BUCEPHALUS VIRIDIS.— Smith. 



Reptilia. — Plate III. — (Male.) 



B. pallide viridis; oculis brunneU; scutis abdominalibus 181 ; scutis subcaudalibus serie duplici collocatis 

 circiter 101. 



Colour.— Light grass-green, the abdominal plates with a slightly livid 

 tint ; eyes dark brown. 



Form, &c. — Head moderately elongated, distinctly quadrangular and 

 broader than the neck ; nose slightly rounded ; nostrils small, nearly circu- 

 lar, and directed outwards and backwards ; eyes large, and situated rather 

 nearer to the tip of the nose than the angle of the mouth ; gape wide ; upper 

 lip with seven plates on each side, lower with ten. Nasal plate triangular, 

 apex directed backwards; anterior frontal plates two, somewhat triangular; 

 posterior frontal plates large quadrangular, the outer posterior angle rounded ; 

 vertical plate triangular, the apex behind, rounded ; occipital plates large, 

 irregular and narrow behind ; palpebral plates somewhat six-sided, the 

 two middle sides longest. Gular plates large, two in each row. The posterior 

 or mobile and grooved teeth of maxilla, eight on each side, from two to three 

 lines in length, and slightly curved ; four of each group placed for immediate 

 use, the rest recumbent between those and the inner portion of the spongy 

 sheath which envelopes the whole ; the fixed or anterior teeth of maxilla 

 small and slightly curved, their points directed backwards ; those of the pa- 

 latal arches and lower jaw somewhat similar. Body gradually increasing in 

 size till near the middle, from thence it tapers to the point of the tail, which is 

 armed with a horny aculeus ; the figure of body and tail subcylindrical, 

 slightly flattened below. Skin as far as the tail loose, and only slightly 

 connected with the subjacent parts by a delicate cellular membrane ; towards 

 the head superabundant, and forming on each side of the neck a longitudi- 

 nal fold, which disappears when the gullet is distended. On the tail the 

 skin is firmly connected to the parts beneath. Scales immediately behind 

 occipital plates short, broad, and imbricate ; from those to the base of the 

 tail they are disposed in slightly waved transverse bands, each of which 

 bands includes scales of several different forms ; the one immediately on the 

 centre of the back is narrow towards the base, broad and semilunar at the 



