248 THE EEPTILES OF EGYPT. 
ZAMENIS. 
Zamenis, Wagler (part.), Syst. Amph. 1830, p. 188. 
Head distinct from the neck ; body cylindrical, elongate. Eye of moderate size ; 
pupil round ; generally one or more suboculars, two prseoculars and two postoculars, 
these plates occasionally form a semicircle to the lower half of the eye. Body-scales 
with apical pits, smooth or slightly keeled ; ventrals rounded, or with an indistinct 
lateral keel ; anal generally divided. Subcaudals two-rowed. Maxillary teeth increase in 
length posteriorly in continuous series, or the last two separated by a short interspace 
from the others. Mandibular teeth either of equal length, or the anterior teeth some- 
what enlarged. 
Dr. Alcock and Mr. Finn 1 , of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, have recently recorded 
the presence of the subocular " poison-gland " in three species of this genus, viz. 
Z. diadema, Z. karelinii, and Z. rhodorhachis. In the first it is " very large " and in 
the last " large," while in the second it is twice the length of the eye. The natives 
(Afghan-Baluch tribes), according to Dr. Maynard, whose notes are quoted by 
Dr Alcock and Mr. Finn, regard Z. rhodorhachis as poisonous, but he adds that the 
snakes he met with were not fierce. 
The adipose bodies of the species of this genus occurring in Egypt are greatly 
developed in individuals caught between November and April. 
Zamenis gemonensis, Laur. (Plate XXXVII. A. fig. 1.) 
? Coluber jvgularis, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 255 ; Mus. Adolph. Frid. Prod. ii. 1764, p. 45 ; Syst. 
Nat. i. 1766, p. 387. 
Natrisc gemonensis, Laur. Syn. Rept. i. 1768, p. 76. 
Zamenis gemonensis, Blgr. Cat. Snakes B. M. i. 1893, p. 395. 
Var. asiana, Boettger, Ber. Senck. nat. Ges. 1879-80, p. 151. 
Body moderately slender; snout obtuse ; rostral nearly as high as broad, the portion 
visible from above equal to about one-fourth of the distance between the tip of the 
snout and the frontal ; internasals slightly longer than broad, or as broad as long, 
rounded anteriorly ; prefrontals slightly longer than the internasals ; frontal as long 
as the median suture of the parietals, longer than the distance between its anterior 
border and the tip of the snout, narrower or slightly exceeding the breadth of the 
1 Journ. As. Soc. Beng. (new ser.) kv. pt. ii. no. 4, 1896 (1897), p. £63. 
