24. aconrtras. : 427 
enlarged. Tail two thirds the length of head and body. Blackish 
brown, each scale with a narrow lighter edge. 
From snout to vent 160 millim.,, tail 105. 
Madagascar, 
a-d. Ad. Anzahamaru. (Types.) 
5. Acontias hildebrandtii. 
Acontias hildebrandti, Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac. 1880, p. 510. 
Rostral covering about half of the snout; five supraoculars. 18 
scales round the body, 92 along the belly. Anal cleft bordered by 
several scales anteriorly. No limbs. Tail as long as head and 
body. Purplish, the scales edged with lighter. 
From snout to vent 34 millim., tail 33. 
N.W. Madagascar. 
6. Acontias meleagris. 
Acontias melagris, Gray, Cat. p. 127. 
Anguis meleagris, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 390. 
Eryx meleagris, Daud. Rept. vii. p. 272. ‘ 
Acontias meleagris, Merr. Tent. p. 89; Guér. Icon. R. A., Rept. 
pl. xvii. fig. 3; Dum. § Bibr. v. p. 802, pl. lviii. 
Head conical; snout obtuse, projecting; ear hidden; rostral 
enormous, covering the greater part of the snout ; mental enormous, 
its posterior border reaching to below the eye; frontonasal hardly 
half as long as the rostral, much shorter than the frontal, which is 
broader than long; three supraoculars, first about as large as the 
two others together; four supraciliaries; interparietal much narrower 
than the frontal, as broad as long or longer than broad; as broad 
as or narrower than the parietals; none of the labials entering the 
orbit. 16 to 20 scales round the middle of the body, those of the 
two vertebral series broader than the others. Nolimbs. A single, 
very large preanal plate. Length of the tail not more than one 
fifth of the total. Olive-brown above, yellowish inferiorly; or 
yellowish or pale brown above, each dorsal scale with a dark brown 
spot; these spots may be confluent and form six longitudinal 
streaks. 
From snout to vent 215 millim., tail 40. 
South Africa. 
a-b. Ad. Damaraland. 
e. Ad. Cape of Good Hope. Lord Derby [P.]. 
d, Ad. Cape of Good Hope. G. H. Ford, Esq. [P.]. 
ef, g,h, i-l. Ad. & Cape of Good Hope. 
her. 
eae Ad. Port Elizabeth. F. P. M. Weale, Esq. [P.1. 
o. Her. Bedford. F. P. M. Weale, Esq. [P.]. 
pr. Ad. & hgr. —_ British Kaffraria. F. P. M. Weale, Esq. [P.] 
su. Her. & yg. Kingwilliamstown. H. Trevelyan, Esq. [P.]. 
v. Her. 8S. Africa. 
