144 THE REPTILES OF EGYPT. 
granules ; interparietal much longer than broad, generally in contact with the 
occipital, but occasionally separated from it by an interposed small shield ; occipital 
small, half the size of the interparietal ; parietals large, with a band-like shield 
along their outer borders, and a small curved shield anterior to and above the ear ; 
temporal scales granular, smooth or feebly keeled; 10 to 13 upper labials, generally 
the seventh reaches the eye, sometimes the eighth, rarely the sixth or ninth. Chin- 
shields large, the three pair in contact. Gular scales small, round, and smooth. 
Collar-plates large, from 8 to 12. Body-scales small, granular, increasing in size 
behind the shoulder, juxtaposed, obtusely keeled, and in transverse series ; 53 to 68 
scales round the middle of the back, not counting the ventrals ; the latter in 6 transverse 
and in 27 to 33 longitudinal series from the collar to the prseanal region, the two 
central rows the narrowest. A single large prseanal plate in the male, absent in the 
female. Outside of the fore limb covered with a line of large broad scutes ; the 
front of the thigh and the under surface of the labial portion of the limb with 
similar plates. The fore limb reaches to the anterior angle of the eye and even to the 
nostril, and the hind limb to the collar or to near the ear. 10 to 13 femoral pores on 
each side. Tail broader than deep at the base, especially in the male, variable in 
length, more than twice, sometimes more than thrice, as long as the body and head ; 
upper caudal scales strongly keeled, smooth below. 
Olive-brown above, head-shields variegated with reddish brown. A rich dark- 
brown narrow vertebral line from the occiput to the base of the tail, and three 
rich reddish, longitudinal, but more or less interrupted bands external to it, marked 
at intervals with brown spots and forming vertical brownish bars on the sides 
of the body and neck, enclosing bluish and yellow interspaces, which assume the 
form of ocelli. Sides of the head also more or less marked with vertical bars, and 
likewise the upper labials. Sides of the tail yellowish, with a dusky longitudinal 
band. Under surface white. Males much more brilliantly coloured than the females- 
Abnormal conditions sometimes exist in the formation of the nostril. Thus in 
one specimen it is defined on the right side of the head by an anterior nasal, the supra- 
nasal, two postnasals, and the second labial, and on the left side by the first labial, 
two postnasals, and the supranasal. On both sides of the head there is a small shield 
between the superior postnasal and the frontonasal and in contact with the anterior 
loreal, prasfrontal, and supranasal. On the left side a small shield lies below the 
supplementary shield. In this specimen also there is a further departure from the 
usual condition of the head-shields, as there is a small shield on either side of the 
hinder end of the interparietal : moreover, it is the only individual in which the ninth 
labial is the subocular — a condition brought about by the formation of an additional 
labial by lateral partition of the rostral. In another specimen, by the formation of 
an additional anterior nasal at the expense of the supranasal, the nostril is defined 
by five shields. 
