LODIA TENUIS. 123 



iitroque latere. Abdomine clariore, scuteUis coeruleis a base, Cauda 

 infra unicolore^ a latere coendearum macularum serie instriicta. 



Spec. Char. — Dorsal scales disposed upon fifteen longitudinal series. 

 Body dull-brown above, bluish on the sides, with a longitudinal 

 lighter stripe on each flank. Abdomen lighter; base of scutellae 

 bluish. Tail beneath unicolor, with a lateral series of bluish 

 spots. 



^Y^.— Calamaria tenuis, B. & G. in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. VI, 1852, 176. 

 Lodia tenuis, B. & G. Catal. N. Amer. Kept. I, 1863, 116. 



Descr. — The ordinary vertex plate is hexagonal, broad anteriorly, 

 and acute-angled posteriorly. The anterior vertex plate is much 

 smaller than the former, ovoid or subelliptical, and situated between 

 the postfrontals, which are angular and extend to the sides of the 

 head. The prefrontals are subtriangular, about half the size of the 

 postfrontals just alluded to. The rostral is broad and well developed, 

 whilst the supraocularies are rather small. The occipitals are externally 

 subangular, large, and elongated. The nasals are w^ell developed, the 

 prenasal being the largest ; the nostril situated in the middle, 

 between the two plates. The loral is large, polygonal, elongated, 

 situated above the commissure of the second and third upper labials, 

 and entering into the orbit as an inferior anteorbital. A quadran- 

 gular upper anteorbital is inclosed between the postfrontals, supraocu- 

 lary, and loral. There are two angular postorbitals, the lower one 

 resting upon the commissure of the fourth and fifth labials. The 

 temporal shields are conspicuous, the anterior one largest and elongated. 

 The mouth is deeply cleft ; the upper labials are six in number, the 

 three posterior ones being a little larger than the three anterior. The 

 lower labials are six also; the fourth is the largest. The mental 

 shields, of which there is but one pair, are large and elongated. 



The body is slender, subcylindrical. The tail short, conical, and 

 tapering, constituting about the seventh of the entire length. The 

 scales are proportionally large, rhomboidal, smooth, forming fifteen 

 longitudinal series, the outer one of w^hich being but slightly broader 

 than the rest. 



There are one hundred and fifty-one abdominal scutellae ; the pre- 

 anal one subdivided. The subcaudal scutellae are thirty-three in 

 number, and arranged upon a double series. 



