444 AMPHISBANIDE. 
points:—The nasals much larger, their median suture a little longer 
than that between the frontals, which are not followed by any 
occipitals; ocular smaller; labials much higher, the head being 
much more compressed; fourth upper labial very small; lower 
labials and chin-shields as in A. vermicularis. The number of 
annuli on the body given by Gray (270) is no longer controllable, 
on account of the bad state of the specimen; but I should feel in- 
clined to regard it as nearly correct. Caudal annuli twenty-two. 
The segments of the annuli are much narrower than in the two 
preceding species; the two median ventral rows equilateral; on 
the middle of the body an annulus contains forty-six scales, twenty- 
two above and twenty-four below the lateral lines. Anal segments 
six. Preeanal pores four. 
Mendoza, 
a. Bad state. Mendoza. (Type.) 
13. Amphisbena gracilis. 
Amphisbeena gracilis, Strauch, Mél. Biol. Ac. St. Petersb, xi. 
p. 891. 
Snout obtusely pointed. Rostral small, triangular; nasals 
forming a suture; a pair of prefrontals, larger than the nasals; 
frontals smaller ; two occipitals; eye distinct through the ocular, 
which is situated between the prefrontal and the second labial ; two 
upper labials; mental quadrangular, followed by a very large hexa- 
gonal chin-shield; three lower labials, third very small. Two 
hundred and twenty-four annuli on the body and twenty-eight on 
the tail; an annulus contains about sixteen dorsal and sixteen 
ventral segments, of which the two median ventrals are a little 
broader than the others. Lateral line very distinct ; a slight vertebral 
line. Six anal segments. Four preanal pores. Uniform dark 
purplish brown. 
Length to vent 170 millim.; tail 20 millim. 
South America? 
14. Amphisbena steindachneri. 
Amphisbeena steindachneri, Strauch, Mél. Biol. Ac. St. Petersb, xi. 
p. 407. 
Head compressed and arched, separated from the body by a 
more or less distinct groove. Tail suddenly compressed at the end. 
Rostral moderate, triangular, entirely under the snout; nasals rather 
large, forming a suture; prefrontals two, very large; frontals either 
smaller or larger than the prefrontals; eye distinct through the ocular, 
which forms a suture with the second and third upper labials; 
latter three, subequal; a large anterior temporal; mental large, 
quadrangular, followed by a larger quadrangular chin-shield; three 
lower labials, first and third very small; a large chin-shield on 
each side. Two hundred and fifty-six annuli on the body and 
nineteen or twenty on the tail; the annuli on the body comprise 
