STENODACTYLUS. 39 
nostril, and the hind limb reaches barely the axil. Stouter specimens with shorter 
snout have been named S. mauritanicus. In Gray's S. wilkinsonii the snout is more 
pointed, the dorsal scales flat and subimbricate, the rostral is excluded from the 
nostril, and the hind limb reaches the shoulder. All these differences, however, break 
down, as specific characters, on examination of large series of specimens, and I do not 
even see my way to distinguishing the three forms as varieties. A specimen from Bou- 
Saada, collected by M. Lataste, has the short head and short limbs of S. mauritanicus ; 
the dorsal scales very small, flattish, smooth, but not imbricate ; and the nostril well 
separated from the rostral." 
In 20 specimens collected at Gizeh, distinctly referable to S.. elegans, Fitz., the 
fore limb generally reaches the snout, but in a few it may fall somewhat short of it, 
while in two specimens it is in advance of the snout when laid forwards. The hind 
limb when stretched forwards generally touches the axilla, or it may be a little before 
it, while in two out of the 20 it reaches the shoulder. 
In the type of S. wilkinsonii the fore limb when laid forwards is in advance of 
the snout, and the hind limb reaches or nearly reaches the shoulder, and in these 
respects it is generally resembled by seven other specimens from Middle and Upper 
Egypt. 
The fore limb in the type of 8. mauritanicus l has the same proportions as is general 
among the Gizeh geckos, but in thirteen other specimens grouped along with it the 
fore limb, in three of them, is in advance of the snout. The hind limb of the type 
resembles that of the Gizeh geckos in reaching the axilla ; but among four of the 
thirteen it falls short of the axilla, whereas in two it resembles the hind limb of 
8. wilkinsonii in reaching the shoulder. 
No specimen among the Gizeh geckos has both its fore and hind limbs like those of 
8. wilkinsonii, neither in any of those grouped round S. mauritanicus are the limbs of 
the same length as in the aforementioned type ; but in some of the Gizeh geckos their 
fore limbs are as long as in S. wilkinsonii, and in others their hind limbs may be so. 
In the same way, in some of the specimens grouped around 8. mauritanicus we 
find short hind limbs associated with long fore limbs, and vice versd. Leaving other 
exceptional cases out of consideration, it may be said that the limbs of 8. mauritanicus 
agree in their proportions with those of the Gizeh geckos. 
In the type of 8. elegans, stated to have come from Nubia, the fore limb has the 
length of the fore limb of 8. wilkinsonii, while its hind limb falls short of that of the 
Gizeh geckos, and corresponds to the exceptionally short hind limbs of the 8. mauri- 
tanicus group. I have consequently experienced some difficulty as to the position this 
1 I have to record my indebtedness to Professor Vaillant for having permitted me to examine the type of 
S. mauritanicus, Guichenot, preserved in the Paris Museum, and further for having forwarded another 
of the types (No. 2339, d ) to London for my inspection, and for comparison with my Egyptian specimens of 
this genus. 
