ZOOLOGY-REPTILES. 
15 
Pityophis annectens. —Catalogue of serpents in Smithsonian Institution, p. 72. Report of 
Mexican Boundary Commission. 
Ciiar. Head small; the two middle of the four posterior frontals much broader in front than 
behind ; yellow above ; a narrow black band between the orbits ; occipital plates marke withd 
black ; a narrow oblique band of black passing from the posterior margin of the orbit to the 
angle of the jaw ; body yellowish, with about fifty distinct subquadrate black spots ; emarginate 
in front and posteriority ; emarginations less distinct toward tail; interspaces between these 
large spots presenting smaller ones, forming a continuous row on each side of the back ; about 
sixteen transverse black spots upon the tail; intermediate spaces yellowish ; chin and throat 
straw color ; the lateral extremities of many of the scuta with black spots ; thirty rows of 
scales ; those upon the back small, and distinctly carinated ; the four or five inferior rows on 
each side much larger than the others, and smooth ; tail short. 
Dimensions. Length of head 8 lines ; greatest breadth 5 lines ; length of body 1 foot; of tail 
2 inches 3 lines ; total length 1 foot 2 inches 11 lines ; circumference 14 lines. 
Gen. Obs. Abundant in California ; grows to a much larger size. The specimen in the mu¬ 
seum of the Academy came from the mines, in the vicity of the Cosumnes river ; one specimen 
was found under a log, and Dr. Heermann found several basking in the sun during the middle 
of the day, on the banks of streams, in sandy and gravelly places. 
LAMPRGSOMA. 
Char.—H ead small; snout rounded ; internasals somewhat smaller than prefrontals ; frontal 
short and broad ; nostril in a single plate ; a long and narrow frenal; one antocular, two posto¬ 
culars ; body long and slender, depressed ; scales smooth, quadrangular, brilliant; tail short, 
obtuse ; subcaudal scutes bifid ; teeth of equal length, posterior ones not channelled. 
LAMPROSOMA OCCIPITALE, Nob. 
Syn. — Bhinostoma occipitale. Proceed. Acad. N. S., vol. vii, 1854, p. 95. 
Description.—H ead small, of same breadth posteriorly as neck, depressed in front; snout 
rounded ; rostral plate large, excavated below, presenting a triangular shape above and in front 
where it forms the extremity of the muzzle ; internasals smaller than the prefrontals, their 
inner margins much shorter than their external, which are in contact with the upper margins 
of the nasal plates ; the prefrontals are more or less pentangular in shape, the posterior margin 
of each in contact with the anterior margin of the antocular, the supraocular, and the half of 
the frontal plate, its external margin with the upper margin of the frenal; the frontal plate is 
about as broad as long, narrower posteriorly, but less so than in Simotes coccineus ; supraoculars 
broader posteriorly ; occipitals of moderate size, pentangular ; nostril large, deeply excavated, 
in nearly the centre of a large and conspicuous nasal plate, somewhat pyriform ; a long and 
very narrow frenal, lying between the second and third supralabials, and the prefrontal; but 
one preocular, which is quadrangular, resting on the third supralabial ; two postoculars, the 
upper much larger than the lower ; there are seven supralabials, the three anterior smaller 
considerably than those which follow ; the eye in contact interiorly with the third and fourth ; 
body long and slender, depressed ; scales, of which there are fifteen rows, quadrangular, smooth 
