152 ME. G. A. BOULENGEB ON THE REPTILES 



region concave. Rostral wedged in far between the internasals, which are a little 

 shorter than the prisfrontals ; frontal as broad as the supraocular ; a single loreal ; one 

 prse- and two or three postoculars ; eight upper labials, fourth and fifth entering the 

 eye. Scales not very distinctly grooved, in 17 rows. Pale yellowish brown or sandy 

 grey above, with brown or blackish spots ; two oblique brown bars on each side of the 

 head behind the angle of the mouth ; lower parts white. 



Total length 600 millim., tail 110. 



Originally described from the Algerian Sahara, this species has since been found in 

 Tunisia, Tripoli, Egypt, Nubia, and Arabia, 



Gervais's specimen was obtained on the borders of the Sahara, between Bou-Alam 

 and the Arbas, in the Province of Oran. A single specimen was obtained in Tunisia, 

 at Bou-Hedma, near Gafsa, by M. Valery-Mayet. 



Figured by Jan, Icon. Gen. Ophid. livr. 34, pi. ii. fig. 2. 



8. Naia, Laurenti, 1768. 



Poison-fangs with a distinct groove anteriorly, followed by one to three small solid 

 teeth. Head distinct from neck; no loreal. Eye rather small, with round pupil. 

 Neck dilatable. Body cylindrical ; scales disposed obliquely, smooth, in 15 or more 

 rows ; tail moderate ; subcaudals in a single or double row. 



A single species in Barbary. 



1. Naia haie, Linnseus, 1766. 



Seven upper labials, sixth largest and in contact with the postoculars. 21 to 23 

 scales across the neck, 19 to 21 across the middle of the body. All the specimens 

 hitherto found in Barbary have the eye completely separated from the labials by a series 

 of suboculars (var. annulifera, Peters, 1854) and the coloration of the upper parts is a 

 uniform dark or blackish brown. 



Reaches a length of 2 metres. 



The African Cobra is found all over Africa south of the Atlas. 



A. Dumeril (Rev. Mag. Zool. 1856, p. 554) mentions a specimen received by the 

 Paris Museum from Morocco, and Boettger records it from the interior of Morocco. 

 M. Lataste obtained specimens near Biskra, and one at Zarzis, in Tunisia ; a second 

 specimen was obtained in Tunisia by M. Valery-Mayet at the well of El Aia, near Wed 

 Leben, and a third at Raz-el-Aioun, between Gafsa and Tameghza, by M. Sedillot. 



The var. annulifera is beautifully figured in the ' Expedition de I'Egypte,' Kept., 

 Suppl. pl. iii. 



