144 COLITBEIDiE. 



Snout projeotiDg, obtusely pointed, with angular canthus. Rostral 

 at least as deep as broad, wedged in between the internasals, its- 

 upper surface one half to two thirds as long as its distance from the 

 frontal; internasals as long as or a little shorter than the prae- 

 frontals ; frontal as broad as the supraocular, twice as long as broad, 

 as long as or a little longer than its distance from the end of the 

 snout, as long as or a little longer than the parietals ; loreal as long 

 as deep or deeper than long ; one prseocular (rarely divided), usually 

 not reaching the frontal ; two (rarely three) postoculars ; temporals 

 2+2 or 3 (rarely 1+2); eight (rarely seven) upper labials, fourth 

 and fifth (or third and fourth) entering the eye ; four or five lower 

 labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter 

 than the posterior. Scales very indistinctly grooved, in 17 rows. 

 Ventrals 159-176 ; anal divided; subcaudals 48-73. , Pale bufE or 

 sandy grey above, with brown or blackish spots ; one or two oblique 

 brown or blackish bars on each side of the head behind the 

 angle of the mouth ; lower parts white, uniform or spotted with 

 brick-red. 



Total length 430 millim. ; tail 190. 



Northern Sahara, from Algeria to Egypt, Nubia, Arabia, Western 

 Persia. 



a. S (V. 159; 0. 48). Duirat, S. Tunisia. Dr J. Anderson rp. 



h. Hgr. (V. 159 ; 0. 54). Abu Eoash, nr. Cairo. Dr. J. Anderson 'P. 



c. ? (V. 173 ; 0. 55). Dooroor, N. of Suakin. Dr. J". Anderson 'P.' 



rf. 2 (V. 174; C. 54). Suakin. Dr. J. Anderson [P. 



e. Hgr. (V. 176 ; 0. 59). Nubia. Prof. Peters [P.J. 



/. ? (V.176; 0. 53). Aden. Ool. Yerbury [PJ. 



f/. cJ (V.176; C.73). Hadramaut. Dr. J. Anderson [P.]. 



'h. 9 (V. 172; 0.64). Muscat. A. S. G. Jayakar, 



Esq. [P.]. 



i. $ (V. 168; 0.52). Bushire. Mr. J. A. Murray 



[P.]. 



168. RHAMPHIOPHIS. 



Rhamphiophis, Peters, Man. Berl. Ac. 1864, p. 624, and Seise n, 



Mossamb. iii. p. 123 (1882). 

 Dipsina, Jan, Arch. Zool. Anat. Phys. ii. ] 862, p. 1313. 

 Ooelopeltis, part., Jan, Elenco sist. Ofid. p. 89 (1863). 



Maxillary short, with 6 to 9 teeth gradually increasing in length 

 and followed, after an interspace, by a pair of very large grooved 

 fangs situated below the eye ; anterior mandibular teeth longest. 

 Head distinct from neck, with projecting snout ; rostral large, 

 hoUowed out beneath; eye moderate, with round pupil; nostril 

 crescentic, in a divided or a semidivided nasal. Body cylindrical; 

 scales smooth, with apical pits, in 17 or 19 rows ; ventrals rounded. 

 Tail moderate or long ; subcaudals in two rows. 



Tropical Africa. 



