CHALCIDES SEPOIDES. 
221 
Measurements &c. of C. sepoides, Aud., Lower Egypt (in millim. 
Snout 
Eye 
Fore 
limb. 
Axilla 
Hind 
limb. 
Distance 
Scales 
to 
Tail. 
to 
to 
between 
round 
vent. 
snout. 
eye. 
limbs. 
body. 
46 
40 
3 
4 
9 
9 
32 
24 
65 
61 
4 
6 
12 
15 
44 
24 
75 
63 
5 
7 
14 
16 
53 
24 
87 
85 
5 
S 
15 
19 
60 
24 
88 
71 
6 
7 
16 
19 
62 
24 
90 
84 
5 
9 
17 
20 
60 
24 
96 
80 
5 
S 
16 
19 
72 
24 
109 
6 
8 
19 
21 
81 
24 
This lizard, besides being found in sand, below stones, is likewise very common on 
the sand-drifts that occur in the hollows and depressions on the desert, also at the base 
of sparse vegetation and among the sand-dunes along the coast. 
It moves rapidly through the sand, but when it finds itself completely covered, it 
comes to rest generally close to the surface. 
The stomach is usually filled with the remains of small beetles, with a considerable 
admixture of sand swallowed in the act of seizing its prey. 
It is widely distributed throughout Egypt and its oases, and over Northern Africa 
from Senegambia to the shores of the Red Sea. It is also found in Arabia and in 
Syria. 
In a specimen from the Algerian Sahara at Tuggurt there are 26 rows of scales 
round the body, and a similar number is found in specimens from the Sinaitic 
Peninsula, Jerusalem, and Jaffa, but in the last-mentioned locality 24 are also found, 
and also in Senegal. In Egypt, on the other hand, not a single specimen collected by 
me has more than 24 rows of scales round the body. 
The length of the limbs varies considerably among individuals from the same 
locality. 
The numbers of the digits on the fore limb are unstable, as two specimens from Tel 
el Amarna have only three well-developed fingers, the first and fourth being reduced 
to mere rudiments assuming the form of minute lateral knobs. Two specimens also 
from Abukir have only four fingers, whereas the 36 individuals from the neighbour- 
hood of the Pyramids of Gizeh have five digits to each extremity, with one single 
