678 MR. W. T. BLANFORD ON PERSIAN REPTILES. [JuRC 7, 



scribed forms of the genus Scincus. These are S. meccensis ' from 

 Arabia, S. hemprichii ^ from Massowa, on the Abyssinian coastland, 

 and S. mitranus ^ supposed to be from Arabia. 



Of these, S. hemprichii, the type of the subgenus Pedorychus of 

 Wiegmann, is evidently quite distinct, having a rounded canthus 

 rostrahs, the ear-opening very narrow and concealed by a scale, the 

 nostrils differently shaped, and striated dorsal scales. S. meccensis 

 is said to differ from S. officinalis in having five superciliary shields 

 instead of six, the dorsal scales in sixteen longitudinal series instead 

 of eighteen, the supralabials seven, of which the fifth and sixth are 

 beneath tlie eye, whereas in S. officinalis there are eight, the sixth 

 and seventh below the eye — and in coloration, there being two or 

 three rufous dusky spots on each side above the shoulders. I am 

 inclined to doubt whether these characters are of specific value. 



In the unpublished figures made for Hemprich and Ehrenberg's 

 • Symbolae Physicse,' tab. iv. fig. 3, the praefrontal is shown to be 

 in contact with the rostral. 



Scincus mitranus was described from a single dried specimen. It 

 is stated to differ from S. officinalis in the form of the snout *, in the 

 head-shields, and in coloration. The prsefrontal is in contact with 

 the rostral, as in -S. officinalis. There are five superciliaries, as in 

 /S. meccensis, two loreals, and eight supralabials. Each scale is said 

 to have a white spot in the centre of its free margin, with a brown 

 spot on either side. This is occasionally the case in S. officinalis, 

 though more frequently a brown spot is in the middle of the scale. 

 There are ten vertically elongated, more or less rounded, deep-red- 

 brown spots along the side from the middle of the neck to above the 

 thigh. Similar spots are seen in S. meccensis, though they are less 

 numerous, being confined to the anterior portion of the side ; and 

 they may be merely a modification of the transverse bands often 

 found in S. officinalis. 



OPHIDIA. 



*Catachl^na' diadema, var. 



Heterodon diadema, Dum. et. Bibr. Erp. Gen. vii. p. 779. 



Simotes diadema, Giinther, Cat. Col. Su. B. M. p. 26. 



Chatachlein diadema, Jan, Icon. Oph. livr. 10, pi. vi. fig. 2. 



Simotes {Ghatachlein) Jiac?e»2a, Bottger, Jahresber. Senck. naturf. 

 Ges. 1878-79, p. 61. 



Bushi, 25 miles south of Bushire. 



The only specimen procured differs from the typical Algerine 

 form of C. diadema in having two praeoculars instead of three, in the 



' Wiegmann, Arch. f. Nat. 1837, i. p. 127 ; Peters, Monatsb. Akad. Berlin, 

 1864, p. 44. 



^ Wiegmann, ibid. ; Peters, ibid. Both this and the preceding species were 

 omitted by Dumeril and Bibron. 



^ Anderson, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1871, p. 115. 



* Might not this have been distorted by bemg dried ? 



^ I venture to suggest tiiat this may be an improved form of the name pro- 

 posed by Jan. Etym. Kara and y\a'iva, a mantle {KarayXaivota, I clothe). 



