218 ZOOLOGY. 



the vertical or interocular, and the occipitals, by a concentric series of small plates. There is 

 but one and a rather small nasal, in the midst of which the nostril opens, leaving bnt a nar- 

 row rim. The loral region is occupied by several small plates. The anterior suborbitals are 

 more developed than the posterior, all of which being provided with a keel along their inner 

 margin. The surciliary ridge is composed of about six elongated, narrow, and obliquely 

 superposed plates. The lids are covered with very small plates, the marginal series being 

 somewhat more developed than the rest, except ou the periphery of these organs, and yet may 

 still be distinguished from the latter by their regular shape and disposition. The rostral is 

 transversally elongated and very low. The upper labials are very elongated and very narrow, 

 six or seven in number, increasing in length from the first to the fourth inclusive, then dimin- 

 ish considerably backwards. The sujiralabials have. the same general appearance as the labials 

 themselves, save in being a little smaller. Occasionally two or more minute ^jlates may be 

 observed upon the loral region between the loral plates proper and the supralabials. The tem- 

 poral plates are of moderate development, and of nearly equal size with the post-occipitals. 

 They are irregularly rounded, slightly imbricated, and provided either with a rudimentary 

 tubercle or an obsolete carina. The symphyseal is larger than the rostral, and especially 

 broader upon its middle region. The inferior labials (five or six in number) are broader than 

 the upper, more conspicuous therefore, and diminishing gradually backwards. There are four 

 or five pairs of mental shields : the anterior pair being the largest and contiguous upon their 

 inner margin, whilst the other pairs diverge, and gradually diminish in size backwards. Be- 

 tween the mental shields and lower labial plates there exists a complete series, and part of a 

 second, of small infralabials. The inferior svu-face oi' the head, the throat, the belly, the pre- 

 anal region, thighs, and legs, are covered with smooth, posteriorly obtuse, and generally entire 

 scales or scutella; of moderate development, a little smaller imder the head and larger under 

 the hind limbs ; some few on the sides of the belly exhibiting a small notch posteriorly. The 

 sides of the neck, the insertion of the limbs, the inferior surface of the forearm, and the poste- 

 rior surface of the thighs, are granular. On the sides of the abdomen the scales are irregu- 

 larly rounded, subtuberculous, or subcarinated, and smaller than those on the dorsal region, 

 which are distinctly, though moderately, carinated, and posteriorly obtuse. The upper surface 

 of the limbs and the inferior surface of the arm are covered with scales similar in shape and 

 structure to those on the back ; on the palm of the hands and the sole of the feet they are 

 much smaller, acute posteriorly, and distinctly carinated ; around the fingers and toes they 

 constitute irregular verticiles — the superior ones being more irregular in size than the inferior, 

 and less distinctly carinated. The inner or first finger is the smallest ; the outermost is the 

 next m length ; then the second ; then the third, which is nearly as long as the fourth, which 

 IS the longest. The nails are rather short, compressed, acerated upon their extremity, and 

 gently curved. The first toe is the smallest ; the second is the next in length ; then the fifth; 

 then the third ; the fourth is the longest. Their nails do not differ materially from those of 

 the fingers. The scales which cover the tail are the most conspicuous of all ; they constitute 

 oblique series upon the base of that organ, and annular rows further backwards. The oblique 

 series have the same shape as those of the back. Those constituting the annular rows are su- 

 periorly subquadrangular and elongated, with their carina oblique ; whilst beneath, they be- 

 come much narrower, posteriorly acute, with a straight carina along their middle region. 



The ground-color is blackish brown in the male, and greenish brown in the female ; in either 

 sex there are two parallel series of transverse black bands, convex anteriorly, margined with 

 a whitish, or else a lighter tint along their concavity. These bands, however, are more con- 

 spicuous in the female than in the male. They may be traced from the head, on each side of 

 the dorsal region, to the posterior extremity of the body, where the series, from either side, 

 combine more or less into one, which extends along the upper surface of the tail. The limbs, 

 as well as the tail, 'are transversally barred with black. In the female, the dorsal region and 

 the flanks are either dotted with black or spotted with whitish ; whilst in the male, these spots 



