plate is small and triangular; the lower jaw is very thin,'and considerably
shorter than the upper. Scales of the body convex, almost subcarinated,
towards the head subrhomboidal, more posteriorly subovate, and arranged in
oblique transverse rows, thirteen in each. Scales of the tail much shorter
and broader than those of the body, and more or less four or six sided;
plates of abdomen rather broad ; poison fang small; eyes small and very
convex ; nostrils circular. Abdominal plates 163. Subcaudal scales 22 pairs.
Length from nose to anus 20 inches ; length of tail 1 inch 8 lines.
Inhabits Southern Africa to the eastward of the Cape Colony. To Professor Sunderwall
of Stockholm I am indebted for the opportunity of describing and figuring this species. As
I never obtained a specimen during the several excursions I made in the district in which
the individual here described was found, I suspect it is not a very prolific species.