156 ' OPHIDIA. 



Genus CANTORIA, Girard. 



Char. gen. — Corpore suhcylindrico, altiore quam latiore, longissimo, 

 Cauda modica, incipio crassa, postice conicalL Gapite depresso, nee 

 a corpore discreto. Ore modico. OcuUs minimis. Scuto p)raefro7h- 

 tali, angusto; nasali unico, nare in ejus medio sita; loreo uno. Scutis 

 orlitalihus oculam circumdantihus. Squamis modicis, laevihus, luci^ 

 dis, in novemdecim series longiiudinales dispositis. Scutella praeanali 

 divisa, Scutellis suhcaudalihus in duplicem seriem ordinatis. 



Gen. Char. — Body subcylindrical, deeper than broad, and very much 

 elongated. Tail moderate, thick upon its base, and conical poste- 

 riorly. Head depressed, continuous with the body. Mouth mode- 

 rate. Eye very small. An odd, narrow prefrontal plate. Nostril 

 in one single plate, situated upon the upper surface of the head. 

 One loral. Orbitals constituting a complete circle around the eye. 

 Scales moderate, smooth, shining, disposed upon nineteen longi- 

 tudinal series. Preanal scutella divided. Subcaudal scutellae dis- 

 posed upon a double series. 



Syn.— Cantorm, Grd. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. August, 1857, 182. 



Observ.— The species upon which this genus is founded, has not 

 been observed, as far as we know, by the authors of the "Erpetologie 

 generale." 



Cantoria viol ace a, Grd. 

 (Plate XI, figs. 7-10.) 



Spec. Char.— An anteorbital; a sub- and a postorbital. Labials very 

 large. Ground color above reddish-violet, the scales being edged 

 with white. Beneath pearl-colored. 



Stn. — Coronella violacea, Cantor, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. YII, 1839, 50. 

 Cantoria violacea, Grd. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. August, 1857, 182. 



Observ. — The specimen which we describe appears to constitute a 

 variety of coloration, similar to what is often observed in Ophiholus 



