204 THE EEPTILES OF EGYPT. 
SCINCUS. 
Scincus, part., Laur. Syn. Rept. 1768, p. 55. 
Sides of the body more or less angular ; limbs well developed ; digits 5 — 5, flattened 
from above downwards, with transverse lamella? below ; a strong lateral fringe formed 
by the scales of the upper surface of the digits ; tail thick at its base, conical ; snout 
cuneiform, with a sharp labial edge ; nostril between an upper and lower nasal ; lower 
eyelid scaly ; ear-opening more or less covered by two or more small fringed scales, or 
entirely hidden by the scales ; supranasals, prsefrontals, frontoparietals, and inter- 
parietal present ; dorsal scales smooth or striated. Palatine bones not in contact in 
the middle line of the palate ; pterygoids toothed ; lateral teeth conical. 
The following arrangement of scales prevails on the digits of S. officinalis, Laur. : — 
On the fore foot the first and second digits have a series of inferior lamellae, a superior 
longitudinal series, and a series of very small scales along the external border. In all 
the other digits of the manus only the superior series of scales and the lamellar scales 
of the under surface are present. The inferior lamellae on the first four digits of the 
manus are acutely bent upwards and appear on the dorsal surface of the internal 
border, but on the fifth this arrangement is reversed, as the inferior lamellae appear on 
the upper surface of the external border. In the first to the fourth digit the fringe is 
formed by the projecting anterior angle of the external free margin of the dorsal plate, 
while in the fifth digit it is formed by the inner border of the dorsal plates and is thus 
internal, but in this finger the external angles of the inferior plates form a distinct 
denticulated border. The two large plates over the claws of the fifth finger have their 
position the exact reverse of the other fingers. In all the digits of the pes the fringe 
is external, and their inner margins are also all more or less denticulated, very feebly 
in the first, more strongly in the second, and most so in the fifth. This structure of 
the digits is thus very different from the simple digit of Scincopus and Eumeces. 
It seems impossible to distinguish the sexes of this species by the characters of 
the base of the tail, as can be done generally among other lizards, in which the base 
of the tail is swollen in the male and not in the female. A female before me has the 
base of the tail absolutely more swollen than it is in a larger male. Both of these 
specimens were sexed by inspection of the internal generative organs. The female, 
however, as in the great majority of lizards, is distinguished by a more graceful form 
than the male, and by a smaller and more delicately formed head. Both males and 
females alike have an enlarged ridge-like scale on the posterior border of the cloacal 
opening. 
