380 DR. J ANDERSON ON PERSIAN, [Mar. 5, 



hind the rostral ; ten upper and thirteen lower labials. Belly co- 

 vered with slightly imbricate rhombic scales, increasing in size 

 from before backwards. Tail thick, conical, and verticillated, co- 

 vered below with quadrangular, rhombic, or almost rounded, slightly 

 imbricate, moderate-sized scales ; the upper surface with smaller 

 granular scales, with a median lateral row of rounded or pointed 

 enlarged tubercles. The verticils are defined below by a transverse 

 line of fine granules. Preanal pores in an angular line of thir- 

 teen. Eighty-six small cylindrical conically pointed teeth in the 

 upper jaw, and eighty in the lower jaw. 



Olive-brown above, covered with numerous deep-black spots, 

 most frequent about the occiput and nape. A black spot from the 

 nostril to the eye. Under surface yellowish. 



Length: snout to vent 4" 10'", vent to tip of tail 3" 3'", head 

 1" 2'", fore limb 4" 6'", hind limb 2". 



Hab. Salt range, Punjab ; and Amritzur. 



This species is closely allied to E. hardwickii, from which it is 

 distinguished by the tubercles being separated from each other by 

 flat rounded granules instead of smaller tubercles, and by the ar- 

 rangement of the tubercles on the head, which in E. hardwicltii 

 present a tessellated appearance all over the head from snout to 

 occiput ; while in E. macularius the tubercles are arranged on the 

 head as on the body, as far forwards as the posterior angle of the 

 eye, and anterior to that they gradually assume the paved arrange- 

 ment. The coloration, too, of these species is markedly distinct ; 

 and E. macularius is essentially a north-western species, while E. 

 hardwickii is confined (so far as is known) to the eastern side of 

 India. 



Blvth's type, now before me, is a half-grown individual, and is so 

 bleached that it shows no trace of colouring beyond a uniform 

 whitish hue. His description of the species is almost exclusively 

 directed to the colouring and to a speculation as to the probable 

 colour of the young. He mentions that Mr. Theobald informed 

 him that the species attains to more than double the size (31 inches) 

 of the specimen from which he drew up his notes, and that it is 

 remarkable, when alive, for the beauty of its prevailing rosy car- 

 neous hue. 



Dr. Jerdon's* E.fasciatus, from Hurriana, appears to me to be- 

 long to this species ; for he describes the tubercles as " larger and 

 Jiner" than in this species, and less close and narrower than in E. 

 hardwickii, which is exactly the character which distinguishes E. 

 macularius from the last-mentioned species. The coloration of his 

 single very young and imperfect specimen was exactly that of the 

 young of E. macularius as described by Blyth. 



Although the difference of colour between the young and adult 

 is very marked, as will be gathered from my description and the 

 account given of the coloration by Blyth and Jerdon (who both 

 describe the young as beautifully banded on the body, with a 

 nuchal and three dorsal white bands), still a careful comparison of 

 * Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, 1870, p. 7f>. 



