(Keptilia .Plate 64. J
D E NDROP HIS
DENDROPHIS (PHILOTHAMNUS) NATALENSIS.—S m i t h .
R e p t il ia .— P la te LXIV.
D. superne subolivacea, infeme pallide griseo-viridis ; dorsi versus caput squamis plus minusque brannec-
nigro marginatis; cute inter- squamas brunueo-nigra ; oculis magnis.
Longttudo e nasi apice ad basin caudse 21 unc,; caudte 11 unc. 3 lin.
C o lou r .'—The upper and lateral parts of the head, the hack, the sides ot
the body, and the upper and lateral parts of the tail, a tint intermediate
between sap-green and oil-green ; the scales of the anterior half of the body
partially edged very narrowly with liver-brown. The under surface of the
lower jaw intermediate between oil-green and apple-green ; the under parts of
the body and tail pale apple-green. When the scales are removed, the inner
parts appear pale greenish blue. Skin between the scales brownish black.
F orm, &c .—Figure rather slender ; body rather thickest near its middle ;
tail long and tapered to a fine point. Head rather broader than the neck,
and subovate, between the anterior canthus of the eyes and the nape the
width is equal, anteriorly to the eyes it is less, and gradually decreases towards
the nose, which is obtuse and slightly arched anteriorly. The sides of
the head are slightly convex, and the upper lip, towards the angle of the
mouth, is of all parts the most prominent. Nostrils anteriorly crescentic.
The upper surface of the head between the eyes depressed, the palpebral
plates rather prominent and convex, the other parts of the upper surface of
the head nearly level. Rostral plate subcordiform, its apex, which projects
between the naso-rostral plates, rounded ; the naso-rostral subquadrangular,
the anterio-inferior angle rounded; fronto-nasal plates broader than long,
and five-sided ; frontal plate anteriorly truncated, behind triangular, slightly
contracted at the middle ; palpebral plates subovate, broadest behind ; occipital
plates large, elongated, considerably longer than broad, the outer edge