PITUOPHIS. 133 



The specimen described is four feet four inches in total length. 

 The body is quite slender, thickest upon its middle region, and deeper 

 than wide throughout its whole extent. It is convex or arched 

 superiorly and nearly flat beneath. The tail, which measures four- 

 teen inches, is very slender and tapering into a point; like the body 

 itself, it is deeper than wide from its base to its extremity. The 

 scales are quite large, imbricated and emarginated upon their posterior 

 free edge ; imbricated and disposed upon thirteen longitudinal rows, 

 on the anterior third of the body, and upon eleven rows posteriorly. 

 In the dorsal row they are subhexagonal in shape; in the lateral rows 

 subrhombic, the one adjoining the abdominal scutellae being much 

 broader (deeper) than the rest. At the origin of the tail there are 

 but three rows of scales, the middle row scarcely differing from the 

 lateral ones, they all being broader than on the sides of the body. On 

 the latter third of the tail the longitudinal rows of scales are reduced 

 to two. 



"We observe two hundred, broad, abdominal scutellae, the preanal 

 one being subdivided and very convex exteriorly. The subcaudal 

 scutellae are all divided, one hundred and fifteen in number. 



The color is uniformly green, with a light-yellowish line on each 

 side of the abdomen, intersecting the abdominal scutellae upon their 

 flexion along the sides, and extending likewise under the tail along 

 the marginal keel. The skin under the scales is black. 



Log. — This species was collected about Sydney, Australia. 



Plate XII, fig. 7, represents Dendrophis praainus, size of life. 



Fig. 8, is a profile of the head. , 



Fig. 9, an upper view of the same. 



Fig. 10, a view of the head, from beneath. 



Fig. 11, the dorsal scales. 



Genus PITUOPHIS, Holbr. 



Gen. Char. — Body subcylindrical, deeper than broad. Head elon- 

 gated, ovoid; cleft of mouth curved. Vertex plate elongated. Su- 

 praocularies large, subtriangul'ar. One or two pairs of postfrontal 

 plates, an internal and an external pair, both elongated. Prefrontal 



34 



