AUSTRALIAN TIGER SNAKES AND COPPERHEADS 
135 
The specimen from the old collection of the Vienna 
Museum referred to by Fitzingcr in “Systcma Reptil- 
iunf (1843, p. 28) as Hoplocephalus Cuvieri belongs to 
th tllopl curtus species [of] Schlegel and has nineteen 
scale rows, while the three specimens bearing only fif¬ 
teen longitudinal scale rows referred to by the same 
name by Fitzinger in Cataloge der osterr. Naturf, (p. 
410)perhaps belong to an as yet undescribed species, 
which, in my opinion, is very closely related to Hopl. 
paMceps Giinth., if not identical. 
Char. The head is elongate and tapers anteriorly, in 
cross-section it has a quadrangular appearance, the 
dorsal surface is quite flat, and the mid region of the 
headnot widely bulging; the body is rounded, of thick¬ 
set appearance. the tail short with a pronounced taper 
to a point. The vertical shield is only slightly longer 
than broad. Of thesixsupralabials the third and fourth 
are situated below the eye; the second and third arc 
developed dorsally rather as in //. pallidiceps , at times 
(that is to say among the three specimens on one or 
both sides of the head) acting as a substitute for the 
absent loreal shield; in the latter case the undivided 
nasal shield is abruptly truncated posteriorly, in the 
former it extends to a narrow point. Temporal shields 
2 t 2. The upper temporal of the first series is elongate 
[and] quadrangular, and contacts both postocular 
shields anteriorly; the lower, larger temporal shield of 
the same series is triangular with a dorsally curved 
broad base and rests with the tapering point of its an¬ 
terior angle against the lower postocular. The upper 
temporal shield of the second series sometimes fuses 
with the scales margining it posteriorly, forming a 
single very large shield. The body scales diminish 
rapidly in size moving away from the edge of the belly. 
The dorsal surface of the head and back is dark brown, 
towards the edge of the belly the sides of the body are 
olive green. In the neck region of the smallest specimen 
of 26 inches [Zoll Lange] the outermost scale row bears 
a yellow-brown longitudinal band; ventral to this is a 
wider blackish band, which includes the lateral edge of 
the anterior ventral shields. In just this one specimen 
one observes on the back distinct traces of small light 
yellowish brown crossbands which become markedly 
broader towards the edge of the belly. The largest 
specimens of 36-38 inches however are quite uni¬ 
formly coloured dorsally. The anterior and posterior 
edges of the ventral scales, or only their anterior edges, 
have blackish seams. - Subcaudal shields (entire) 48- 
51; ventral scales circa 177. Origin: New Holland.” 
[Translated from German.] 
