120 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum, 
At present we do not desire to draw any general conclusions with 
regard to the meaning of colours and patterns among the reptiles of 
Namaqualand. Experimental evidence and continued observations over 
a considerable time will no doubt solve some of the questions at issue. 
For the present we are unable to form any opinion as to whether the 
phenomena here alluded to as “Protective Colouration” is brought about 
by the agency of natural selection or by some inherent condition or “state 
of things” in the organism itself acting in direct response to the physical 
environment. 
Note on the localised Distribution of various species of Lizards found in 
the Karas Mountains and immediate neighbourhood. 
The phenomenon here alluded to relates chiefly to the Lacertidae : 
three genera of this family were taken, namely, Nucras , Scapteira , and 
Eremias. 
In the case of Eremias four species were found within a perimeter 
about a mile or less from Narudas Slid ; at the same time these species 
were not all found living under precisely similar conditions. The four 
species found at this locality were Eremias lugubris , E. lineo-ocellata 
pulchella , E. namaquensis , and E. inornata : of these E. pulchella 
appeared to be the least exclusive in its preference for particular 
environment, though it was generally seen together with E. inornata on 
rocky or stony ground, especially in the heart of the mountains : 
E. namaquensis was invariably seen on the sandy plains and on the sandy 
stretches which lie at the foot of and here and there in the mountains, 
its habitat being in fact in marked contrast to that of E. inornata : 
although the two species were found within a few yards of each other, 
they were never actually taken together at the same spot ; E. lugubris 
was only taken in the sandy beds of rivers, generally in company with 
E. namaquensis. 
Now of this list the two species which are most closely allied are 
E. namaquensis and E. inornata : it is a noteworthy fact that whereas 
other two species of Eremias , not so closely related to each other as those 
two just mentioned, may live together under the same conditions, 
such is not the case with E. namaquensis and E. inornata. On this 
same trip another close ally of E. namaquensis , namely E. unclata , was 
taken in the Namib Desert at Liideritzbucht where the conditions are 
very much different from those in the Karas District, the rainfall at 
Liideritzbucht being almost a negligible quantity whereas in the Karas 
District rain can usually be expected from December to February or 
March : further the vegetation is a good deal different in the two districts. 
Again, whereas the four species of Eremias appeared to separate 
themselves more or less into their several environments, it may be noted 
that the single species of Scapteira was found under various conditions 
in different localities, namely on the sandy plains which separate the 
Little Karas from the Great Karas Mountains, and in the arid region of 
the Namib Desert/" 
Among the Geckonidae six species were taken : P. bibroni, a very 
distinct species, was found to occur along with P. p'urcelli in the Great 
* We must add that according to Werner (1. i. c.) E. undata has been found at Windhuk, 
Rehoboth, and at Aus : and E. pulchella at Liideritzbucht, 
