422 Dr. A. Giinther on new Sj)ecies 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 

 npper sm-face 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 prasocular, 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, 

 2-1-3. 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 pm-plish 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 ungmculata. PL XIX. 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 



