* a ' 
22 Storer on the 
plates, is a somewhat broader parallel band of the 
same color. 'The brown color of the back is varie- 
gated with black blotches, which are much more 
strongly marked in the smaller specimens ; in the 
larger specimens, they are hardly discernible, unless 
the scales be slightly separated by the observer. 
Abdomen greenish ; its upper portion towards the 
sides, lighter; the posterior edge of the abdominal 
- scales, at their union with those of the sides, marked 
with a black spot; at the distance of one or two 
lines within this spot, towards the centre of the 
abdomen, another spot is observed, which in young 
specimens is equally dark with the former, but duller 
in old specimens. Scales oblong, strongly carinated ; 
smaller upon the back of the head and the upper 
anterior portion of the body, than farther back. 
Scales of the yellow lateral lines, larger than those 
of the olive colored back. The scales that are 
shortest, least carinated, and at the same time the 
largest, are in a single row between the abdomen 
and the lateral line referred to. Head flattened, 
. having upon its top ten plates ; one at the snout, two 
pairs behind this, three between the eyes, and two, 
larger than either of the preceding, upon the occiput. 
Pupil of the eye, black; iris, reddish. Upper jaw 
margined.on each side by seven plates, besides that 
at the tip; the fifth, situated directly beneath the 
posterior angle of the eye, the largest. Lower jaw 
bordered by ten plates on each side. 'T'wo pairs of 
plates upon the throat, very much elongated. Small 
teeth in the jaws and upon the palatine bones. 
The bright yellow color, which renders this a 
