AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 69 
Scales in 15 rows, 6 upper labials, the second of which is pointed 
above, the third truncated. Uniform bluish grey or purple black above; 
ventral shields whitish, blackish on the sides. Body rather elongate, 
rounded; tail somewhat short, not distinct from trunk; head oblong, 
depressed, not distinct from neck ; eye small, pupil sub-elliptical. Rostral 
shield very broad and low, and very obtuse superiorly; anterior frontals 
moderate, broader than long, rounded in front; posterior frontals rather 
large, five-sided, each with two hinder edges, forming together a right 
angle ; vertical six-sided, about as broad as long, with parallel outer edges, 
and obtuse angle in front, and a pointed one behind; occipitals oblong, 
obtusely rounded behind superciliaries small; two posterior oculars, one 
anterior just reaching to the upper surface of the head; the postfrontal, 
nasal, anteorbital, and second upper labial, meet at a point and replace the 
loreals ; six upper labials ; the first is very low, situated below the nasal, 
the third and fourth enter the orbit; front series of temporals formed by 
two shields, one of which is in contact with the postorbitals. Chin-shields of 
nearly equal size; several scales between the hinder chin-shields and the first 
ventral ; the median line of the upper part of the tail is occupied by a series 
of hexagonal scales; a series of small teeth behind the grooved front tooth. 
The present species is subject to a considerable variation of color 
during the course of the year; sometimes before changing its skin 
the back and head are of a leaden hue, and the ventral plates uniformly 
whitish ; after the old skin has been cast off, the upper coat assumes a 
shining deep purple or bluish-black; the ventral plates are at this time 
rose-colored, which tint is invariably lost in spirits. The ventrals of 
many subjects examined were found clouded on the sides ; sometimes the 
greater part of the scales, in particular those near the vent, are blackish, 
and the subcaudals entirely so. It is probably the only snake of the genus 
Hoplocephalus in which the tongue is white. 
The rocky neighbourhood of Middle Harbour (Port Jackson) is 
the locality where this new species was first discovered, but since then 
specimens have been obtained from Port Macquarie and the Clarence 
River, which do not differ in color from those inhabiting the neighbourhood 
of Sydney ; it is highly probable that the geographical distribution of this 
species extends still further to the northward. Mr. George Masters 
obtained a very large specimen, thirty-two inches in length, at Wide Bay 
in Queensland. 
