EEPTILIA. 
17 
This species was referred by Dr. Anderson to JEremias cmruleo-ocellata of Dumeril and 
Bibron,^ but it appears to me to differ in several characters. The nasal shields are not 
swollen, the dorsal scales are close together and scarcely any granules can he detected 
amongst them, whereas in cceruleo-ocellata they are said not to he very close, and each 
is surrounded hy some granules. That species, moreover, has the tail scales keeled; as a 
rule, they are smooth in the Turkestan form, and the limbs are proportionally longer in the 
former, the hind legs nearly reaching the ear. 
I have already" expressed doubts as to whether D. ccBruleo-ocellata is the same as 
JE. velox,^ as the former has no palatal teeth, and the latter appears to possess them; but if they 
resemble each other at all closely, as is probable from the circumstance of most authors 
uniting them, I think the species now described differs much in habit, being a more slender 
form, and it is also distinguished by having the scales beneath the feet granular and not 
distinctly keeled. 
The closest ally appears to be a species described by Dr. Gunther from the Gobi Desert 
under the name of multiocellata. It is possible that this may be the same, but it is de¬ 
scribed as having an azygos shield between the postfrontals, a large central scale in the collar, 
and eighteen longitudinal rows of scutes across the abdomen. None of these differences is of 
much importance, but taking them together, they present a considerable distinction and 
render it possible that other differences exist. I should not think Dr. Gunther would have 
overlooked the peculiar character of the nasal shields not being swollen, in which the present 
species differs from all other Bremias with which I am acquainted.^ 
11(Z. Eremias yarkandensis var. saturata. PI. II, fig. 4. 
tv. Blanf,: Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, 1875, xliv, Pt. 2., p, 194. 
E. yarkandensis magis infuscata, scuto infraorhitali horizontaliter divisor parte 
superiori a labro discretd. 
1-13, Valleys of tlie Kuenluen range, south of Yarkand. 
This variety differs from the typical form in being much darker in colour and fre¬ 
quently in having much less distinct ocelli along the sides of the back. In one or two 
specimens the back is uniformly slaty-grey. Another difference is generally found, and it 
would, if constant, justify the giving a specific name to the variety. This is that the infra¬ 
orbital shield is divided below the eye, and does not reach the lip, the lower divided portion 
forming the seventh supralabial. But in one specimen this infraorbital descends to the 
lip, as in the normal form. 
The specimens were not labelled, and they were amongst the last collected; but Dr, 
Stoliczka notices this form in his diary as replacing the ordinary Bremias of the Yarkand 
plain at the commencement of the valleys leading to the Kuenluen. 
^ Erp. Gen. v, p. 295. 
® Eastern Persia, ii, p. 374. 
^ Pallas; Eeise, i, p. 718. 
^ Since the above was written. Dr. Giinther has very kindly compared specimens of E. ymTcandensis with the type of JE, multi, 
oeellata, and informs me that they are probably the same, the only distinction of any importance, so far as can be detected, being 
that the fore and hind claws appear much larger in E. multiocellata. The type of this species is so much shrunk, that it is difficult 
to ascertain whether it had swollen nasals, but apparently it had not. I leave the account of the species as originally written, but 
I think there is every probability that E. multiocellata and yarJcandensis are identical. 
E 
