406 



put and the origin of the tail. Brownish-grey, with a vertebral 

 band, composed of rhombic brown spots, beginning on the middle 

 of the trunk and distinct from the origin of the tail ; a black band 

 on each side of the neck. 



Description. — The head is slightly depressed, with the muzzle 

 rather produced ; the body is cylindrical, and continued in a very 

 long and strong rounded tail ; the extremities are rather short. The 

 successive series of shields covering the upper surface of the head 

 is as follows: — 1. The rostral shield is broader than high, semi- 

 circular, without posterior angle. 2. A single anterior frontal, pent- 

 agonal, forming a straight transverse suture with the rostral ; its 

 posterior angle is a right one. 3. A pair of posterior frontals, forming 

 a short suture together, each being hexagonal, with three short and 

 three longer sides. 4. A single anterior parietal, hexagonal, broadest 

 anteriorly, with an obtuse angle in front and with the posterior sides 

 shortest. 5. A pair of rather small posterior parietals. 6. Two 

 series of occipital shields, the anterior being formed by three, the 

 posterior by five ; those of the anterior series are the largest, and the 

 middle one is hexagonal, elongate. 7. The roof of the orbit is 

 covered by three larger and several smaller shields. 



The lateral shields of the head are, a single nasal, pierced in the 

 centre by the nostril, a loreal of moderate size, and two anteorbitals. 

 There are seven upper labials, longer than high. The front labial 

 of the lower jaw is very much like the rostral ; there are six rather 

 narrow lower labials. A single pentagonal anterior chin-shield forms 

 a straight transverse suture with the front labial ; then follow three 

 pairs of shields, the posterior ones the largest, forming sutures to- 

 gether, and not leaving a free space between them for smaller scales. 

 The temples are scaly. The tympanum is placed immediately be- 

 hind the cleft of the mouth ; it is small, rounded, and rather deeply 

 situated. 



All the body and the tail are covered with square smooth scales, 

 arranged in rings, completely surrounding the body ; the scales of 

 one ring always alternate with those of the following. There are 

 fifty rings between the occiput and the origin of the tail, thirty on 

 the belly. The scales on the sides are rather smaller. The space 

 before the vent is covered with larger shields, the extremities with 

 hexagonal scales. A trace of a collar fold is just visible. 



The extremities are rather short : the fore-leg reaches to the mid- 

 dle of the eye, if laid forwards. The third and fourth fingers are 

 equal in length, then follow the second, the fifth, and the first. The 

 hind-leg reaches a little before the middle of the trunk, if laid for- 

 wards ; the fourth toe is the longest, the third and fifth are nearly 

 equal in length, then follow the second and the first. 



There are no palatine teeth ; the posterior maxillary teeth are 

 indistinctly tricuspid. 



The ground colour of the upper parts is brownish-grey from the 

 middle of the trunk ; the dorsal line appears spotted with darker, the 

 spots assuming the regular form of rhombs at the origin of the 

 tail, and forming a continuous band to its tip ; there is a similar 



