408 



it is quite impossible to state their number; there is no occipital 

 shield, or it is very small ; in the middle of the upper eyelid is a 

 group of somewhat larger shields, like those along the supercihary 

 margin and the canthus rostralis, but they also are very small, com- 

 pared with other species. The nostril opens laterally, and is situated 

 immediately behind the extremity of the snout. The labial shields 

 are exceedingly narrow ; there are three or four series of smaller 

 shields running parallel to that of the lower labials, the remainder 

 of the throat being covered with granular scales. 



The tympanum is a small cleft, without any particular scales 

 round its margin ; the scales on the temple and on the neck are 

 exceedingly small, granular. The pouch of the throat is well 

 developed. 



There is a very low serrated ridge along the back of the largest 

 of the specimens ; the other dorsal scales are minute, those on the 

 sides yet smaller, and those of the belly the largest, ovate and keeled. 

 The scales on the side of the pouch are rather smaller than the 

 others, and those on the pelvis and round the vent are uniformly 

 granular. The tail is rounded, not verticillated or crested, but very 

 slightly compressed in the upper part of the middle of its length. 

 All the scales are sexangular, of moderate size, strongly keeled, the 

 keels forming longitudinal ridges. 



The fore-leg does not, or scarcely, reach to the loin, if laid back- 

 wards ; it is covered with minute keeled scales, with granulations 

 inferiorly. The inner finger is not dilated ; the fourth is the longest ; 

 then follow, in the order of their length, the third, fifth, second, and 

 finally the first. The total length of the hind-leg appears to vary 

 according to age or sex ; it reaches to the humeral joint only in the 

 largest of the specimens, and to the anterior margin of the orbit in 

 the smaller ones. It is covered with minute scales, the anterior 

 ones being keeled. 



Nothing can be said of the coloration during life. The ground 

 colour of the upper parts is now a greyish- or brownish-olive, with 

 several indistinct broad bands across the back, and rings of the same 

 colour round the tail ; the lower parts are whitish, speckled with 

 brown between the hind-legs ; in the largest specimen the throat 

 (not the pouch) and the lower side of the tail are brown. 



This is one of the largest species of the genus, as will appear 

 from the following measurements : — 



inches, lines. 

 Distance between tympanum and the extremity 



of the snout 1 4 



Distance between tympanum and vent 3 8 



Length of the tail 11 



Total length 16 



10. LiocEPHALXJS ORNATUS, Gray, Catal. p. 219. 



The specirnens sent by Mr. Fraser belong to a variety of this 

 species, without spots before the shoulder, and with a broad black 

 gular band in very old individuals. 



