion of the length of 

 the limbs is incorrect, and their (with regard to the details) very 

 excellent tigure erroneous (eom])osed of two different species), 

 and by .snj>/)ressiii(/j as IMr, O'Shaughnessy does suppress, 

 Dandin and DMUieril's notice about the characteristic white 

 lateral marking, it will be easy to transmute also every other 

 s^jccics oi' A no/ is into a Noro/>s aitrotxs. 



It is well known that the length of the tail in slender-tailed 

 lizards varies very much according to the individuals, Avhich, 

 besides, do not always arrive in a ])erfectly mitural state, and 

 that it therefore is not to be considered a very ini])ortant 

 character for distinguisliing s])eeies. I liave to add that I 

 have lately examined specimens of ^1. OKratuSy Daudin, Avhieh 

 had an im])erfect or perfect second series of large scales between 

 the supra labials and the eye ; but this second series is not con- 

 stant, and consists of narrower scales between the su})ralabials 

 and the constant scales of the up})er row. The dilatation of 

 the toes in A. ^furatus is not absent, but hardly visible. 



Finally, 1 have to remark that [ have examined the type 

 specimens of A\)rops aurotiis, Dum. & Bibr., at Paris, others 

 at Leyden, the Noroj)s aurafus, Wagler, at Munich, and the 

 Anolis 12-striati(s, Ikn-thold, at Oottingcn, all of which 

 belong to the same species, found only in the northern parts 

 of South Anu'rica. 



XXXV. — On Norojis auratus. 

 By Airniuu AV, K. O'Sii aih!1i\f,ssy. 



Pkof. Pi'VPEKS has kindly connuunieated the alK)ve to mc 

 before sending it for insertion. 



As he calls in (]uestion my carefidness^ in endeavouring to 

 refute the view I put forward in the March Number of the 

 'Annals' of the present year, respecting the species oi Norops , 

 I would ask permission to say a few Avords in reply to him. 

 Daudin's description nuist, as [ said before, be regarded as of 

 generic rather than specific value; it is his merit to have dis- 

 tinguished a Xor()/)s from an Aiio/is by means of that charac- 

 ter of '' doigls amincis " which Trof. Peters quotes above. 

 As to the toes being " entibrement amincis," it is qlear tliat, 



