ZAMENIS GEMONENSIS. 249 
supraocular, its anterior breadth equal to about two-thirds of its length ; parietals 
equal in length to the frontal and about two-thirds of the prefrontal ; loreal longer 
than high ; one prasocular (rarely two), generally broadly excluded from contact 
with the frontal ; one small subocular ; two or three postoculars ; eight upper labials, 
the fourth and fifth entering the orbit; temporals 2 + 2 and 2 + 3; anterior chin- 
shields rather large, in contact with five, or occasionally only four, lower labials ; 
second pair of chin-shields separated by small scales. 17-19 rows of smooth scales. 
190-250 ventrals, with a very feeble angular ridge; anal 1/1; subcaudals 87-130. 
From Mr. Smit's description of the Stockholm specimen it is nearly uniformly coloured 
dark above with a very few light spots here and there, but covered with a fine, almost 
invisible white dotting. 
The species, according to Mr. Boulenger, attains to 1790 millim. in length, of 
which the tail forms 500 millim. 
This variety is distributed throughout Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Rhodes, and 
Cyprus. 
Linnaeus, in the 10th ed. of the Syst. Nat., in his account of the contents of the 
Museum Adolphus Frederick, and in the 12th ed. of the first-named work, described a 
snake under the name of Coluber jugularis, and gave Egypt as the country whence it 
came, and Hasselquist as the collector. As has been already stated, what is believed 
to be the type specimen of this species is preserved in the Museum of Stockholm. 
The bottle in which it is contained has the original Linnean label still attached to it, 
and, besides, the specimen is entered in QuenseFs Catalogue (1802), and also in 
Swartz's (1808), under the name of C. jugularis, and in them it is further stated that 
it is the type of the species, and that it originally belonged to the Museum of King 
Adolphus Frederick. 
Linnaeus described his type specimen as having 195 ventrals and 102 subcaudals, 
but, in the professed type, Mr. P. J. Smit assures me that he counted 203 ventrals and 
104 subcaudals. This difference of 8 ventral shields is considerable, and it is note- 
worthy that there is nothing like the same discrepancy between the subcaudals, which 
are much more difficult to count. To admit of the acceptance of this specimen as the 
type of C. jugularis would be to attribute an error of notation to Linnagus. The fact, 
however, that the specimens from the King's Museum that were transferred to 
Stockholm have been the subjects of many catalogues from Quensel's time onwards 
renders it possible that a specimen or a label may have become wrongly placed. As 
the specimen itself has no label attached to it, such an error may have happened, and, 
moreover, the custom appears to have been to tie the labels to the bottles only with 
thread. Anyway, the discrepancy between the ventrals does not admit of the 
unhesitating acceptance of the specimen's claim to be the actual type of C. jugularis; 
but whatever view may be taken of this, it is unquestionably an example of the snake 
generally known as Zamenis viri&iflavus, as was pointed out to me by Prof. Smitt at. 
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