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NORTH AMERICAN 


Hk Phe O lL 0 GY; 


OR, 


A DESCRIPTION 


OF THE 


REPTILES INHABITING THE UNITED STATES. 


BY JOHN EDWARDS HOLBROOK, M. D. 


PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA; MEMBER OF THE 
ROYAL MEDICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF 
NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA; AND OF THE NEW YORK AND 
BALTIMORE LYCEUMS OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


Vol. 


PHILADELPHIA: 


J. DOBSON, CHESTNUT STREET. 
1836. 


Cabs 


] Waa i 


TO 


GEORGE EDWARDS, ESQ., 


OF 


CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, 


THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 


BY HIS NEPHEW, 


JOHN EDWARDS HOLBROOK. 


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Ph Ee PACE, 


In undertaking the present work I was not fully aware of the many difficulties 
attending it—indeed they could hardly have been anticipated. With an immense 
mass of materials, without Libraries to refer to, and only defective Museums for 
comparison, I have constantly been in fear of describing animals as new that 
have long been known to European Naturalists. In no department of American 
Zoology is there so much confusion as in Herpetology. This is to be traced 
partly to the earlier Naturalists, partly to the practice of describing from specimens 
preserved in alcohol, or from prepared skins. I have endeavoured to avoid error 
in this respect, by describing in every instance from the living animal, and often 


after a comparison of many individuals. 


I consider myself fortunate in having secured the assistance of Mr. J. Szra, 
an Italian by birth, but long resident in the United States, who has caught the 
character and attitude of the animals with singular felicity. His figures are the 


more valuable, from being all taken from life. 


In presenting the first volume of North American Herpetology, I have to return 


my thanks to those gentlemen who have aided me in the undertaking—and 


vl PREFACE. 


especially to Dr. Ocrrr of Charleston, who was associated with me in my dissec- 
tions, the result of which will be given in the Anatomy of the Genera: to Dr. 
Worpeman and Dr. Baron, who have furnished me with many beautiful prepara- 
tions: to Dr. Ravenet, and to Dr. Geppines of Baltimore, for interesting remarks 
on many southern Reptiles: to Dr. Haruan, for the use of his Library and 
Manuscript Notes: to Dr. Binney and Dr. Srorsr of Boston, and to Mr. Wir- 
Kens of New York, for many Reptiles of the northern parts of the United States: 
to Cuartes Hammonp and Oepen Hammonp, Esgqrs., of West Chester, New York, 
who have furnished me with many animals, together with observations on their 
habits: and to T. L. Oepen, Esq., of Mobile, for animals sent from the south- 
western part of the United States. To Professor Troost, of Nashville, I owe 
many thanks for several new species of Emys, accompanied with valuable ob- 
servations. Major Le Conte has, with a liberality that distinguishes the true . 
lover of nature, rendered me essential service, in placing at my disposal the use 
of his notes, and his beautiful drawings of Reptiles, the labour of many years. 
But above all am I indebted to Dr. Picxerine of Philadelphia, who has aided me 


with his accurate knowledge at every step of the work. 


Whatever merit the work may possess, must be determined by Naturalists; 
my own wishes will be gratified, if I have restored, or given, order to North 


American Herpetology. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction, - - - - - - - - PAGE 9 
Organization of Reptiles, — - - = = = a = 12 
Testudo Polyphemus, - - - = - : : 41 
Emys hieroglyphica, - - - - : : Ae 
megacephala, - - - 4 s S E 51 

— Troostii, - - - - - - = = = 55 
Muhlenbergir, - - - : - = ‘ 59 
Ameiva sex-lineata, - - - - - : : - 63 
Anolius Carolinensis, - - - - - - = 67 
Scincus lateralis, - - - - = ° = eee 
Bufo Americanus, - - - = : : 2 1D 
clamosus, - - - = - é a 4 2 79 
Engystoma Carolinense,  - - - - 2 : 83 
Scaphiopus solitarius, - - - - = : 3 5, 85 
Rana halecina, - - - = : e 3 89 
palustris, - - - = = = E =e 09 
sylvatica, a ge - = - 2 _ 95 
ornata, - - - - = = = = < 97 

Hyla versicolor, - - - = = é _ 101 
squirella, - - - - - 2 = P - 105 
Coluber flagelliformis, — - - - . : 2 = 107 
Alleghaniensis, - - - a 5 2 me (A [| 
quadrivittatus, — - - - - - = 3 113 
erythrogrammus, — - - - - = 7 - 115 


abacurus, - - - - - - - 119 


py) 
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LNT RO. D.C, ? hou. 


Repries are vertebrated animals, with lungs, a simple heart, low temperature, 
slow digestion, and oviparous generation; having neither hair, feathers, nor 
mamme. 


Naturalists have experienced much difficulty in giving an appropriate name to 
this great class of animals. Linnezus, observing some of the most remarkable 
phenomena in the economy of Reptiles—as their being able to live on land or in 
water—called them amphibia. The term is inappropriate; for it can be applied 
but to a very small number, as many never approach the water; and few, like the 
Sirens, can respire in this element;—breathing with lungs, others must approach 
its surface for atmospheric air. The respiration of young Batrachia is indeed 
only in water, but they have gills; and when the animal arrives at its perfect state 
of developement, these disappear, and are succeeded by lungs. An animal, to 
respire equally well on land or in water, must have both gills and lungs;—gills to 
breathe in the water, as Fishes, and lungs to respire atmospheric air, as Birds 
and Mammalia. The Sirens of our rice-fields, and the Menobranchi of the great 


northern lakes, are the only North American Reptiles that have this structure, 
Vor. L—2 


10 INTRODUCTION. 


and are consequently our only really amphibious animals. However inapplicable 
the term amphibia may be to these animals, many writers have followed the 
example of the great Swedish naturalist. Brisson* was the first who arranged 
them under the name Reptiles,} which term will be adopted in this work as more 
indicative of their habits than the word amphibia. 


The science which treats of the form, organization, habits, and history of Rep- 
tiles, is named Herpetology,{ and has been more neglected than all other branches 
of Zoology; for the study of Reptiles offers difficulties more numerous and insur- 
mountable than those presented by any other class of vertebrated animals. 
Inhabiting, for the most part, deep and extensive swamps, infected with malaria, 
and abounding with diseases during the summer months, when Reptiles are most 
numerous, time is wanting to observe their modes of life with any prospect of 
success. Regarded, moreover, by most persons as objects of detestation, repre- 
sented as venomous, and possessed of the most noxious properties, few have been 
hardy enough to study their character and habits. 


Though wanting the gracefulness of form of some Mammalia,—though without 
the beauty of plumage of some Birds, or the intelligence of others,—though they 
lack the briliancy of colour and wonderful instinct of the insect tribe,—still the 
Reptiles offer many striking points of interest to the student of nature. To one 
who would trace the chain of organized bodies, their connexion, their relation with 
each other, and all with the great whole, the study of Herpetology is highly 
interesting and important; for the Reptiles occupy a prominent place in the scale 
of creation. Neither the highest, nor yet the lowest of vertebrated animals, they 
fill a space between the Birds and Fishes, and without them a vast link in the 
chain of animated bemgs would be wanting. Elevated above the Fish by the 


* Regne Animal. divisé, &e. Paris, 1756. 
t Dumeril observes the term had been previously used by Lyonnet. Hist. Nat. des Rept., 
tom. i. p. 2. 


From éprrv, a reptile, ay, a discourse. 


INTRODUCTION. 11 


presence of lungs and articulated members, yet inferior to Birds from having cold 
blood, a simple heart, and a less degree of sensibility, these animals, by their 
multiplied and extremely diversified forms, make the medium of connexion between 
beings of the most opposite character. The Testudo connects them with the 
inferior Mammalia, as with the Armadillo, on the one hand, while the Siren 
approximates them to the cartilaginous Fishes on the other: Serpents form a link of 
another series, connecting this class with osseous Fishes, as with the Eel; and the 
Flying Lizard connects them with the Birds.* In order to estimate properly the 
rank these animals hold in the scale of creation, it is necessary to examine the 
general and principal points of their organization—to study the number of their 
senses, and their degree of perfection; without this, we cannot understand the 
diversified forms and the shades of life that present themselves in such infinite 
variety among them. Their conformation and modes of life are so different— 
some organized for creeping, others for walking, for swimming, and even for flying, 
that it would be impossible to generalize their anatomical forms or structure;— 
we cannot give the structure of one as the type of organization in all the others; 
for their variation in shape and figure is attended with modifications of their 
internal organs. 


* Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Erst. Theil., p. 25. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


1. Orcans or Inrecumation.—We find in no other class of animals such a 
variety of structure in the integuments, their characters differing in almost every 
genus; horny in the Chelonia, scaly in the Serpents, smooth and soft in the Frogs, 
warty and tuberculous in the Toads. 


The cuticle exists in all. In the Tortoises it passes not only over the legs, but 
over the shell; it covers the scales and plates of Lizards and Serpents; and in all, 
is detached periodically. This character of shedding the cuticle is most observable 
in the Serpents, where that structure is detached in the form of an entire covering; 
in the Batrachia the cuticle is less distinct, resembling a mucous membrane, and 
being shed in the water, it is frequently devoured by the animal itself. This phe- 
nomenon is not confined to the season of spring, as believed by Linneus, but is 
influenced by variations of temperature, the health of the animal, &c. I have 
seen the Coluber guttatus change its skin four or five times during a confinement 
of as many months. 


The rete mucosum is placed under the epidermis, and offers every variety of tint 
and colour, as may be observed in different species of Reptiles; almost every 
colour may be perceived in it—red, blue, green, yellow, varying in brightness, not 
only in different individuals, but according to age, sex, &c. These shades are 
always most remarkable when the skin has been newly cast. The tints in some 
of the species, as in the Anolius and the Hyle, change according to the state 
of excitement in the animal, or the activity of the circulation. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 13 


The dermis, or true skin, varies a good deal. In the heads of the Chelonia it 
is only seen as a thin fibrous lamina, closely applied to the bones over which it 
passes. In the Frogs it is much more distinct, but is loosely connected with the 
subjacent organs by means of vessels, nerves, &c., the principal points of attach- 
ment being at the extremity of the toes, and at the jaws and axilla, the skin, as is 
remarked by Dumeril,* forms a loose sac, in which the body of the animal is 
placed. 


2. Dicestive Orcans.—Digestion is the most general, as well as the most 
necessary function of living animals, both for their existence and the perfect per- 
formance of their actions. A continual waste is experienced in the animal economy 
which must be as constantly supplied. The aliment is the source from which this 
supply is derived, food being necessary, as well for the restoration of organs as 
for their developement. But the aliment, of whatever nature it may be, is not at 
once admitted into the general mass of the circulating fluids; a series of chemical 
changes are requisite for its perfect elaboration, and to produce these alterations, 
Reptiles are provided with an alimentary canal. This, like the sac of the zoophyte, 
is a prolongation or duplicature of the external covering of the body; simple in 
some, more complicated in others; the kind of food nature has assigned the animal, 
having an important influence on its internal organization. Almost all Reptiles 
are carnivorous. Most of them feed on living prey, seizing it when in motion, and 
swallowing it without mastication. The Anolius, Frogs, Toads, and Hyle, feed 
on insects—the Water-snakes, on Tadpoles, Frogs, or small Fish; other Serpents 
live on Squirrels, Rabbits, or even Birds, which they pursue with great activity 
along the branches of trees. A few animals only of this class subsist entirely on 
vegetable food, as the Green Turtle and Gopher. 


The alimentary canal begins at the mouth and terminates at the vent, and has 
several important appendages. ‘The mouth is generally large, the articulation of 


the lower jaw being placed far back; and many have the power of increasing its 


* Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. i. p. 68. 


14 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


capacity, not only by expanding the jaws, but by separating the lateral branches 
of the inferior maxilla, which are only joined by ligaments.* This structure allows 
some Serpents to swallow other animals of greater size than themselves. In no 
animal of this class do we find the mouth provided with fleshy or movable lips, 
as in the Mammalia; for the thick fleshy covering of the upper jaw in the Trionyx 
does not seem to perform the office of lips. The shape and arrangement of the 
jaws, the form and size of the teeth, and the modes in which they are implanted, 
offer interminable varieties, differing in almost every tribe. In some, the teeth are 
entirely wanting, as in many Batrachian animals; in the Chelonia, their place is 
supplied by a horny covering to the jaws; in the Sauria, as in the Alligator, the teeth 
are most perfect, the bony part being hard, with a very thin enamel; in Serpents 
they are disposed so as to lacerate the food, or to hold it and prevent its escape 
from the mouth. The poison fangs form a curious part of the organization of 
some Serpents, which will be fully explained hereafter. Frogs and Hylz have 
small pointed teeth in the jaws and palate; these are in a rudimental state, and 
can only be useful in detaining their prey within the mouth. No Reptiles masti- 
cate their food; not even the Gopher, which lives on grass and plants; and those 
of the Chelonia that feed on Shell-fish, only break the shell with their horny man- 
dibles, but do not chew the animal within. As they do not masticate their food, 
it follows that their salivary organs must be less perfect than in the Mammalia. 
Instead of single large glands, as in those animals, destined to secrete saliva, we 
find in Reptiles numerous small follicles disposed about the tongue and mouth, 
each one pouring out its secretion by its own proper orifice. 'The secretion is, 
strictly speaking, rather mucous than salivary; and beimg very viscid, it is of great 
use to many in entangling their prey. 


The tongue in this class of animals, offers the greatest variety, not only as to 
form and structure, but as to its mode of attachment and powers of motion. In 
the Chelonia it is short and thick, filling up the lower part of the mouth, and cannot 


* Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Erst. Theil., p. 153. 
t Cuvier, Lecons d’Anat. Comp., tom. iii. p. 110. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 15 


be protruded. In the Serpents it is very long and slender, cleft at the extremity, 
and can be projected with great rapidity; and like the tongue of some Birds, when 
drawn within the mouth it is enclosed in a sheath. In Frogs and Toads we find 
a peculiar arrangement not seen in any other vertebrated animals; the tongue is 
long, and resembles a valve, the anterior extremity being the fixed point, or that 
attached to the concavity of the lower jaw, while the posterior extremity is directed 
towards the glottis, and is cleft and movable. The tongue is here an important 
organ in obtaining food, for it can be projected suddenly and with great force, and 
being covered with a viscous matter, the prey adheres to it and is carried to the 
mouth. 


The lingual bone varies greatly in form and in the disposition of its parts, not 
only in the different genera, but in the different species of Reptiles. In all, there 
is a central portion or body, and several processes named cornua, varying in 
number, in extent, and in arrangement. ‘This bone is m¢,,ed by certain muscles 
going to the tongue, to the lower jaw and sternum, and in all, its essential function 
is to support the tongue and facilitate its motions.* 


Pharynz. Tn general there is no soft or hanging palate to mark the termination 
of the mouth and beginning of the fauces; nor can we observe any difference of 
structure in the lining membrane, which, however, presents a number of longitudinal 
folds that disappear when the organ is distended by food in deglutition. In the 
Alligator the velum appears in the form of a semicircular fold, and is sufficiently 
extensive to cover the entrance of the posterior nares. 


The esophagus can only be distinguished from the pharynx by its smaller size, 
and this distinction can only be made when the canal is empty. In Serpents, it is 
extremely dilatable, allowing the animal to swallow large bodies; and in this class, 
the folds are most remarkable. In some of the Chelonian animals there are many 


* Vide Meckel, Deutsches Archiv. fiir die Physiologie, Viert. Band, p. 223, for an accurate 
account of the lingual bone in the various tribes of Reptiles. 


16 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


horny points in the cesophagus, directed backwards or towards the stomach, which 
may be useful in preventing the escape of food. 


The stomach is in all extremely simple in structure and arrangement. In some 
it Seems a mere continuation of the cesophagus, and it is not always easy to mark 
the point of separation; in others, as in Frogs and Tortoises, we meet with an 
enlargement like a sac; this gradually decreases in size, and terminates in the 
small intestine; its termination being marked externally by a slight contraction, 
and by the greater thickness of the walls. In many, the parietes of the organ are 
thin, the muscular coat being delicate; in others, as in the Green Turtle, which 
feeds on vegetables, the muscular covering of the stomach is remarkably thick 
and strong, resembling in this structure the gizzards of Birds. 


The gastric juice is poured out from the inner surface of the stomach, mixes 
with the food, and pro¢ es in it certain chemical changes. This fluid is possessed 
of several curious properties; as the power of correcting or arresting putrefaction, 

of coagulating albumen, &c.; but of all these its solvent power is the most remark- 
able; even the bones of other animals cannot withstand its action. It varies, 
however, in activity in different genera; in Serpents and Frogs, where the walls 
of the stomatn”are thin, it is must-abundant, and most active; in the Green 
Turtle it is much less so, digestion being assisted by the strong coats of the 
stomach. The numerous experiments of Spallanzani would seem to prove that 
the gastric juice is only active on such substances as form the natural diet of the 
animal, since he found that the fluid taken from the stomach of one subsisting 
entirely on flesh, would not act on vegetable matter, and that the gastric juice of 
an herbivorous, had no effect on the food of a carnivorous animal, while the same 
fluid of an omnivorous being, acted equally well on animal or vegetable substances. 


The intestinal canal is the last portion of the digestive organs, where the greatest 
change is wrought in the aliment by the admixture of bile and pancreatic juice, 
and whence the nutritious parts are absorbed into the blood. It is subdivided into 
small and large intestines, the first or small intestine being of greater length. A 


a 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. ly, 


circular fold of the small, projecting into the large intestine, often marks the termi- 
nation of one and the beginning of the other; but this difference of size is not 
equally evident in all Reptiles. Serpents have the canal nearly of the same dimen- 
sions throughout its whole extent, and in the Siren the intestine is small and 
without these subdivisions. In all, the intestinal canal is short and but little 
convoluted; it is longer than in Fishes, but shorter than in Birds and Mammalia. 
The length of the canal corresponding to the nature of the food of the animal, is 
shortest in the carnivorous, as in the Serpents, longest in those that feed on plants, 
as in the Gopher. It varies even in the same animal, according to its mode of 
life. ‘The Tadpole, living on vegetable substances, has the intestinal canal very 
long; but when the animal becomes a Frog, the character of its food being different, 
this canal decreases in length; and it is wonderful to observe the ease with which 
nature changes an herbivorous to a carnivorous animal. In the Turtle, the internal 
surface is covered with several thin processes, placed longitudinally and close to 
each other; they are most abundant near the upper portion, where the valvule 
conniventes are found in man, and like them, increase the extent of the absorbing 
surface. Before the termination of the large intestine at the vent, it enlarges and 
forms a sac or common cavity, called the cloaca, into which opens the rectum, 
the urinary, and the sexual organs; another link of organization connecting Reptiles 
with Birds, as well as with the Mammalia, through the Ornithorhynchus, where 
the same disposition of parts prevails.* 


The fiver is found here as in all other vertebrated animals, and is of large pro- 
portionate size, being subdivided into lobes, of which the right is the larger. In 
some of the Batrachia, as in the Frogs, it is very large, and consists of three lobes: 
in Serpents, there is but one lobe of great length. The shape, as well as the position 
of the organ, varies in different tribes; in some it is placed near, in others more 
remote, from the stomach. Its colour is dark brown; darker than in the ox. 


A gall bladder, usually contaming bile of a brownish-yellow or greenish colour, 


* Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Zweit. Theil., p. 508. 
Vor, L—3 


18 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


with excretory ducts, is found in all Reptiles; and is of smaller proportionate size 
than in the Mammalia or Birds. In the Chelonia it is intimately connected with 
the liver, being almost concealed by the right lobe; while in the Serpents it is 
completely separated from it. The admixture of the bile with the alimentary 
substance in the small intestine, produces a very important change in the nature 
of the aliment received into the stomach. 


A pancreas has been observed in most Reptiles; it is situated near the junction 
of the stomach with the small intestines, and is a smooth glandular mass, similar 
in structure to that of the Mammalia, but varying greatly in figure and the number 
of its excretory ducts. In some there is but one, while in others we find as many 
as three ducts opening into the small intestines. 


A spleen exists in all vertebrated animals, the type of its form being the same 
as in the Mammalia; and we find a successive diminution in its developement to 
the Fishes, where it is least perfect. It is of small size in the Reptiles, varies 
much in position, and is often found far removed from the stomach; we find it 
in some on the right side, in others on the left, but most frequently it is placed 
in the mesial line, or a little to the left of it.* From its being so much diminished 
in size, it would seem to follow that the organ is of less importance to this class of 
animals than to the Mammalia.t 


Puysiotocy or Dicustion.—The absence of proper organs of mastication and 
insalivation, together with the short alimentary canal and simple form of stomach 
in Reptiles, denote their carnivorous habits. As there is no mastication to break 
down the food, no trituration in the stomach to facilitate digestion, the process 
being done in most of them by the action of the gastric juice, or the stomach alone 
on the food, it follows that digestion must be very slow. In some, the food remains 
for days in the stomach; we have seen a Water-snake (Coluber erythrogaster) 


*Dumeril, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. i. p. 143. 
+ Cuvier, Lecons d’Anat. Comp., tom. iy. p. 57. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 19 


vomit a Tadpole, much altered, though not entirely changed in appearance, ten 
days after it had been swallowed; and other Serpents have been observed to retain 
their food in this organ, for a much longer period, without completely digesting it. 
Their slow digestion approximates this class to the inferior animals, as to the 
Leech, in the stomach of which blood has been found many weeks after it had 
been swallowed. Most Reptiles are voracious in the early summer months, yet 
they never destroy more than is necessary for their sustenance, and all have great 
power of abstinence, far beyond the higher classes. Spallanzani confined Toads 
in close jars for more than twelve months, at the expiration of which time they 
were lively and active. We have kept a Trionyx more than a year without food, 
and Frogs and Serpents eight or nine months. 


3. Or THe Assorsents.—These vessels are intimately connected with nutrition, 
their office being twofold; the removal of such materials of the body as have 
become useless, and the taking up of the nutritious part of the food from the small 
intestines. Absorbents are found in most parts of the body, having thin transparent 
parietes, and communicating frequently with the veins.* Those arising from the 
small intestine are named lacteals: they absorb the chyle, and convey it to the 
venous system; they are not easily recognised, but may be made conspicuous by 
being injected with mercury. Valves exist in these vessels, but are not so thick 
and firm as in the Mammalia.t In Serpents these vessels are extremely active; 
they remove every particle of the aliment taken into the stomach that is fitted for 
nutrition, the entire fcecal matter alone being expelled; and as there is no masti- 
cation to disturb the relative position of parts, the hairs, and other indigestible 
substances, are expelled together in a round mass.{ In the Batrachian animals 
the absorbent vessels are remarkably developed, having ventricles or pulsating 


* Lippi, of Florence, traced them to the vena cava, and Fohmann has demonstrated their 
communication with many other veins. Anat. Untersuch. Heidelberg, 1821. 

+ Hewson, Phil. Trans. for 1769, p. 178. 

t Dumeril, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. 1. p. 145. 


20 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


sacs, observed first by Miiller of Bonn and then by Panizza,* for the propulsion of 
the fluid they convey. 


4. Orcans or Circutation.—In the Zoophytes, and lowest classes of animals, 
the nutritious parts of the food pass at once from the sac forming their organ of 
digestion, into the different structures of the body, and become integral parts of 
the animal; but in the higher classes, another change, besides that of digestion 
must take place in the aliment—a further process of assimilation must be under- 
gone, before it can nourish the living and organized body. This requires the aid 
of two different sets of organs, those of circulation and those of respiration; the 
one set for conveying the blood, the other to complete its assimilation. In Reptiles, 
the nutritious part of the aliment is taken from the intestinal canal, the great 
reservoir of food, by the lacteal vessels; it is then introduced through the venous 
system into the organs of circulation, which vessels are afterwards to carry it to 
all parts of the body, where it becomes identified with its organs, aiding in their 
developement, in the restoration of their particles, and affording certain secretions 
for glands. The organs of circulation in Reptiles vary even more than those of 
digestion from the type of the Mammalia. In the higher classes of animals we 
have a double heart; one side for the circulation of venous blood, the other for 
the circulation of arterial. In the Reptiles we find a simple heart, or the two 
systems of black and red blood communicating freely with each other. 


The heart is small in proportion to the body, and is always placed near the 
respiratory organs, they being so constantly and intimately connected with each 
other, that it may be said, one set of organs modifies the other. Though producing 
in all nearly the same results on the blood, the structure of the heart varies in the 
several orders; great differences being observed even in different genera. In the 
Chelonian Reptiles it is short and thick, having two auricles, the right being the 
larger; and one ventricle, with thick muscular walls and several cells, all commu- 


* Sopra il Sist. Linf. dei Rettili: Pav. 1833. These cavities will be described in our special 


anatomy of the genera. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 21 


nicating with the general cavity. In the Sauria the heart is ovoid in shape, similar 
in its general structure to that of the Chelonia, but more complicated in the arrange- 
ment of its parts. In the Alligator there are two ventricles, entirely separate,* 
so that the venous and arterial blood are only mixed in the sac of the great vessels. 
In Serpents the heart is of more simple formation; the two auricles open into a 
single ventricle, subdivided into cavities communicating with each other. In the 
Batrachia we meet with a remarkable and entirely different arrangement of the 
heart, unlike that of any other of the class; the organ is single, consisting of a 
large auricle with thin, and a single ventricle with thicker parietes; a single opening 
in the auricle communicates with the ventricle, and one opening in the ventricle 
is common to the arteries. This simple structure of the heart has been denied by 
Davyt and by Weber:{ they describe the auricle as subdivided into two cavities 
by a transparent membrane, which is certaimly not the case in any of the American 
Frogs that I have examined. 


PuysioLocy or Circutation.—From this structure of the circulatory organs of 
Reptiles, it results that only a moiety of the blood of the system can pass to the 
lungs to be exposed to atmospheric air, while in the Mammalia the whole mass is 
offered to its influence; and further, that there must be an admixture in the single 
ventricle of the blood of the two auricles, or of the blood returning from the lungs 
on one side, and of that portion coming from the body on the other, which has not 
been carried to the cells of the lungs; and thus a portion only of the whole mass 
can be decarbonised and fitted for nutrition. Hence we do not observe as great 
difference in the external appearance of venous and arterial blood in Reptiles, as 
in the Birds and Mammalia. 


5. Oreans or Resprration.—No organic body can live without air; neither 
animal nor plant. Some beings derive it directly from the atmosphere, others 
from the water; and the respiratory organs vary according to the mode of life of 


* Hentz, Amer. Phil. Trans., n. s., vol. vii. p. 222. 
t Zool. Journal, vol. ii. ¢ Beitrag. von dem Herzen. 8vo, 1833. 


wo 
(2) 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


the animal: those respiring in water have gills, those breathing in atmospheric 
air have lungs. The air enters through the trachea into the cells of the lungs, to 
which the venous blood is carried, and where it undergoes great and important 
changes, acquiring those properties that fit it for nutrition. “This function con- 
nects the animal with the atmosphere by need of respiration, as nutrition connects 
him with the earth; both are equally important conditions to the manifestation of 
life; they both, though in different ways, contribute to maintain the constant change 
of composition in the living body.”* 


The lungs offer the most striking marks of distinction between the Reptiles, 
Mammalia, and Birds. They are generally of great proportionate size, and are 
composed of many large vesicles, which offer a strong contrast to the extremely 
vascular and minute pulmonary cells of the Mammalia. This difference of structure 
corresponds with the different wants of these animals. In the Mammalia and 
Birds, it is necessary that all the blood of the body should pass to the pulmonary 
cells to be exposed to the air, and in these the blood is more abundant; hence we 
find the lungs composed of an infinitude of minute cells, where the pulmonary 
artery terminates, and from which the radicles of the pulmonary veins originate. 
In the Reptiles not more than one-third of the blood circulating in the system is 
carried to the lungs, to undergo the change from venous to arterial; hence the 
vessels spent on the lungs are far less numerous than in the higher classes, where 
they form a beautiful net work. “This difference of structure, produces a difference 
in the animal, for as respiration imparts to the blood its warmth, its energy, this 
will, in time, determine the degree of vigour in the animal functions; hence we 
observe the great force of the powers of motion, the rapidity of digestion, the 
violence of the passions, in Birds; hence the moderate degree of all these qualities 
in the Mammalia; and hence again, the inertness, the inactivity, and apparent 
stupidity of the other classes, as Reptiles and Fishes.”+ This structure of Reptiles 
evinces less necessity for a constant and rapid change in their circulating fluids 


* Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Zweit. Theil., p. 514. 
+ Cuvier, Lecons d’Anat. Comp., tom. iv. p. 162. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 23 


than in the Mammalia and Birds; many can live a long time without respiration; 
it can be suspended even for months, and yet the life of the animal be preserved.’ 
Toads can live for years enclosed in plaister of Paris* or other hard bodies: 
Belzoni, in excavating a ruin, found a 'Toad imbedded in a stone, and from the 
position of the stone, he believed the animal must have been there more than a 
thousand years. These singular phenomena would seem to indicate that the lungs 
are not the sole organs capable of producing a change in the circulating fluids of 
Reptiles. In Toads, Frogs, and Salamanders, the skin evidently at times performs 
this office, making a kind of external or cutaneous respiration, similar to that 
performed by the leaves of plants. The Salamanders breathe by lungs, and yet 
they may be kept alive in running water for more than a month; here the change 
of their circulating fluids must take place on the skin, and the same is probably 
true with respect to Reptiles confined for a long time in solid bodies, where the 
air cannot penetrate to the lungs. It seems probable, from the interesting expe- 
riments of Edwards,} that their existence is owing to the porosity of the substances 
in which they are enclosed, allowing air or moisture to be brought in contact with 
the surface of their bodies. ‘The lungs are placed in the same common cavity 
with the digestive organs; as there is never a distinct septum or diaphragm between 
the thoracic and abdominal cavities. In the Chelonia, however, there is a muscle 
that may be useful in respiration;{ I have found this well developed in the Emys 
serrata, consisting of two lateral portions descending from the vertebral column and 
inferior surface of the shell, and nearly surrounding the abdominal contents. The 
lungs differ in the various tribes, but are of large proportionate size in all Reptiles. 
In the Chelonia, they are situated above the other viscera, are very extensive, 
reaching almost to the pelvis, and are capable of containing a great quantity of 
air. In the Saurian animals, the lungs are similar to those of the Chelonia, but 
in general they do not extend so far back—forming two sacs, varying in size, and 


* Herrissant enclosed three Toads in small boxes, and covered them with plaister; at the 
end of eighteen months two were found alive and active. 

t De V’Influence des Agens Physiques, &c. Paris, 1824, p. 15. 

t Meckel. Vergleich. Anat. Drit. Theil., p. 128. 


24 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


made up of polygonal cells. Serpents are remarkable in having a single lung; a 
small blind depression, first observed by Nitzsch,* must be regarded as the rudiment 
of another. The lung is here long and very dilatable, and is analogous to the air 
bladder of some Fishes; it is conical in shape, with its parietes vascular, having 
numerous small and short folds on the inner surface. The Batrachia form the 
connecting link between the Reptiles and Fishes, in their mode of respiration. In 
Frogs, the lungs are large, with distinct cells, filling up a great portion of the cavity 
of the abdomen when distended; in the Salamander, they are simple sacs, in the 
walls of which may be seen cells analogous to those observed in Serpents. The 
Sirens have branchial arches joined to the lingual bone, to which are attached 
gills, and extensive pulmonary air sacs, reaching almost to the posterior part of 
the abdomen. 


The trachea presents considerable variety in its structure and mode of subdivision; 
m some, it is composed of complete cartilaginous rings; in others, the cartilages 
are incomplete. In the Testudo (Gopher) it is long, subdividing in the thoracico- 
abdominal cavity into primitive bronchia; in the Emys, the subdivision is still lower 
down, and the bronchial tubes remain for a short distance attached to each other. 
In the Sauria, the cartilaginous rings are complete, and the trachea only subdivides 
when it has reached the lungs. In the Serpents, where we meet with but one 
lung, of course no subdivision of the tubes can take place; the trachea commences 
by a longitudinal fissure, behind the sheath of the tongue, and the cartilages that 
enter into its formation are only complete rings at its upper portion; the inferior 
rings, surrounding only the anterior part. In the Batrachia, the bronchia are 
extremely short, as the lungs begin just below the larynx, which is also short, but 
of great breadth. Much variety is also observed in the modes of termination in 
the bronchial tubes; in the Chelonia they terminate by small lateral communications 
with the pulmonary cells, while in Serpents they end in large orifices. 


Mecnanism or Respiration.—This differs greatly in Reptiles from the Mam- 


* Nitzsch. Comment. de Respirat, &c., p. 13. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES, 25 


malia; there, it is effected by the agency of the diaphragm, the ribs, and intercostal 
muscles; here it is produced by an arrangement of the parts about the neck, and 
by the abdominal muscles. The lmgual bone is drawn down by the muscles 
coming from the sternum; this enlarges the cavities of the mouth and fauces; air 
rushes in through the nares, which are afterwards closed; the lingual bone is then 
elevated, and the air is forced through the glottis and trachea to the lungs. The 
process therefore, consists of the deglutition or swallowing of air, instead of its 
inspiration, as in Mammalia; and this mechanism explains to us why the lungs do 
not collapse when the cavity of the chest is opened; and even should they be 
compressed, the animal has the power of inflating them again, as long as the parts 
about the mouth and larynx remain perfect. In the Sauria, respiration is aided 
by ribs, movable on the spine, and united in front to each other, or with a sternum 
of greater or less extent. In Serpents, as in the Sauria, respiration is assisted by 
ribs and abdominal muscles; but here the anterior extremity of the ribs is always 
free and unconnected, and their mode of attachment to the spine, by elastic liga- 
ments, allows considerable dilatation, and they can be drawn together by means 
of the intercostal muscles. The ribs, in this class, besides aiding in respiration, 
are instruments of progression, the animal advancing them, when in motion, like 
the legs of caterpillars.* In the Batrachia, no ribs are employed in respiration; 
they are either entirely wanting, or are too short to have any effect. 


Puysiotocy or Resprration.—The immediate effect of this function is to convert 
the venous into arterial blood, in order to fit it for nutrition. The colour of the 
blood is changed in the cells of the lungs; its temperature is elevated, and in the 
higher classes its tendency to coagulation is very much increased; and there is no 
doubt that a similar change takes place in the lungs of Reptiles; not so complete, 
however, because only a portion of the blood is offered to the lungs. ‘The respi- 
ratory organs may be regarded also as the principal source of animal heat, the 
temperature being most elevated in those animals where respiration is most perfect. 
Where most blood is exposed to the air in the lungs, as in man, its temperature 


* Home’s Lect. Comp. Anat., vol. i. p. 115. 
Vor. [.—4 


26 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


is 98° of Fahrenheit, and in some of the Birds it is even higher than this. Mam- 
malia and Birds have the power of preserving this temperature during life; the 
heat of the body being maintained by respiration, gives them the ability of gene- 
rating and preserving a uniform temperature under all circumstances, whether in 
hot or in cold climates. In Reptiles on the contrary, where but a moiety of the 
blood is carried to the lungs, and this only at irregular intervals, we find their 
temperature but little removed from that of the medium in which they live. Not 
having the power of generating the necessary degree of heat to preserve an equable 
temperature, it follows that cold renders the animal torpid, and even, if too intense, 
destroys it altogether. ‘The temperature of land Tortoises and Frogs is about 
40°, when that of the atmosphere is 35° of Fahrenheit. Hunter,* by freezing 
mixtures, reduced the temperature of the stomach of a Frog to 31°; below this, it 
could not be diminished without destroying the animal. From these observations, 
it results that external heat is more necessary to the existence of Reptiles than of 
all other vertebrated animals; heat increasing their activity, their sensibility, 
growth, and developement, the largest species being always found in the tropical 
regions. Cold abstracts their caloric, benumbs their faculties, renders them torpid 
and inactive; and as winter approaches, they seek a shelter—some, as the Gopher, 
in holes excavated by itself in the earth, others under the bark of trees, or in the 
crevices of rocks; many retire to the reedy banks or muddy beds of rivers, and as 
the degree of cold increases, they fall into a deep sleep, “the twin sister of death,” 
which neither noise nor even wounds can interrupt. At this time the functions 
of organic life alone are active: the circulation is languid, the respiration suspended 
—at least pulmonary respiration—for many of them hybernate in mud, covered 
with water, and in other situations where no atmospheric air can penetrate the 
lungs. Buried in this profound sleep, they remain until the returning heat of spring 
restores them to life and activity. In Carolina, where the winters are seldom 
severe, the hybernation is never complete; a few warm days in the winter restore 
them to life; I have often met the Rana gryllus and various Water-snakes, in 
January, and have seen the Scaphiopus, attended by its mate, in very warm 


* Observations on the Animal Economy, p. 104. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES, PT 


weather at Christmas. During hybernation, Reptiles can undergo an intense 
degree of cold; we have seen Frogs frozen in a solid lump of ice, which being 
melted, the animals regained their activity; and Du Fay observed the same thing 
of Water-newts.* Other animals of a higher grade hybernate in the colder parts 
of our country, as the Wood-chuck, (Arctomys monax,) and many kinds of Bat, 
(Vespertilio,) but in none is the sleep so profound, the suspension of the faculties 
so complete; the pulmonary respiration continues, though diminished in frequency, 
yet enough to support the life of the animal. It follows from these remarks, that 
Reptiles belong essentially to warm, or at least to temperate, climates; none are 
found in the extreme cold regions either of the north or south; there they could 
not retain the necessary degree of activity to seek their food or reproduce their 
species. Reptiles can withstand the operation of great heat, as well as of intense 
cold; they thrive under our hottest summer suns, and are found even in some 
springs of a greatly elevated temperature. 


Connected with the mode of life and the nutritive functions of Reptiles, is 
the remarkable phenomenon of the restoration of parts when injured, or the 
complete reproduction of organs which have been destroyed. ‘This reproductive 
power is very active in the inferior order of animals, and the lower we descend 
in the scale the more remarkable are its manifestations. In Crabs and Lobsters, 
limbs are readily restored, and in snails, the entire head has been reproduced; 
the head of a Hydra may be split in several places, and each subdivision will 
become a new head. In the higher classes, wounds may be healed, injuries 
repaired, but an organ once destroyed, cannot be reproduced; and even in Rep- 
tiles of a higher degree of life, as in the Chelonia, reproduction of parts is never 
complete as in those of a lower grade of organization, as in the Salamander. 
Pliny first observed that some Reptiles reproduced the tail; and Bonnett and 
Blumenbacht have confirmed this remark, and made many curious experiments 
on the reproductive power of Reptiles. They removed the limbs of a Water- 


* Mem. de l’Acad. des Sciences, 1729, p. 144. 
+ Guvres d’Histoire Naturelle, tom. v. t Specim. Phys., p. 31. 


28 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


newt, and in less than one year they were perfectly restored; the newly formed 
extremities were amputated in their turn, and in turn were replaced by others; even 
the eye of a Salamander was extirpated in one of these experiments, and in less 
than eighteen months this delicate organ, with its complicated apparatus of humours 
and transparent media, was perfectly reproduced. Dumeril* has made other 
experiments of the same nature, with still more remarkable results; a Triton lived 
three months with three-fourths of its head removed, and consequently deprived 
of its principal senses, sight, hearing, &c., yet it had apparently a consciousness 
of its existence, and moved cautiously from place to place; at the end of that time 
nature had made considerable efforts at restoration. ‘This wonderful degree of 
reproductive power in the inferior Reptiles, as in the Salamander, &c., may be 
perhaps explained by the low grade of their organization, which approximates them 
slightly to the Polypi and some of the Meduse. 


Oreans or Voice.—This is the first class of animals in which we meet with a 
voice, properly speaking, or one connected with the respiratory organs. Many 
animals can indeed produce a variety of sounds; some by friction of their wings; 
others, as gnats and flies, by rubbing the roots of the wings in their articular 


cavities.t 


The /arynz is simple in its structure, having no epiglottis, and in some no vocal 
chords; in the latter case, there can be no voice. In all, the voice must be guttural, 
as they have neither soft palate{ nor movable lips to modulate it; most frequently 
it is produced with the mouth closed, the outlet of the sound being the nostrils. 
In the Chelonia§ and Ophidia there is no voice, but merely a hissing sound, occa- 


* Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles, tom. v. p. 209. 

+ Oken, Zool. § 466. But we cannot suppose with him that the wings are analogous to 
“dried up”’ gills, and in this way refer the sounds produced by insects to the respiratory organs. 

+ The soft palate of the Alligator does not seem arranged to modulate sound. 

§ Dumeril, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 514, says the Coriaceous Turtle (Sphargis coriacea) 


emits a plaintive sound when taken. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 29 


sioned by the rushing of the air through the glottis. Some of the Sauria, as the 
Alligator, can produce a very loud noise; in this animal the ligaments of the glottis 
are free and strong, the larynx extending above them on the outer side, like a sac. 
The voice is most perfect in Frogs and Hyle; in these the vocal chords are large, 
prominent, and free; the larynx is short and wide, without an epiglottis, though 
the posterior extremity of the valve-like tongue is supposed by some Naturalists 
to perform the office of one.* In the male Frogs, we find sacs on each side of 
the lower jaw, under the ear; in the Hyle, there is a single sac under the throat; 
these are distended with air when the animal croaks. In these animals, as in some 
Birds, the voice is only heard at one season of the year; and in the Frogs it is 
generally, though not invariably, guttural and unpleasant; but some of the Hyle 
or Tree-frogs have a clear metallic sound, not wholly without sweetness. 


Nervous System.—All the organs hitherto described, as well as the functions 
they perform, concur to produce one great end, the maintenance of organic life; 
the apparatus for this effect is perfect, and most of its operations are carried on 
without the knowledge or consent of the animal. Nature has not submitted 
operations of such vital importance as respiration, digestion, circulation, &c., to 
the influence of any causes that depend on the mental or bodily state of the animal, 
which is liable to frequent change; these phenomena are effected secretly and 
unconsciously, but constantly. ‘The parts subservient to vegetative life form the 
basis on which is erected a system of more noble organs, those that elevate the 
animal above plants, or one animal above another, those organs on which depend 
sensation, perception, and voluntary motion. 


The whole nervous system may be divided into a central and a peripheral por- 
tion; the spinal marrow and the brain making the central part, the nerves of the 
body constituting the other portion. 


* Rudolphi, Grundriss der Physiologie, Zweit. Band, 375, thinks the epiglottis only useful 
in directing the current of air from the extensive nasal cavities to the glottis, in higher animals; 
these being wanting in Reptiles, there is consequently no occasion for an epiglottis, and none 


exists. 


30 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


The spino-cerebral axis, or central part of the system, is only found in the verte- 
brated animals, and is the seat of all sensation, the centre of organic as well as 
of animal life; as it exercises an influence through the sympathetic nerve over the 
organs of vegetative life, as respiration, circulation, secretion, &c. The spinal 
marrow is placed in the canal of the vertebral column, and the brain is the portion 
situated within the cavity of the cranium. 


The spinal marrow is a cylindrical chord, with a deep furrow on the anterior 
surface, and a more superficial one on the posterior; it is composed of two sub- 
stances, belonging to the nervous system in general; a gray or pulpy, and a white 
or fibrous substance, made up of minute filaments. Its extent varies in the different 
Reptiles—long in the Sauria, Serpents and Salamanders, extending as far as the 
caudal vertebra; in Frogs and Toads, it is short and thick, and ends at the sacrum.* 


The brain, or nervous mass contained within the cranium, may be regarded as 
the anterior extremity of the spinal marrow, enlarged in size by an increased 
developement of nervous matter. In all Reptiles it is remarkably small, not filling 
up even the small cavity of the cranium; its size is diminished not only when 
compared to that of the Mammalia and Birds, but in proportion to the spinal 
marrow, which preponderates greatly in volume; it differs also from the brain of 
the higher classes in the form, size, and relative position of its various parts, and 
in the entire absence of convolutions. Cuviert observes that “the brain of Reptiles 
may be distinguished from that of all other animals by the position of the optic 
beds behind the hemispheres.” It wants, moreover, a corpus callosum, a fornix 
with its appendages, and a pons varolii; all the parts of the brain too, are placed 
one behind the other, instead of being situated one above the other. This different 
disposition of the different parts depends no doubt on their degree of developement; 
for were the hemispheres larger, they would necessarily cover the optic beds. 


* Sérres, Anat. Comp. du Cerveau, tom. ii. p. 117, observes the spinal marrow exists in the 
tail of the Tadpole, but disappears when the animal undergoes its metamorphosis. 


t Lecons d’Anat. Comp., tom. ii. p. 174. 


i 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 31 


The nervous substance within the cranium is subdivided into three different por- 
tions—the medulla oblongata, the cerebellum, and cerebrum. The medulla 
oblongata varies very much in different genera; it is prominent in Serpents, and 
flat in the Salamanders; and in all Reptiles, the pyramids, and the restiform as 
well as olivary bodies, are small; the latter decrease in size from the Tortoise to 
the Siren. The cerebellum is small, slightly developed, and simple in structure; 
it is largest in the Chelonia and Sauria, and hemispherical in form, and in all 
wants that disposition of the white and gray substances producing the arbor vite; 
its colour varies a good deal—ash-coloured in Serpents, reddish-gray in the 
Batrachia and Sauria, and deeper red in some of the Chelonia. The hemispheres 
of the brain are always less developed than in the Mammalia or in Birds, and 
hence the lesser degree of intelligence in these animals; the degree of intellect 
invariably corresponding with the degree of developement of the anterior lobes of 
the bram. In the Chelonia the hemispheres are large, oval in shape, and have a 
ventricle or cavity within. In the Sauria the hemispheres are still larger in pro- 
portion to the other parts; while in the Serpents they are short, very hard, and 
terminate in a club-like olfactory nerve.* “In the Batrachia the hemispheres are 
elongated and narrow, and in some genera, as in the Salamander, they are almost 
cylindrical in shape; and in all Reptiles, when the hemispheres are separated, a 
small pineal gland may be seen resting on the optic beds.” 


Nerves, are the instruments by means of which the relations of the animal are 
carried on with the external world, for any impression made on the peripheral 
extremity of a nerve is transmitted with incalculable velocity to the nervous centre, 
there to produce its sensation of pain or pleasure. No sensation can be felt if the 
free communication of a nerve with the spinal marrow and brain, be interrupted 
by accident or design. The destruction of a nerve supplying a part is followed 
by insensibility, if the nerve be one of sensation, and loss of locomotive power, if 


* Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Erst. Theil., p. 508. 
t Sérres, Anat. Comp. du Cerveau, tom. ii. p. 485; also Tiedemann, Anat. Comp., par 
Jourdan, p. 242. 


32 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


the nerve be one of motion; for the nerves of the body have very different offices 
to perform, according to their connexion with the nervous centre;*—their functions 
are all determinate and cannot be changed, for one nerve cannot perform the office 
of another. The extremity of a nerve that touches the central mass is called its 
origin; the peripheral end, or that spent on the various organs of the body, 
its termination; and physiologists are still in doubt as to the ultimate disposition 
of the peripheral extremity of the nerves. All nerves are protected at their 
peripheral extremity, for in no instance does the body producing the impression 
come in immediate contact with the extremity of the nerve; and we often find 
peculiar structures frequently very complicated, to facilitate certain impressions; 
thus, the optic nerve ends on the retina, which is beautifully arranged to receive 
impressions from light; the auditory is spent on the internal ear, disposed to be 
impressed by sonorous undulations; even the nerves of touch are covered by the 
cuticle, through which the impression is made, and if this be removed, the sensation 
of touch is weakened or entirely destroyed. 


Viston.—All Reptiles have organs of vision, and in many the eyes are prominent 
and large; in some, however, as in the Siren and Amphiuma, they are exceedingly 
minute, almost in a rudimental state; in all, they are movable and placed in 
imperfect bony orbits. There is a manifest decrease in the developement and 
degree of perfection of many parts of the organ when compared with the eye of 
more elevated animals. The eye of the Reptile is intermediate in its structure 
between that of Birds and Fishes. Blainvillet thinks that it has most relation 
with that of Birds, while Carus is of opinion that it approximates to that of Fishes, 


* Charles Bell, Phil. Trans. for 1822. The spinal marrow consists of four chords, two 
anterior and two posterior; if a nerve be connected with both, or has a double root, it is then 
a nerve of sensation and motion; if it be connected with only one of these chords, it is then a 
nerve of sensation or motion, but cannot perform both functions; if it is connected with the 
superior and lateral portions of the spinal marrow or medulla oblongata, then it becomes a 
respiratory, vocal, or nerve of expression. 

t Princip. d’Anat. Comp., tom. i. p. 411. 

t Vergleich. Zoot. Erst. Theil., p. 394. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 33 


in its external covering, size of the lens, imperfect developement of the ciliary 
processes, and limited mobility of the iris. 


The ball of the eye is generally spherical in shape, and as in the Mammalia, 
consists of several different structures: there are external membranous coverings 
for retaining all its parts in their proper relative position, vascular portions to 
nourish the whole, transparent media to refract the rays of light and concentrate 
them to one point, and a pulpy substance on which they fall and form an image 
of the object from which they are reflected. Many other parts are always found 
subservient to the globe of the eye; glands for secreting the tears, to wash its 
anterior surface; canals through which the tears afterwards pass to the nasal 
cavities, or to the mouth; together with several curious muscles to move the eye 
in various directions. 


In the Chelonian Reptiles the eye is most perfect, though it even varies here 
according to the habits of the animal. The sclerotic coat is thin, but hard and 
resistant, its anterior part being strengthened by bony scales which surround and 
support the oval cornea; the choroid is thick, with its ciliary processes but slightly 
developed: the retina too, is thick, and spread out around the entrance of the optic 
nerve. The crystalline lens, convex in all the Chelonia, is most so in those species 
that are aquatic in their habits, and is more convex on the anterior than on the 
posterior surface.* The iris varies exceedingly in Reptiles, not only in colour, 
but in the extent and rapidity of its motions; these are most remarkable in the 
Green Turtle, when exposed to a strong light. The eyelids in some of the Chelonia 
are thick and covered with scaly plates; they are smooth in many others; the 
inferior lid, in all, is the larger and more movable. ‘There is a third eyelid or 
membrana nictitans extended from the internal canthus over the ball of the eye, 
as in Birds, but less developed, less complete, and less movable. In the Sauria, 
the form of the eye and general disposition of its individual parts, are very nearly 
similar to those of the Chelonia; but the sclerotica is thinner, and in many, wants 


* Albers. Denkschrift der Mtinch. Akad., 1808, § 84. 
Vor. L—5 


34 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


the bony scales surrounding the cornea, which is here still more convex; the choroid 
coat is thinner, but covered with an abundant pigment; and the ciliary processes, 
only slightly developed in the Chelonia, are very evident and distinct in this class 
of animals. In Serpents the ball of the eye is nearly spherical, the sclerotica is 
unsupported by scales, and the crystalline lens more convex than in the Saurian 
Reptiles. The eye appears at first to be fixed, and without lids, or any lachrymal 
apparatus; Cloquet* has, however, demonstrated the existence of both these 
appendages to the eye of the Serpent; the lids pass over the globe of the eye, and 
although extremely thin and transparent, are composed of three layers, the outer 
of which is continuous with the external organs of integumation, and falls off with 
the cuticle when the animal sheds its skin. The lachrymal canals are minute 
tubes, beginning between the transparent integuments and the cornea at the inner 
canthus, and opening into the nasal cavities in venomous Snakes, and into the 
cavity of the mouth in those that are imnocuous. The Batrachia approach the 
Fishes in their organ of vision: in the Frog, the eye is large and prominent, but 
can be drawn at will into the cavity of the mouth; the globe is spherical, the scle- . 
rotica hard, but without scales in front; the cornea is convex and prominent, the 
choroid dark on the posterior surface, and the ciliary processes are but partially 
developed; a small tubercular mass that occupies nearly their relative position has 
been regarded by Altenat as a modification of their structure. The iris varies a 
good deal in the Batrachia; but the tints are beautiful in all the Frogs and Toads. 
The lens is large in this tribe of Reptiles, and spherical in form, or very nearly so. 
Frogs have but two eyelids; the part described by some Naturalistst as a mem- 
brana nictitans is evidently the inferior lid, which is thin and movable, and when 
depressed makes a fold, which fold has been considered as the lower eyelid itself. 
To cover the anterior part of the ball of the eye, this fold must necessarily ascend 
perpendicularly; whereas a third eyelid, wherever it exists, moves horizontally from 


* Mem. du Muséum, tom. vii. p. 65. 

t Quoted by T. Bell, Esq., in an excellent article on the Amphibia in the Cyclopedia of 
Anatomy and Physiology, Part I. p. 101. 

+ Cuvier, Lecons d’Anat. Comp., tom. il. p. 433. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 35 


the internal towards the external angle of the eye.* The arrangement of the 
eyelid is the same in the Toads as im the Frogs and Hyle, the upper lid being 
larger and warty, the lower smaller and less movable. In the Salamander, the 
structure of the eye is nearly the same as in the Frogs; but the lens has a hard 
central portion, as in Fishes. 


The optic nerves come from different sides of the brain, decussate or cross each 
other; and at the place of crossing in some, as in the Chelonia and Sauria, there 
is a communication of the substance of the two nerves; while in others, as in the 
Serpents and Batrachia, there is only a simple crossing of the nerves from the 
right to the left side, without their contracting any union or any intermixture of 
their substance. The optic nerves perforate directly the sclerotica, and form a 
small rounded prominence, around which is extended the retina, which we do not 
regard as an expansion of the optic nerve, but rather as a membrane of peculiar 
structure on which the nerve terminates. Such being the structure of the eye in 
Reptiles, it follows that vision is much less perfect in this class of animals than in 
the Mammalia or Birds, nor is the organ of equal power in all the Reptile tribes. 
The Emydes have the most acute sight; many of them, as the E. serrata and the 
E. picta are extremely shy, and retreat suddenly when approached. Many others, 
as various Serpents, have the eye extremely brilliant and sparkling, yet it is not 
the brightness of eye accompanying intelligence, as observed in the higher classes, 
but the glare of animal instinct and passion. 


Hearinc.—An organ of hearing exists in all Reptiles, though much less com- 
plete than in the Mammalia and Birds; many parts essential to the perfection of 
the organ are wholly wanting, or at most, only slightly developed. We observe 
a more manifest decrease in the degree of perfection in the ear than in the eye, 
when compared with the higher classes of animals. 


The structure and arrangement of its parts vary still more in the different tribes 


* Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Erst. Theil., p. 395. 


36 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


than do those of the eye; the Chelonian and Saurian Reptiles, in some respects, 
approaching the Birds, while in the Sirens we perceive a similarity of structure to 
the Fishes. We find no external ear destined to collect and concentrate sound 
and direct it to an internal organ; even the membrane of the tympanum is not 
apparent in all the species; it is concealed in the Chelonia, Serpents, Engystoma, 
&c. by the organs of integumation passing over it, apparently unchanged in their 
nature. In Frogs and Hyle it is large, smooth, and very apparent; less so in the 
Toads, and in the Salamander wanting altogether. The cavity of the tympanum 
is the space between the membrane of the same name, and the labyrinth or internal 
ear, varying in size and arrangement, and containing the small bones of the organ. 
This cavity communicates in all the tribes, where it exists with the fauces, by a 
canal called the Eustachian tube. This tube and canal form a sort of primitive 
organ of hearing, for in the lower classes it seems to transmit sound to the internal 
ear;* but as we approach the higher orders, where the membrane of the tympanum 
becomes more perfect, and the external ear more developed, this canal decreases 
in size and seems designed for the transmission of air only, to the cavity of the 
tympanum. In the Chelonian Reptiles, the cavity of the tympanum contains a 
single bone called columella, having a long stalk and an oval flat portion, attached 
by the small end to the tympanal membrane, and joined by its oval extremity to 
the labyrinth; this is admirably well arranged to transmit impressions, made on 
the drum of the ear without, to the labyrinth within, where the auditory nerve is 
spent. Some Anatomistst have considered the columella composed of three 
portions, an external cartilaginous, a middle bony, and an internal one, again 
cartilaginous in structure. In the Sauria we find nearly the same arrangement, 
the cavity of the tympanum being only a little more capacious. In Serpents, this 
cavity is extremely small, and the bone of the ear instead of going to a tympanal 
membrane, is attached by its outer extremity to the parts about the articulation 
of the lower jaw. In Frogs, Hyle, &c. this cavity is large, and contains two bones 


* Scarpa. Disq. de audit. et olfac., p. 27. 
t Blainville, Princip. d’Anat. Comp., tom. i. p. 541. 


OUR; GAN PZAST TO uN, OR ReBYPP DE GimiSs. 37 


analogous to the incus and malleus:* there is a similar arrangement in Toads, 
though the chain of bones is longer, and both are well disposed to carry impres- 
sions to the labyrinth. ‘The membrane and cavity of the tympanum do not exist 
at allin the Salamanders; nor have they an Eustachian tube opening into the fauces. 
The labyrinth or mternal ear consists of three semicircular canals, and a sac 
containing a substance resembling starch in appearance; in some there is a rudi- 
ment of a cochlea, as in the Chelonia, which is still more distinct in some of the 
Saurian Reptiles; in those consequently the organ of hearing must be more delicate 
than where the cochlea is wanting. In the Salamander, another and very different 
arrangement of parts is observed; the labyrinth is completely closed, having no 
external communication whatever. From this structure it results, that the sense 
of hearing must be much less perfect in Reptiles than in the Mammalia and Birds; 
they cannot distinguish delicate sounds, nor can they be made like the Birds to 
imitate them. 


Smetit.—The organ of smell is less developed in Reptiles than in the Mammalia 
and Birds; nor is it apparently employed in selecting food, as in those classes, or 
even as in the Fishes, where the olfactory organ is intimately connected with the 
functions of nutrition and respiration. The nasal cavities are extremely simple 
in their arrangement, and of very limited extent, lined with a pituitary membrane, 
sometimes folded, on which the olfactory nerve is distributed. 


The external nares are small, and placed near the snout; in some they are close 
together, in others, farther apart; in most, the orifices can be contracted, dilated, 
or completely closed in respiration. The posterior nares open but a short distance 
behind the anterior; in the Chelonia they are situated about the middle of the 
palate, and still further back in the Alligator. In Serpents, the canals are broader, 


* Pohl. Exposit. Organ. Audit., p. 12, as quoted by Gore in his excellent translation of 
Carus’s Comparative Anatomy says, there is but a single bone similar to the columella of the 
Chelonia in the tympanal cavity of Frogs. Blainville, on the contrary, describes three of 
these bones. Loc. cit., p. 539. 


38 ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 


but much shorter, and in such as have dilatable jaws, the two external nares seem 
to form only one posterior opening, which enters near the mesial line.* 


The sense of smell is least perfect in the Batrachian animals; the anterior and 
posterior nares bemg almost opposite each other, the latter opening just within 
the border of the upper jaw; consequently the canals can be of but small extent. 
The olfactory nerve detached from the olfactory lobe of the brain, does not subdi- 
vide, as in the Mammalia, and pass through an ethmoid bone, but enters a single 
nerve without ramification until it arrives at the pituitary membrane, where it 
divides into large fibres and then terminates. As there are no extensive sinuses 
and cells to arrest the odoriferous particles contained in the air, while it passes to 
the lungs in respiration, it follows that the sense of smell must be less perfect— 
nor is it in as constant operation as in the Mammalia, where it is placed as a 
guard to determine the nature of the air respired. 


Taste.—All Reptiles have a tongue, varying however greatly, as we have seen, 
in its shape, organization, and mode of attachment, but certainly having little 
claim to be considered as an organ of taste; since it is not constituted to receive 
delicate impressions, being often covered with a thick, and in some instances, with 
a horny cuticle. Swallowing their prey rapidly, and without mastication, a delicate 
sense of taste would be here useless in determining the nature of their food, and 
it is probable that the sense is entirely wanting or at best but feebly developed, 
in Reptiles. 


Orean or Toucu.—There is a general sensibility no doubt in the whole surface 
of the bodies of Reptiles, by means of which the animals may be made acquainted 
with the presence of external objects; but this sense is not perfect enough to enable 
them to distinguish the form or other properties of bodies that are made known 
to the higher animals by a sense of touch. In the inferior animals this sense is 
intimately connected with the nutritive organs, and is only sufficient to afford 


* Dumeril, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. i. p. 37. 


ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES. 39 


information as to the nature and qualities of the food; hence these organs are 
placed near the mouth, as the feelers in crustaceous animals, and the barbels or 
tentacula in many Fish. 


In Reptiles, the snout of the Frog is said to be used as an organ of touch; and 
it is possible that the long slender bifid tongue of Serpents may be employed in 
examining the nature of external objects, for we observe them constantly protruding 
it when moving cautiously from place to place; but we cannot suppose with 
Blumenbach and Roget,* that they have an accurate sense of touch, from their 
being able to entwine themselves round objects; for the thick scales with which 
their bodies are covered, prevent them enjoying this sense in a higher degree than 
other Reptiles. In no animal of this class do we ever find, as in the Mammalia, 
an organ developed like the extremities for grasping and holding bodies, and a 
peculiar arrangement of parts for determining their character. 


* Roget, An. and Veg. Phys., vol. ii. p. 290. 


re t 
athe eye, 


a : a ; 
yi i 7 ig 
Tm 


A iid 


an 


Te 


tudo p olyphemus 


1. 


Dp» Stone ty C hechmas clonan i Duval Lats 


TES TU DO—Brongniart. 


Genus Testupo.—Cuaracters. Body protected by a horny covering; shell 
(carapace) solid; sternum (plastron) solid and immovable; jaws without teeth; 
extremities short, thick, and clavate; toes short, closely joined, and covered by the 
integuments as far as the nails; anterior extremities with five, posterior with four, 
short strong conical nails; head and extremities retractile within the shell.* 


TESTUDO POLYPHEMUS.—Daudin. 
Plate I. 


Cuaractsers. Shell irregularly oval, flattened above, ecarinate, entire; supra- 
caudal plate single and incurvated below; sternum elongated, projecting beyond 
the shell in front, and deeply emarginate behind; colour of the shell brownish- 
yellow, clouded with darker brown; sternum yellow. 


Synonymes. Gopher, Bartram, Travels in the Floridas, Carolinas, &c., p. 182. 
Testudo Polyphemus, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. il. p. 256. 
La Tortue Gopher, Bosc, Nouy. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxii. p. 269. 
T. Polyphemus, Say, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. iv. p. 207. 
T. Carolina, Leconte, Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. ii. p. 79, 
T. Polyphemus, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. vi. p. 21. 
T. depressa, Cuvier, Reg. Anim., tom. ii. p. 10. 
T. Polyphemus, Gray, Synop. Rept., p. 11. 
Gopher and Mungifa, Vulgo. 


*It is my intention at this time to give only the characters of the different genera; in a 


subsequent number I shall add the special anatomy of each genus, illustrated by drawings. 


Vor. 1.—6 


42 TESTUDO POLYPHEMUS. 


Descrietion. The shell is remarkably depressed, nearly flat above, with its 
margin entire, slightly revolute in front, and incurvated posteriorly. The vertebral 
plates are five in number; the anterior is pentagonal, presenting an obtuse angle 
forward; the remaining four are hexagonal, the posterior irregularly so. The first 
lateral plate is irregularly triangular, with its basis rounded and joined to four 
marginal plates; the second and third are pentagonal, with an acute angle above, 
passing in between the vertebral plates; the posterior is irregularly quadrilateral, 
the longest border directed downwards. ‘The marginal plates are twenty-four in 
number; the intermediate is irregularly quadrilateral, and largest behind, where it 
joins the first vertebral plate; the supra-caudal is single, very large, having twice 
the extent in the horizontal that it has in the vertical direction, its lower border 
is incurvated, which gives this plate a remarkably bulging appearance. The first 
marginal plate is pentagonal, the second square, the third irregularly quadrilateral, 
and the fourth pentagonal; the four succeeding plates are quadrilateral, and of 
greater elevation than breadth, slanting a little backwards; the ninth, tenth, and 
eleventh marginal plates are irregularly quadrilateral; the tenth having its posterior - 
and superior angle truncated, where it joins the posterior vertebral plate. All these 
plates are marked with concentric striz, which are most remarkable on the lateral 
and marginal, and are often wanting on the vertebral plates; in many old indi- 
viduals these disappear entirely, and leave the shell perfectly smooth. 


The sternum is thick and firm, prolonged beyond the shell in front, and deeply 
emarginate behind. The gular plates are quadrilateral, and unite to form a spade- 
hike process, with its anterior extremity generally entire, but occasionally emargi- 
nate; the brachial plates are quadrilateral, with their outer and anterior angles 
rounded, the anterior border shortest and oblique in direction to receive the gular 
plates; the thoracic plates are very irregularly pentagonal, narrow, and of great 
extent in the transverse direction; the abdominal are quadrilateral and very large; 
the femoral are also irregularly quadrilateral, with the longest border directed 
forwards; the subcaudal plates represent oblong squares, and are most extensive 
in the transverse direction. Of the supplemental plates, the axillary are oblong, 
and the inguinal, semicircular in shape. 


TESTUDO POLYPHEMUS. 43 


The head is short, thick, obtuse, and covered with small plates on the superior 
parts, and with larger plates in front, which are disposed in rows; one between 
the anterior parts of the orbit, consisting of two very large central plates and two 
external, smaller; in front of this is a second row of six smaller plates, and still 
anterior to this row are others of smaller size. The nostrils are small and near 
together. The eyes are large and open; the iris dark; the pupil almost black; the 
lower lid more extensive than the upper, and both covered with small plates. 
The jaws are covered with horny plates, grooved, and having their margins 
serrated: the grooves allow the jaws to be received reciprocally within each other 
when the mouth is closed. The neck is short, and the skin granulated. 


The anterior extremities are very large, thick, compressed in the antero-posterior 
direction, and terminating in five fingers, each furnished with a thick and strong 
nail; along the outer margin of the forearm is a row of projecting horny points, 
resembling nails, large below, and decreasing gradually in size to the humerus. 
Another remarkably large horny tubercle exists near the internal and anterior 
part of the elbow. The anterior surface of the forearm and carpus is covered 
with large plates; the posterior surface of the carpus and lower portion of the 
forearm, with smaller plates; in other parts, the forearm and arm are granulated. 


The posterior extremities are rounded, less compressed, short, thick and clavate, 
ending in four toes, each furnished with a strong nail. The sole of the foot, the 
lower and posterior part of the leg, and the posterior part of the thighs, are pro- 
tected by large plates; two remarkably horny points are placed at the posterior 
and superior part of the thigh; the other parts of the posterior extremities are 
granulated, and covered with smaller plates. 


Cotours. The general colour of the shell is brownish-yellow, clouded at times 
with a darker brown, which latter colour predominates in some individuals;* the 


* This colour was remarkable in the specimen from which the accompanying drawing was 
taken. 


44. TESTUDO POLYPHEMUS. 


sternum is dirty yellow; the head is darker than the shell, sometimes almost black; 
the upper jaw is brown, the lower jaw yellowish; the neck and anterior extremities 
are dusky above, dirty yellow below; the posterior extremities simply dusky in 
colour. 


Dimensions. Length of shell, 143 inches; sternum, 127 inches; thigh, 22 inches; 
leg, to the centre of the sole of the foot, 23 inches. 


Gerocrapuica Distrisution. The most northern limit of the Gopher is the 
western border of South Carolina; they are numerous in Edgefield and Barnwell 
districts, whence they extend through Georgia, Alabama, and the Floridas. 
According to Le Sueur they are brought to the New Orleans market, though 
probably not from the immediate neighbourhood. 


Hasirs. They select dry and sandy places, are generally found in troops, and 
are very abundant in pine barren countries. They are gentle in their habits, - 
living entirely on vegetable substances; they are fond of the sweet potato, (Con- 
volvulus Batatas,) and at times do much injury to gardens, by destroying melons, 
as well as bulbous roots, &c. &c. In the wild state they are represented as 
nocturnal animals, or as seeking their food by night; when domesticated, and I 
have kept many of them for years, they may be seen grazing at all hours of the 
day. When first placed in confinement they chose the lowest part of the garden, 
where they could most easily burrow; this spot being once overflowed by salt 
water in a high spring tide, they migrated to the upper part, nearly eighty yards 
distant, and prepared anew their habitations. ‘They seldom wandered far from 
their holes, and generally spent part of the day in their burrows. They delighted 
in the sun in mild weather, but could not support the intense heat of our summer 
noons; at those hours they retreated to their holes, or sought shelter from the 
scorching rays of the sun under the shade of broad-leaved plants: a tanyer, (Arum 
esculentum,) that grew near their holes, was a favourite haunt. They could not 
endure rain, and retreated hastily to their burrows or to other shelter at the coming 
on of a shower. As winter approached they confined themselves to the immediate 


TESTUDO POLYPHEMUS. 45 


neighbourhood of their holes, and basked in the sunshine; as the cold increased, 
they retired to their burrows, where they became torpid; a few warm days, how- 
ever, even in winter, would again restore them to life and activity. The adults 
are remarkably strong, sustaining and moving with a weight of two hundred 
pounds or more. The female is generally larger than the male, with the sternum 
convex; the sternum of the male is concave, especially on its posterior part. The 
eggs are larger than those of a pigeon, round, with a hard calcareous shell; they 
are much esteemed as an article of food. 


Generat Remarks. This is the only species of Testudo hitherto observed in 
the United States, and was first described by Bartram, under the name of Gopher; 
Daudin subsequently called it Testudo polyphemus, which name has since been 
generally adopted by Naturalists. Leconte has endeavoured to prove this animal 
to be the Testudo Carolina of Linneus, which is considered by most authors as 
the Box Tortoise. From the very short description of the Testudo Carolina 
contained in the twelfth and last edition of the Systema Nature, by Linneus 
himself, it is not so easy at first sight to determine the point; but if we consult 
the earlier editions, and compare the descriptions with the plates to which he 
refers, his meaning becomes evident. In the tenth edition he says, “Testudo 
pedibus digitatis, testa gibba, cauda nulla;” and the only reference given is to the 
figure of the Testudo tessellata minor caroliniana of Edwards,* which is certainly 
the Box Tortoise; for he says, “the lower shell is divided across the middle of the 
belly, and joined to the upper shell on the sides by a tough flexible skin, by means 
of which it can, when it draws in its head and legs, close or shut up its shell, as 
firmly as that of an oyster.” Indeed, the figure given by Edwards is so correct 
and so well coloured, that Shaw afterwards copied it into his General Zoology, 
observing “that there is no particular necessity for any other description than that 
given by Edwards himself.”t Here then, we have the name Carolina from Edwards, 
and the “cauda nulla” either from his description, “tail in a rudimental state,” or 


from his plate, where the animal is represented without one. 


* Edwards, Av. p. 205. +Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii., Part I., plate 7. 


46 TESTUDO POLYPHEMUS. 


In the twelfth edition, Linneus quotes in addition Gronovius,* “Testudo pedibus 
digitatis,” Wc., which description agrees better with the Box Tortoise than with 
the Gopher; and it is not improbable that Gronovius received it from Clayton, of 
Virginia, with whom he was in constant correspondence. Why Linneus should 
have given an additional reference to Seba, at the same time retaining the refer- 
ence to Edwards, is not known, especially as Seba’s plate bears no resemblance 
to that of the former, being a larger animal and drawn with a tail. 


Gmelin, in his edition of the Systema Nature, besides retaining the description 
and reference of Linneus, adds a longer description of his own; and here perhaps, 
Leconte is right, in supposing that he may have had our animal in view, as the 
description corresponds more nearly, and cannot be applied to the Box Tortoise. 
Still however, the name Carolina cannot be retained, as it had been previously 
applied by Linnzus to another species. 


* Gron. Zooph. 17. n. 17. t Seba, mus. i. t. 80. f. 1. 
1 


; Tanys hicrodlyplica 
2 


Sera piner! On Stone by G.Lehman. Lehman & Duval Lith™ Philed* 


47 


EM YS.—Brongniart, Dumeril. 


Genus Emys.—Cuaracrers. Shell depressed, solid; sternum broad, solid, immov- 
able, firmly joined to the shell, consisting of twelve plates, and four supplemental 
ones; extremities palmated, anterior with five nails, posterior with four; head of 
ordinary size; tail long. 


EMYS HIEROGLYPHICA. 
Plate I. 


Cuaracters. Shell oval, depressed, ecarinate, smooth, entire in front, elongated 
and imperfectly serrated behind; sternum oblong, emarginate posteriorly, dingy 
yellow; head very small; upper jaw slightly emarginate, lower jaw furnished with 
a tooth. 


Description. The shell is oblong-oval, very flat, smooth, ecarinate, entire in 
front, and imperfectly serrated behind. The first vertebral plate is urceolate; the 
second and third are hexagonal, the former with its anterior, the latter with its 
posterior margin, concave; the fourth vertebral plate is very irregularly hexagonal, 
with the lateral angles produced; the fifth heptagonal. The first lateral plate 
is irregularly triangular, with the basis rounded, and joined to four marginal plates; 
the second and third are hexagonal, with an acute angle above, received between 
the vertebral plates; the fourth is pentagonal. The marginal plates are twenty- 
five in number; the nuchal or intermediate plate is nearly a parallelogram; the first 
marginal plate is irregularly quadrilateral, with its anterior and external angle 


48 EMYS HIEROGLYPHICA. 


projecting beyond the second, which is also very irregularly quadrilateral, with its 
posterior and internal angle much elongated. The remaining marginal plates are 
all nearly quadrilateral; the posterior and external angle of the ninth, tenth, and 
eleventh, project so much as to give a serrated appearance to the shell. 


The sternum is full and entire in front, emarginate behind; the gular plates 
are regularly triangular, the apex of the triangle directed backwards; the brachial 
plates are irregularly quadrilateral, the outer margin being rounded and most 
extensive; the thoracic plates are quadrilateral, and narrow in the antero-posterior 
direction; the abdominal are hexagonal and broad; the femoral and sub-caudal are 
irregularly quadrilateral and large. Of the supplemental or connecting plates, the 
axillary is elongated and quadrilateral, the inguinal is triangular. 


The head is remarkably small and narrow; the snout a little pointed; the nostrils 
are in front, and near together: the eyes are large, and placed near the snout; 
the pupil dark, the iris golden. The upper jaw is slightly emarginate in front; the. 
lower, furnished with a small tooth. 


The anterior extremities are long, with a row of large square folds of skin along 
the superior border of the forearm, beginning at the humerus; the anterior surface 
of the forearm is covered with large scales, the posterior surface, with smaller; the 
carpus is broad; the fingers five in number, and palmated, furnished with five nails; 
the three intermediate ones are straight, and of great length; the posterior extre- 
mities are~iong and very flat; the tarsus and metatarsus greatly expanded; the 
toes are remarkably palmated, and furnished with four long nails. 


Cotour. The whole superior surface of the shell is dark brown, and is subdi- 
vided by broad yellow lines into spaces of various shapes and sizes, each space 
being occupied by narrower concentric lines of the same colour. ‘The marginal 
plates have each a broad yellowish band extending through the middle in a vertical 
direction; at each extremity of the plates are yellow spots, and one or more semi- 
circular lines of the same colour; these meeting with the lines of the adjoining 


EMYS HIEROGLYPHICA. 49 


plates form a complete circle, in which are enclosed two yellow spots. The colour 
of the sternum is a dirty yellow, with a black blotch at the external border of the 
thoracic and abdominal plates. 


The head is dark brown; a yellow line begins at the snout, runs between the 
eyes, increasing in breadth, and terminates behind the orbit; another line of the 
same colour begins behind the orbit, small at first, but increasing in size till it 
forms a large yellow blotch, out of which issues another yellow line which runs 
along the neck. Below these lines are two broad yellow bands, also beginning 
behind the orbit; these communicate by a vertical band passing over the anterior 
part of the tympanum, and are afterwards continued along the neck. A small 
yellow line begins on each side, beneath the nostrils, and is continued to the middle 
of the upper jaw; another line of similar colour goes from the centre of the chin, 
and extends across the throat, from the posterior part of which is extended along 
the lower jaw and neck a broad band, which is continuous at the articulation of 
the jaw, with the band passing down from the orbit; on the throat is another large 
blotch, from which are extended posteriorly one or two yellow lines. 


The colour of the anterior extremities is dark brown in front, with a large yellow 
longitudinal band above extending throughout, and one or two smaller and less 
extensive above. The posterior extremities are dark brown, with large longitudinal 
yellow bands along the nates and posterior part of the thighs, and smaller ones 
on the superior surface of the thigh and leg; on the inferior surface of the thigh 
and leg are several very extensive yellow bands and blotches, all ending at the 
tarsus; the membrane between the toes is marked with a longitudinal yellow line; 
the tail is dark brown above and below, with two longitudinal yellow lines. 


Divenstons. Length of shell, 12 inches; of sternum, 92 inches; breadth of shell, 
7 inches; height of shell, 3 inches; length of tail, 3 inches; length beyond the vent, 
12 inch. 


GerocrapuicaL Distrisution. It is found in our western waters. Professor 
Vor l—7 


50 EMYS HIEROGLYPHICA. 


Troost, of Nashville, Tennessee, has furnished me with a living specimen from the 


Cumberland river. 


Hasits. We know but little of the habits of this animal, but from its structure 
it appears to be eminently aquatic. 


Generat Remarks. I have been Jed to give the name hieroglyphica to this 
species from the peculiar disposition of the yellow lines and spots on the marginal 
plates, which at a first view bear a strong resemblance to hieroglyphic characters. 


Sera pirat 


Kinvs medacephala 


3 


On Stone by CLdunan 


Lehman & Duval Luh? Philad® 


EMYS MEGACEPHALA. 
Plate ITI. 


Cuaracters. Shell suboval, flattened, carinate, serrated and acute posteriorly; 
very dark brown, with obscure orange lines; sternum oblong, slightly emarginate 
behind, dingy yellow; head very large; jaws entire. 


Description. The shell is suboval, slightly emarginate in front, serrated and 
pointed behind, and flattened above, with a marked carina throughout its whole 
extent. The vertebral plates are five in number; the first irregularly hexagonal, with 
the posterior border curved and projecting into the anterior margin of the second 
plate, which is also hexagonal, with its anterior margin excurved; the third and 
fourth plates are hexagonal; the fifth almost semicircular in shape, and the part 
representing the diameter of the semicircle is joined to four marginal plates. The 
first lateral plate is triangular, with its basis rounded and connected with five 
marginal plates; the second and third are hexagonal, with an acute angle above, 
passing in between the vertebral plates; the fourth is pentagonal. Of the twenty- 
five marginal plates, the nuchal or intermediate one is irregularly quadrilateral, 
narrow before, broader behind, its posterior margin slightly excurved, for receiving 
a small part of the first vertebral plate; the first marginal plate is pentagonal, 
broadest in front; the remaining plates are quadrilateral; the fourth, fifth, sixth and 
seventh, have revolute margins; the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh, have their 
posterior and inferior angle lengthened, which gives the posterior margin of the 
shell a serrated appearance; the two supra-caudal are elevated (en toit.) 


The sternum is oblong, entire in front, slightly emarginate and concave behind. 
Of its twelve plates, the gular are very regularly triangular, having the apex of the 


On 
(SS) 


EMYS MEGACEPHALA. 


triangle directed downwards; the brachial plates are irregularly quadrilateral, with 
the external and posterior angle prolonged; the thoracic are quadrilateral, exten- 
sive in the transverse, and narrow in the antero-posterior direction; the abdominal 
plates are hexagonal and broad; the femoral, irregularly quadrilateral, broad and 
rounded externally, narrow and straight within; the subcaudal plates are very 
irregularly quadrilateral, their outer and posterior angles rounded. Of the supple- 
mental plates, the axillary is triangular, with its external and posterior angle 
truncated; the inguinal is regularly triangular. 


The head is extremely large, narrow before, very broad behind and prominent 
above, from the elongated occipital process, placed on a short thick neck; the 
snout is rather pointed. The nostrils are in front, and near each other. The 
eyes are large and prominent, placed near the snout; the pupil is dark, and the 
iris golden. ‘The upper and lower jaw have their cutting margins entire. 


The anterior extremities are short, with transverse rows of large scales on the - 
anterior part, and a very remarkable row on the posterior surface, above the carpus; 
a range of large fleshy folds extends along the superior border of the forearm 
to the humerus; the fingers are five in number, each furnished with a short curved 
nail. ‘The posterior extremities are long, flattened, and covered with scales, ending 
in five toes broadly palmated, and furnished with four nails. The tail is small, 
minutely carinated, and pointed. 


Cotours. ‘The shell is very dark brown, with a tinge of green, only perceptible 
in a strong light, and margined with a border of obscure yellowish brown. The 
lateral and marginal plates are marked with indistinct anastomosing lines of 
brownish orange; the inferior surface of the latter, with longitudinal lines of obscure 
white. The sternum is of a dingy yellow colour; the wings and supplemental 
plates marked with waving brownish hnes. 


The head and neck are brown, with a strong tinge of green; the jaws are 
yellowish brown; a longitudinal line of greenish-yellow begins at the snout, and 


EMYS MEGACEPHALA. 53 


is continued backwards, between the orbits, and terminates at the occiput; two 
other lines of the same size and colour begin behind the orbits on each side, and 
are continued along the superior surface of the neck; at the distance of a fourth of 
an inch at the back of each orbit, is a greenish-yellow blotch; the inferior surface 
of the neck is dark green, and marked with yellowish lines; one of these begins at 
the chin, and soon subdivides, the branches running towards the articulation of the 
lower jaw, whence it is continued along the neck. Beginning where the latter 
line subdivides, is another longitudinal and larger line, running along the middle 
of the throat; on each side of these principal lines are many others, both on the 
cheek and throat; near the angle of the mouth is a remarkable yellow blotch, 
surrounded by yellowish concentric lines; another blotch is found in front of the 
tympanum, whence it descends, terminating in a line that runs along the lateral 
and inferior borders of the neck. 


The anterior extremities are coloured like the neck, with two or three longi- 
tudinal lines of dirty yellow. The general colour of the posterior extremities is 
hike the anterior, with transverse bands of dirty yellow. The superior surface of 
the leg and foot are dark green; the inferior surface is of the same colour, marked 
with blotches and longitudinal lines of greenish-yellow. The tail is greenish-brown, 
marked with longitudinal lines of dingy yellow; these lines are distinctly marked 
only as far as the vent. 


Dimensions. Length of shell, 8; inches; of sternum, 7 inches; height, 3 inches; 
breadth of shell, 6 inches; length of tail, 22 inches; length beyond the vent, 13 
inches. 


GrocrapuicaL Distrisution. This animal has been observed by Prof. Troost 
in the Cumberland river, and other western waters. The specimen from which 
the accompanying drawing was taken, was found by him in the neighbourhood of 
Nashville, Tennessee. 


Hasirs. ‘The E. megacephala is bolder and more active than the animals of 


54. EMYS MEGACEPHALA. 


this class generally, approaching even the Chelonura in its disposition to bite when 
disturbed. 


Generat Remarks. Though having the general characters of the Emys tribe, 
the E. megacephala might, from the great size of the head, almost form the type 
of a new genus, approaching in this respect the Platysternon of Gray,* from which 
it differs however, among other characters, in being able to draw the head under 
the shell. 


* Zool. Jour., Lond., Part I., p. 106. 


ph he 4 


i iyi ee ip 


vi 


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ae 


Kmys Troostit 
4 


wa 


Un Nlone by 6 Lehnian Lehman & Teval Lith”™ Phitad € 


5) 


EMYS TROOSTII. 
Plate IV. 


Cuaracters. Shell blackish, sub-round, depressed, ecarinate; posterior part of 
the margin very slightly serrated; lateral and marginal plates marked with blotches 
or lines of horn colour; sternum broad, dirty yellow, each plate having a large 
black spot near its centre; head long, narrow; upper jaw emarginate; lower jaw 
furnished with a tooth. 


Description. The shell is depressed, ecarinate, sub-round, and slightly serrated 
behind: its surface is smooth above and shghtly wrinkled on the sides, more par- 
ticularly at the junction of the lateral plates. Of the five vertebral plates, the 
anterior is pentagonal, the second, third and fourth, hexagonal; the second has its 
anterior, and the fourth its posterior margin re-entering, to receive the borders of 
the adjoining plates; the fifth vertebral plate is triangular, with a rounded basis. 
The first lateral plate is irregularly triangular, with its basis united to four marginal 
plates; the second and third are pentagonal, with an acute angle passing upwards 
between the vertebral plates; the fourth is quadrilateral. The marginal plates are 
twenty-five in number; the nuchal or intermediate one is almost linear, its anterior 
extremity pointed; the adjoining plates pentagonal, with their anterior border 
emarginate, the outer and anterior angle extending beyond the second marginal 
plate, which, like all the others, is quadrilateral; the four posterior plates are very 


slightly serrated. 


The sternum is oblong, full and entire in front, and slightly emarginate behind. 
The gular plates are triangular, with the apex of the triangle directed backwards; 
the brachial plates are irregularly quadrilateral, broad without and narrow within, 


56 EMYS TROOSTII. 


where they unite in the mesial line; the thoracic and abdominal plates are both 
quadrilateral, the former very narrow, the latter broad; the femoral plates are 
shaped like the thoracic, but are larger; the sub-caudal plates are triangular, with 
the posterior and external angles rounded. Of the supplemental plates, both the 
axillary and the inguinal are quadrilateral; the former has its posterior and internal, 
and the latter its anterior and internal angle elongated. 


The head is small, oval, and pointed. The eyes are large and prominent; the 
pupil black, the iris dark gray, with a very narrow gilded border surrounding the 
pupil; the lower lid is large and very movable; the nostrils are small and near each 
other; the upper jaw is emarginate in front; the lower jaw, furnished with a tooth. 


The anterior extremities are covered in front with small scales; on their posterior 
surface is a remarkable transverse row of four large scales; the fingers are five in 
number, palmated, and furnished each with a nail; the three intermediate ones are 
long and curved. The posterior extremities are long and flattened; the toes, five. 
in number and broadly palmated; the four internal ones only are furnished with 
nails. The tail is short, conical, and obtuse. 


Cotours. The shell is greenish-black, with a lighter tinge of horn colour 
in the-central part_of each lateral plate, from whence lines of the same colour 
extend downwards and outwards. The marginal plates have each a slight dash, 
and sometimes a line of the same colour. The sternum is brownish-yellow, with 
a large black blotch on each plate, and also on the outer margin of the thoracic 
and abdominal plates; at each extremity of the inferior surface of the marginal 
plates is a black spot, uniting with those of the adjoining plates. The spots on 
the sternum are, however, liable to become blended, or altogether obsolete, perhaps 
the effect of age. 


The head is black above, relieved with very obscure rays of brownish-yellow; 
an oblong mark of the same colour begins at the back of the orbit of the eye, and 


EMYS TROOSTII. 57 


is lengthened out into a narrow line along the lateral and superior part of the 
neck; another and more distinct greenish-yellow line is observed along the lateral 
and inferior part of the throat, increasing in size to the junction of the jaws, where 
it subdivides into two branches; the one going to the upper jaw, terminates at its 
posterior part, that running to the lower jaw, ends midway between the condyle 
and symphysis. Beginning at the chin is another broad pale straw-coloured line, 
which subdivides after a short distance, the branches continuing along the inferior 
surface of the neck; a third line begins near the point of subdivision of the last, 
small, but increasing in breadth, and running nearly in the middle of the inferior 
surface of the neck; between these lines are many intermediate ones, smaller and 


less distinct. 


The anterior extremities are black in front, with a broad palish straw-coloured 
band near the lower part; the inferior border is yellow; the posterior surface 
blackish-brown. The posterior extremities are black above, with a yellowish line 
along the posterior margin of the thigh, and blackish below with two or three 
interrupted yellow lines. On the lower extremity of the thigh is a large triangular 
spot; the apex of which triangle is continued into a line along the anterior and 
inferior border of the leg to the root of the first toe. The tail is black above, and 
blackish-brown beneath with blotches of greenish-white; towards the extremity 


on each side is a lateral yellowish-green line. 


Dimensions. Length of shell, 8 inches; greatest breadth, 7+ inches; length of 
sternum, 63 inches; length of tail, 25 inches; length beyond the vent, 14 inch; 


height of the animal, 2% inches. 


GrocrapuicaL Distrisution. These animals abound in our western rivers. 
The accompanying plate was taken from a fine specimen sent me from the 
Cumberland river by Professor Troost, who has done so much to elucidate the 
natural history of that part of the United States, and to whom I have dedicated 
the species. 


Vor. L—S8 


58 EMYS TROOSTII. 


Hasirs. I am not aware that the E. Troostii differs in its habits from the other 
animals of its tribe. 


GeneraL Remarks. It is remarkable that the animal from which the accom- 
panying figure was taken had six vertebral plates, and that apparently not the 


result of injury. Another specimen possessed the usual number, and the shell 
was broader in proportion. 


Kanys Muhlenburgi 6 


By 


Nera pina! , / 
va pun On Sone by CO Lediman Lihinan RDA bith Phaled* 


09 


EMYS MUHLENBERGII.—Schweigger. 
Plate V. 


Cuaracters. Shell oblong, a little contracted at the sides, entire, slightly 
carinate, dark brown, with blotches of obscure yellow and sub-radiating lines on 
the lateral plates; sternum emarginate behind; a large orange spot behind the 
head, on each side. 


Synonymes. Testudo Muhlenbergii, Schoepff, Hist. Test., p. 132. tab. 31. 
Emys Muhlenbergii, Schweigger, Prod. Arch. Keenigs., tom. i. p. 310. 
Chersine Muhlenbergii, Merrem, Syst. der Amph., p. 30, spec. 35. 
Emys biguttata, Say, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. iv. p. 212. 

Testudo Muhlenbergii, Leconte, Ann. Lye. N. Y., vol. iii. p. 119. 
Emys Muhlenbergii, Gray, Synop. Rept., p. 25. 
Emys Muhlenbergii, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. v. p. 25. 


Description. The shell is oblong, arched, and slightly carinate. The first 
vertebral plate is pentagonal, with an acute angle directed forwards; the second, 
third, and fourth are hexagonal; the fifth is irregularly pentagonal, with its inferior 
border joined to four marginal plates. The first lateral plate is irregularly trian- 
gular, with its apex truncated and joined to the second vertebral plate, its basis 
is rounded and joined to four marginal plates; the second and third lateral plates 
are pentagonal. There are twenty-five marginal plates; the nuchal is very narrow, 
almost linear; the first marginal plate is irregularly quadrilateral, the remainder, 
very regularly quadrilateral; the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh are narrow and 
inclined backwards; all these plates are marked with radiating striz and concentric 
furrows in the young animal. The sternum is oblong and deeply emarginate 


60 EMYS MUHLENBERGII. 


behind; the gular plates are convex, triangular with the apex directed backwards, 
the lateral angles and the sutures straight, projecting a little; the brachial plates 
quadrilateral, the internal border short and straight, the external longer and 
rounded; the thoracic, femoral, and abdominal plates are quadrilateral, and more 
extensive in the transverse than in the antero-posterior direction; the sub-caudal 
are rhomboidal. The supplemental plates are unusually small; the axillary, circular, 
and the inguinal, slightly triangular. 


The head is short and broad; the tip of the snout pointed; the nostrils are small 
and near together; the eye is large, the pupil dark, with the iris brown, and 
surrounded by an orange coloured circle. The jaws are strong and cutting; the 
upper deeply notched, with a tooth on each side; the lower is furnished with a 
single tooth. 


The extremities approach in their structure those of the Cistudo, in being but 
slightly compressed, and in having the nails short and very slightly curved. The 
anterior extremities are covered with scales, larger in front and smaller behind; 
the fingers are five in number, and but slightly palmated, each furnished with a 
nail. The posterior extremities are flattened, and covered with small scales; the 
toes are five in number and imperfectly palmated; the four internal ones only are 
provided with nails. The tail is large and nearly conical, thick at the base and 
pointed at the extremity; its superior surface is covered with scales. 


Cotour. The shell is very dark brown, almost black; all the plates are relieved 
by blotches of obscure yellow, mingled with pale brown; in some individuals the 
plates are marked by sub-radiating lines, of the same colour as the blotches. 
The sternum is almost black at the margin, and bright yellow, approaching to 
orange, in the middle, sometimes varied with red. Black however, often predomi- 
nates both on the shell and sternum. 


The head is black; a short indistinct yellow line runs from the snout to the orbit 
of the eye, which is partially surrounded by a circle of the same colour; the upper 


EMYS MUHLENBERGII. 61 


jaw is yellow, mingled with brown, and marked with blotches of a darker shade 
of brown and occasional spots of orange; the lower jaw is brownish-yellow, with 
a few spots of orange. The neck is dark brown above, with two very remarkable 
spots on each side behind the occiput, varying in different individuals from bright 
yellow to deep orange, almost red; these spots vary also in size and shape, they 
are sometimes small with regular margins, at other times they resemble blotches: 
the inferior surface of the neck is yellowish-brown, studded with small black spots. 


The anterior extremities are brownish-yellow; many of the scales are tinged 
with orange; a dark line runs along the outer margin of the forearm. The 
posterior extremities are dark brown on the upper surface, with occasional spots 
of orange about the foot; the mferior surface is brownish-yellow, with one or two 
lines of lighter yellow. The tail is dusky yellow above, and yellow tinged with 
orange, below. 


Dimensions. Length of shell, 32 inches; sternum, 3} inches; height, 1¢ inches; 
tail, 13 inches. 


GeocraruicaL Distrisution. Its range is very limited; it being only found in 
New Jersey and East Pennsylvania, and rare even in these districts. 


Hasirs. The E. Muhlenbergii lives in small brooks or streams of running water. 


Generat Remarks. This animal was first described and figured by Schoepff, 
in his Historia Testudinum, from specimens furnished him by the Rey. Mr. 
Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania. Schoepff however, mistook it for a variety of the 
Box Tortoise, and gave a drawing of the shell and sternum only. Say next 
described it in detail, under the name E. biguttata, from the two remarkable orange 
spots on the neck; he was probably not aware that Schoepff had previously given 
it another name. Leconte has since described this animal with an accuracy that 
leaves nothing to be desired. 


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Ametva-sex-lineata . 


6. 


ie On Stone by C Lehman Lehman & Duval Lith™ Fhilad? 


AMETIV A .—Cuwvier. 


Genus Amerva.—Cuaracters. Body elongated, covered with minute scales; 
head pyramidal, covered with plates; jaws furnished with many notched teeth; 
tongue slender, bifid; no bony plate on the orbits; abdomen covered with rows of 
large scales; a range of pores beneath each thigh; tail long, cylindrical, and covered 
with verticillated scales. 


AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA. 
Plate VI. 


Cuaracters. Body elongated; dark brown above, marked with six yellow 
longitudinal lines; abdomen bluish silvery white; head short, obtuse; tail cylmdrical, 
very long, and covered with verticillated scales. 


Synonymes. Lacerta sex-lineata, Linnzxus, Syst. Nat., tom. i.p. 364; exclus. syn. Catesby. 
Lacerta sex-lineata, Gmelin, ed. Syst. Nat., tom. iii. p. 1074. 
Le Lézard a six raies, Bosc, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p. 527. 
Le Lézard a six raies, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iii. p. 183. 
Six-lined Lizard, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. Part. I. p. 240. 
Lacerta sex-lineata, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. vi. p. 18. 
Striped Lizard, Vulgo. 


Description. The head is short, compressed laterally, and covered with small 
plates. ‘The vertical plate is pentagonal, with an acute angle forwards; there are 


64. AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA. 


three supra-orbital plates on each side, that supply the place of a bony plate to 
the orbit; the snout is more obtuse than usual, terminating in a single plate. The 
nostrils are lateral, and placed near the extremity; the eyes are small, with a black 
pupil and a golden iris; the inner margins of the eyelids are bordered with a very 
narrow band of bright yellow; the membrane of the tympanum is apparent, and of 
a palish white colour; the entrance to it is round, and of large size. The upper 
jaw is covered with a row of small square plates; the lower jaw has two rows of 
the same form, the plates in the inferior row being largest. The throat is covered 
with small scales, and has two transverse folds in front of the anterior extremities. 


The body is elongated, and covered on the back and sides with minute scales; 
the scales of the abdomen are large and arranged in rows, of which those nearest 
the middle are largest. The tail is very long, perfectly cylindrical, and covered 
with verticillated scales; the vent is transverse, with large scales in front and small 
ones behind. 


The anterior extremities are rounded, scaly above, granulate below; and have 
five fingers, each furnished with a delicate, short and curved nail. The posterior 
extremities are also scaly above, the scales being so minute as to make the 
surface appear granulated; the under surface of the thigh and leg is covered with 
very large scales; and along the posterior and inferior part of the thigh is a range 
of pores. There are five toes, each furnished with a nail similar to those of the 
fingers. 


Cotour. The head is dusky brown; the upper jaw bluish-white, the lower nearly 
of a silvery-white colour. Along the back extends, from the occiput to the tail, 
a purple or brownish band, on each side of which are three yellow or golden 
longitudinal lines; of these, the superior is the palest and shortest; it begins at the 
occiput and terminates at the tail; the other lines are much longer and brighter, 
the upper one beginning above the orbit and extending to the middle of the tail; 
the lower line begins below the eye, and runs above the tympanum, along the 
flanks to the anterior part of the thigh; a shorter and more indistinct line extends 


AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA,. 65 


from the angle of the mouth, below the tympanum, to the shoulder; the spaces 
between these longitudinal bands are jet black. The throat is silvery white, and 
the abdomen of a beautiful shining bluish-white colour. 


The upper surface of the tail is nearly similar in colour to the back, but appears 
much rougher from the verticillated scales; its inferior surface is whitish. There 
are two longitudinal lines on each side of the tail; the superior one is continuous 
with the middle yellow longitudinal line of the back, and terminates about the 
middle of the tail; the inferior line is paler; it begins back of the thigh, runs 
nearly to the extremity of the tail, and seems to divide the upper or darker portion 


from the inferior or whiter part. 


The anterior, as well as the posterior extremities, are brownish above and bluish 
white below; and along the posterior part of the thigh runs a whitish line, con- 
tinuous with the inferior longitudinal line of the tail. 


Dimensions. ‘Total length, 9% inches; head and body, 34 inches; tail, 6 inches. 


GeocrapnicaL Distrisution. The Ameiva sex-lineata is numerous in the 
Carolinas, and is found throughout Georgia and the Floridas: how much further 


west it may exist cannot now be determined. 


Hasitrs. This is a very lively, active animal, choosing dry and sandy places 
for its residence, and is frequently met with in the neighbourhood of plantations, 
or near fences and hedges; most usually it is seen on the ground in search of 
insects, but it will take to trees when pursued: its motions are remarkably quick; 
it runs with great speed, and climbs with facility, yet it cannot leap from branch 
to branch, or from tree to tree, like the Anolius Carolinensis. 'The Ameiva sex- 
lineata is very timid; it feeds on insects, and generally seeks its food towards the 
close of the day, when they may be seen in cornfields far from their usual retreat; 
and not unfrequently I have met male and female in company. 

Vor. 1—9 


66 AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA,. 


GeneraL Remarks. This animal was certainly first described by Linneus, 
under the name Lacerta sex-lineata, from a specimen sent him by Dr. Garden, of 
Charleston, who furnished him with numerous rare specimens of plants and animals 
from Carolina. He observes of it, “Femora postice, ordine papillari ut in Ameiva.” 
It is impossible at this time to understand what led him to consider this animal 
as the Lion Lizard of Catesby, (vol. 11. tab. 68,) with which it agrees neither in 
colour, habits, nor geographical distribution. The Lion Lizard is of a “uniform 
gray colour, streaked with lines of a lighter gray;”—*“it frequents the rocks on the 
coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola, and is often the prey of sea-gulls.” It is remarkable 
that most Naturalists since Linneus have copied this error, and given the same 
reference. 


The habits of the Ameiva sex-lineata closely approximate it to the true Lizards, 
of which we have none in the United States, and it may fairly be considered 
their representative here. It differs from Lacerta in several parts of its organiza- 
tion—as in wanting palatine teeth, and a bony plate to the orbit, &c., which structur 
brings it within the genus Ameiva. 


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ANOLIUS.—Cuvier. 


Genus Anotius.—Cuaracters. Head elongated; jaws and palate furnished 
with small, sharp, notched teeth; tongue soft, fleshy, neither cleft nor extensile; 
body elongated, covered with minute scales; tail cylindrical, very long, verticillated; 
the skin beneath the penultimate joint of the fingers and toes is spread out into 
an oval disk, transversely striated. 


ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS.—Cuwvier. 
Plate VII. 


Cuaracters. Head flattened and greatly elongated, covered with minute scales; 
nostrils distant from the end of the snout; tail very long, verticillate; a dilatable 
sac under the throat; fingers and toes elongated. 


Synonymes. Lacerta viridis Carolinensis, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 65. 
Anolius Carolinensis, Cuvier, Regn. Anim., tom. ii. p. 50. 
Anolius bullaris, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. vi. p. 16., non Linn. 
Dactyloa, Wagler, Naturlich. Syst. der Amph., p. 148. 
Green Lizard or Chameleon, Vulgo. 


Description. The head is very much elongated and slightly flattened, canali- 
culated between the orbits, full and rounded at the temples; the snout is rather 
obtuse; the nostrils are directed upwards and outwards, and are placed at some 


68 ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 


distance from the end of the snout; the eyes are rather small, but brilliant; the 
pupil black, the iris burnished gold; the membrane of the tympanum is visible, the 
entrance to it, contracted, very small; mouth large; the jaws are covered with 
small whitish plates. Under the throat is a sac, which can be dilated or distended 
with air at the will of the animal, when it becomes of a bright vermilion. 


The body is elongated, but hardly cylindrical, the abdomen being broader and 
the spine narrower, giving it at times a triquetrous form. The head and body 
are covered with scales so extremely minute, as to give the whole surface a 
- granulated appearance. The tail is cylindrical, very long, and covered with larger 
and verticillated scales. 


The anterior extremities are rounded; the skin on the under surface of the 
penultimate phalanges of the four external fingers, is spread out into an oval disk, 
with transverse strie, by means of which the animal can attach itself to smooth 
surfaces; the fingers are five in number, each provided with a small, short, very 
delicate and curved nail. The posterior extremities are longer, and terminate 
in five toes, provided with the same number of nails; the penultimate phalanges 
are arranged in the same manner as in the fingers. 


Cotour. The whole superior surface of the head, body, tail and extremities, is 
of a beautiful golden green; the abdomen, greenish-white; the sac under the throat 
becomes vermilion when inflated; the inferior surface of the extremities is white, 
clouded with green; the superior surface of the fingers and toes is brown, and the 
inferior surface of the same colour. We observe frequently a black band on the 
temple, and a row of small black dots along the superior surface of the tail, as 
represented in the accompanying plate; but these all disappear when the animal 
assumes its greenest tint. 


In giving this as the ordinary colour of the Anolius Carolinensis, it must be 
remembered that the colour varies greatly at different times, according to the 
season of the year, the weather, health of the animal, activity of the circulation, 


ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 69 


&c. In cold weather, and in confinement, it is frequently dark brown, or brown 
with a vertebral line of white, seeming an entirely different animal; in warm 
weather it assumes, in the space of a few moments, every variety of shade, from 
dark brown to the most beautiful golden green. These variations in the colour 
‘are so great, and take place so suddenly, that it is often supposed to depend on 
the will of the animal, or the colour of the substance on which it is placed. 


Dimensions. Length from the tip of the snout to the vent, 23 inches; length of 
tail beyond the vent, 42 inches; total length, 67 inches. 


GrocrapuicaL Distrisution. The Anolius Carolinensis is first seen about 
latitude 35° in the Atlantic States, whence its range extends to the Gulf of Mexico, 
and westward to the Mississippi; and according to Dr. Sibley, as far as Nachi- 
toches, on the Red river. 


Hasits. The A. Carolinensis is a bold and daring animal, haunting out-houses 
and garden fences; and in new settlements it even enters the houses, walking over 
the tables and other articles of furniture in search of flies. It is very active, 
climbing trees with great rapidity, and leaping with ease from branch to branch 
or from tree to tree, securing itself even on the leaves, by means of the oval disks 
of the fingers and toes; which enable it also to walk easily on glass, and on the 
sides and ceilings of rooms. It feeds on insects, and destroys great numbers, 
seizing them suddenly, and devouring them, unrestrained even by the presence of 
man. In general they hybernate later than other animals of the same class; their 
favourite retreats being gardens and old buildings; they often retire to green houses 
or conservatories, where they may be frequently seen active, even in winter, but 
never of that rich yellow-green as in the summer season. In the spring season 
they are extremely quarrelsome; two males seldom meet without a furious battle, 
which frequently results in the loss of part of the tail, or some other injury, to one 
or both of the combatants.* Before the contest, the animal usually remains 


* Le Pere Nicholson, in describing the roguet, an animal supposed for a long time to be 


70 ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 


stationary for a moment, elevates and depresses its head several times, inflates 
his gular sac, which now becomes of a bright vermilion, and then suddenly springs 
at his enemy. After the first heats of sprig have passed, they become less 
quarrelsome, and many are seen quietly living together in the same neighbourhood; 
they retain at all times the habit of inflating the sac, even when quietly basking 
in the sun; and at those times the colouring of the animal has the liquid brilliancy 
of the emerald. 


Generat Remarks. Catesby was the first who described this animal, under the 
name of Green Lizard of Carolina,* but he also gives another plate of a similar 
Lizard of Jamaica.t Linneus describes the Jamaica species (Lacerta viridis 
Jamaicensis) as the Lacerta bullaris, and without further reference. Daudin and 
succeeding writers give an additional reference to the Green Lizard of Carolina; 
which is the more remarkable, as Catesby himself seemed aware of the difference 
between these animals, for he gives them different figures and a diflerent geogra- 
phical distribution. Cuvier was the first since Catesby to recognise the Carolina | 
Anolius as a distinct species, “from the very long flat muzzle and the black band 
at the temples.” It has already been remarked that this band disappears when 
the animal assumes its greenest tint; we must therefore depend on the “long 
flattened muzzle” chiefly in determining this species. 


identical with ours, has very well described the habits of the Carolina Anolius. Essai sur 
V’Hist. Nat. de Saint Domingue: Paris, 1776, p. 348. 
* Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. il. tab. 65. + Catesby, loc. cit., vol. ii. tab. 66. 


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Scincus lateralis 


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SCINCUS.—Daudin. 


Genus Scincus.—Cuaractrers. Head oblong, poimted, covered with plates; 


jaws furnished with closely set teeth; two rows of teeth on the palate; tongue 
fleshy, slightly extensible, emarginate; tympanum apparent; neck as large as the 
head; body elongated; tail conical; the whole body and tail covered with small 
imbricated scales; extremities with free and unguiculated toes. 


SCINCUS LATERALIS.—Say. 
Plate VIII. 


Cuaracters. Head short; body elongated; tail very long and cylindrical; whole 
superior surface of the head, body, and tail, chestnut colour; inferior surface of 


the neck silvery white; abdomen yellow; tail blue; a lateral line of black from the 
snout to near the extremity of the tail. 


Synonymes. Scincus lateralis, Say, Long’s Exped. to Rocky Mountains, vol. ii. p. 324. 


Scincus unicolor, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. v. p. 156. 
Scincus lateralis, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. vi. p. 12. 
Ground Lizard, Vulgo. 


Description. The head is short, about the size of the neck and body; the snout 
somewhat pointed; the vertical plates are three in number, the first one acute 
posteriorly; the nostrils are lateral, and placed very near the snout; the eyes, 


V2 SCINCUS LATERALIS. 


small and black; the tympanum apparent, the entrance large, with its anterior 
margin destitute of projecting scales: two or three rows of very wide scales usually 
follow the occipital plates. The body is elongated, somewhat quadrangular in 
form, and nearly uniform in size throughout; the tail very long, and very gradually 
tapermg. The anterior extremities have five fingers, each furnished with a minute 
and curved nail; the posterior extremities are rounded, the toes five in number, 
each with a nail: the inferior surface of the toes is serrated, from the projecting 
points of the scales or tubercles: the soles of the feet are also studded with small 
tubercles of equal size. 


Cotour. The whole superior surface of the head, body and tail, is a beautiful 
chestnut; the inferior surface is silvery-white at the throat, yellow at the abdomen, 
and this colour extends for a short distance beyond the vent; the lower surface 
of the tail is blue, with a tinge of gray. In the female, the yellow of the abdomen 
is but slight, being little more than white with a yellowish tinge. A remarkable 
lateral line of jet black begins at the snout, runs through the eye, over the tym-_ 
panum and shoulder, along the sides of the body and over the posterior extremities, 
to beyond the middle of the tail; below this line the sides of the body are dark 
gray. The superior surface of the extremities is darker chestnut than the hack; 
the inferior surface is light brown. 


Dimensions. Length of head and body to vent, 13 inches; of tail, 33 inches; 
total length, 4? inchés. It is our smallest and’most slender species. 


Grocrapuican Disrrisution. The range of Scincus lateralis begins certainly in 
North Carolina, whence we have received specimens; it extends south as far as the 
Gulf of Mexico, and is continued westward to the Mississippi river. Dr. Blanding 
has observed this animal at Camden, 8. C., Leconte in Georgia and Florida, Say on 
the Mississippi; and how much farther west it may exist, cannot now be determined. 


Hasirs. The Scincus lateralis may be seen by thousands in the thick forests 
of oak-and hickory in Carolina and Georgia; they emerge from their retreats 


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SCINCUS LATERALIS. 


after sun-set, in search of small insects and worms, on which they live; yet their 
motions are so quick, and they disappear so rapidly, that they might at first be 
easily mistaken for crickets or other insects. ‘Though so numerous, it is difficult 
to secure them alive; for when approached, they conceal themselves with astonishing 
quickness under the roots of the old and decaying trees, or beneath fallen leaves, 
or other vegetable substances; this decaying vegetable matter sometimes forms a 
stratum several inches thick, contaming numerous holes and crevices, to which 
they can easily retreat. We have never observed it ascend trees in its attempts 


to escape when pursued. 


Genera Remarks. This animal bears some resemblance in its small size and 
markings to the Gymnopthalmus of South America; its eyelids are, however, 
distinct, and it agrees in every respect with the genus Euprepis of Wagler. It was 
first described by Say, in Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mountains. 


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BU F O.—Lauwrenti. 


Genus Buro.—Cuaracters. Head short; jaws without teeth; tympanum visible; 
behind the ear is a large glandular tumour, having visible pores; body short, thick, 
swollen, covered with warts or papille; posterior extremities but slightly elongated. 


BUFO AMERICANUS.—Leconte. 
Plate LX. 


Cuaracters. Head short, snout rounded, nostrils placed near the snout; 
tympanum small; post-tympanal gland narrow and much elongated; body short, 
bloated; anterior extremities large, fingers free; posterior extremities short, toes 
semipalmated. 


Synonymes. Bufo Americanus, Leconte. 
Bufo musicus, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. v. p. 344. 
Common Toad, Vulgo. 


Description. The head is short, with the snout almost rounded: the nostrils 
are small, and placed near the snout: the eyes are large and brilliant; the pupil 
dark, with the iris presenting a minutely reticulated appearance, of black and gold; 
the superciliary ridges are but slightly elevated: the membrane of the tympanum 


is apparent, though small: the post-tympanal glands are narrow and very long, 
almost semi-cylindrical. 


76 BUFO AMERICANUS. 


The body is short, thick, and bloated, and has its superior surface covered with 
warts of different sizes. A longitudinal line of dirty white runs from the occiput 
to the vent; on each side of this are several conspicuous well-defined spots, varying 
in colour, size, and shape: we sometimes find them systematically arranged in rows. 
Along the flanks is a broad but indistinct band, extending to the posterior extre- 
mities; this band is so broken as to give the appearance of a row of black and 
white spots. The abdomen is granulated, and of a dirty yellowish-white. 


The anterior extremities are short; their upper surface, dusky with minute spots 
of white; the lower is of the same colour as the abdomen; the fingers are distinct, 
but not palmated. The posterior extremities are short, their superior surface 
ash-colour, with blotches and transverse bands of black, extending to the tarsus; 
the leg is shorter than the thigh; the toes are semipalmated, and five in number; 
a large tubercle occupies the place of a sixth, on the metatarsus. 


Divenstons. Length from snout to vent, 23 mches; of thigh, 1 inch; of leg, 
less than an inch; of tarsus and toes, 13 inches. 


GeocrapuicaL Distrisution. This is the most widely diffused of all the 
American toads. I have observed them from the mountains of Maine through all 
the Atlantic States: it is, however, remarkable that this animal leaves the sea shore 
in the south; for I have never met with it in the low country of South Carolina, 
although common in the upper districts of the state. Leconte has traced them 
along the western side of the Alleghanies, and in the valley of the Mississippi. 


Hasits. This animal is very mild and timid, living under stones or dead or 
decaying trees, or in holes in the earth, and frequently making its way into cellars, 
and dark and lonely corners: as evening approaches, it issues from its place of 
concealment in search of insects, and at these times frequently falls a prey to 
Snakes and Owls. It may be brought to a partial state of domestication, and will 
swallow flies from the hand. Early in the spring these animals resort to shallow 
pools in great numbers, for the purpose of depositing their spawn, and at these 


BUFO AMERICANUS. V1 


times their music is very familiar, consisting of a prolonged trill, continued by 
different individuals both day and night, and not unpleasant when at a sufficient 


distance. 


The Toad is looked upon with aversion by the greater part of mankind; 
its swollen body, its warty and tuberculous skin, with the large post-tympanal 
glands, give it such a repulsive appearance, that it seems hard to believe an 
innocuous disposition can belong to a shape and colour so offensive to the eye; 
hence the vulgar have always considered it venomous: it is nevertheless perfectly 
harmless, destroying only the insects that nature has apportioned for its food. 
To an unhandsome exterior, however, it often owes its safety, being very abundant 
and entirely helpless. 


It has been commonly supposed that the humour exuding from the skin and 
glands is poisonous, yet no experiments have proved it so, and certainly no injury 
has ever arisen from handling or examining the animal. Experiments have been 
made in Europe with the secretions of the common toad of that continent, and 
apparently with different results; for Naturalists are still at variance—Laurenti* 
considered the exudation innocuous, while Okent believes it poisonous, and his 
opinion is supported by some interesting experiments of Davy,f which prove that 
“the skin of the European Toad is possessed of minute follicles, secreting a thick 
yellow fluid of a poisonous nature.” 


Genera Remarks. Leconte was the first to separate this toad both from the 
southern animal, with which it had been confounded, and from the common Euro- 
pean species, to which it had been considered similar. It differs from the former 
in having the superciliary ridges depressed, and from the latter in the shape of 
the head, post-tympanal glands, Wc. 


* Laurenti, Synop. Rep. p. 195. tOken, Zool., B. II., § 198. 
t Dr. Davy, Phil. Trans. for 1826, Part II., p. 127. 


78 BUFO AMERICANUS. 


Leconte first proposed calling this animal Bufo Americanus; and although he has 
never published a description, still it is due to him to retain the name, which seems 
to me sufficiently appropriate; for although there are many Toads in the United 
States, there are none so common, so widely extended, and so much like the Bufo 
communis of the old world. Indeed, we regard it as the representative of that 
animal in North America, and have taken it as the type of our genus Bufo. 


Buto claimosus 


Serapina* . On Stone hy G Lehman Lina & Maval Mb’ Shilad* 


BUFO CLAMOSUS.—Schneider. 


Plate X. 


Cuaracters. Head large; snout obtuse; superciliary ridges greatly elevated; 
upper Jaw emarginate, lower furnished with a tooth in front; body above warty, 
dusky brown, with a tinge of yellow; beneath granulated, dirty yellowish-white. 


Synonymes. Land Frog, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 69. 
Land Frog, Bartram, Travels in Carolina, Florida, &e., p. 279. 
Bufo clamosus, Schneider, Hist. Amphib., fase. i. p. 214, No. 8. 
Rana lentiginosa, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii., Part I., pl. 53, p. 173. 
Bufo musicus, Daudin, Rainettes, p. 92, tab. 33, fig. 3;—Hist. Rept., tom. viil. p. 190. 
Bufo musicus, Bosc, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p. 490. 
Bufo musicus, Merrem, Versuch. eines Syst. der Amph., p. 181. 


Carolina Toad, Vulgo. 


Description. The head is large, dark coloured, and without warts, except a 
few small ones on the eyelids. The snout is obtuse, and from its tip runs an 
elevated bony line, subdividing at the nostrils, and forming the superciliary ridges; 
these increase in elevation as they reach the posterior part of the orbit, where 
they terminate in a rounded knob or tubercle; their great height gives to the upper 
surface of the head a canaliculated appearance: a second ridge descends from 
each of these, and completes the posterior border of the orbit. The upper jaw 
is yellowish-brown, and deeply emarginate in front; the lower is white, and furnished 
at its anterior part with a distinct tooth. The nostrils are small and round, placed 
near the pot of the snout. The eyes are large, prominent, and very beautiful; 
the pupil is black, the iris reticulated with gold and black, and has an inner margin 
of yellow. The tympanum is small and dusky, with a minute spot of a lighter 


80 BUFO CLAMOSUS. 


shade in the centre. The post-tympanal glands are large and reniform, exuding 
a pale milky fluid when pressed; the orifices of the canals out of which it flows 
are evident. 


The back and sides are dusky, and covered with warts of different sizes; a pale 
vertebral line extends from the head to the vent, on each side of which are found 
the largest warts; an irregular row of spots of yellowish-white exists on the flank, 
having somewhat the appearance of an indistinct band, extending from the inferior 
and posterior part of the post-tympanal gland to within a short distance of the 
thighs. The whole inferior surface of the animal is dirty white, with a strong 
tinge of yellow. 


The anterior extremities are short; the upper surface is dusky, with blotches 
and bars of dark brown; the lower surface dirty white, tmged with yellow. The 
fingers are four in number, and cleft. On the outer margin of the carpus, and 
opposite the thumb, is a large warty tubercle. The posterior extremities are. 
short, dusky brown above marked with blotches and transverse bars of darker 
brown, and dirty white beneath. The toes are five in number, and semipalmated, 
the fourth a good deal longer than the others; the metatarsus is furnished with 
two tubercles or spurs, the outer of which is cartilagmous, and so long as to 
resemble a sixth toe. 


Dimensions. Length of body, 23 inches; of the thigh, 1 inch; of leg, rather less 
than an inch; of tarsus and toes, 1$ inches. 


GroeraruicaL Disrrisution. ‘This Toad is found in the Carolinas, Georgia, the 
Floridas, and Alabama, and without doubt, all along the northern coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico; its most northern range is in North Carolina or Southern Virginia. 


Hasits. This animal is timid and remarkably gentle in its habits, remaiming 
concealed during the day in some dark place, and only venturing out as the dusk 
of the evening approaches. It feeds on various insects, which it seizes while alive 


BUFO CLAMOSUWS. 81 


and in motion. Catesby says it lives on ants and fire-flies, and will mistake a 
piece of burning charcoal for an insect of that description. ‘The male seeks the 
female in the month of May, when hundreds of them may be seen together in some 
stagnant pool; where having deposited their spawn, they return to the land. The 
males at this season are extremely noisy, though in general they are silent, making 
only a slight chirp when taken. Like many of the Hyle tribe, they have a large 
sac under the throat, which is distended when the animal croaks. 


Ihave seen an individual kept for a long space of time, which became perfectly 
tame: during the summer months it would retire to a corner of the room, into a 
habitation it had prepared for itself in a small quantity of earth placed there for its 
convenience. Towards evening it would wander about the room in search of food, 
seizing greedily whatever insect came in his way. Some water having been 
squeezed from a sponge upon his head one hot day in July, he returned the next to 
the same spot, and seemed very well pleased with the repetition; nor did he fail 
during the extreme heat of the summer to repair to it frequently, in search of his 
shower-bath. 


GenerAL Remarks. Catesby first described and gave a figure of this animal 
under the name Land Frog; and although this figure is badly executed, both as to 
drawing and colouring, (the elevation of the superciliary ridges not being marked, 
and the eyes represented as red,) it has been repeatedly copied by later Naturalists, 
as Foster, Shaw, &c. Bosc, who, from a long residence in Carolina, had a good 
opportunity of examining this animal, refers it to the Rana musica of Linneus, in 
which he is followed by Daudin, Merrem, and most Naturalists. This cannot be 
correct, for there are no Toads, as far as has been hitherto ascertained, common 
to North and South America, and Linneus, in the 12th edition of the Systema 
Nature, gives Surinam as the country of the R. musica. The name Rana musica, 
therefore, cannot be retained; but we must substitute that of Bufo clamosus, which 
was first given to this species by Schneider. 


Wiorelh——lil 


Hatt 
ae ae 


Tes 
ies 
A His: 
a) 


i 
i 
Nee 


AV 


Ai 
uke 


te 


7 


Shore 47! 


L noystoma Carolinense 


fo, 


Sera pina: On Soneby CLchmar Lehman & Duval lath Phidad® 


83 


ENGYSTOMA —Fitzinger. 


Genus Encystoma.—Cuaracters. Body oval, covered with a smooth skin; 
head very small; mouth minute; jaws and palate without teeth; no post-tympanal 
gland; tympanum concealed; anterior extremities with four fingers; posterior 
short, with five toes, not palmated. 


ENGYSTOMA CAROLINENSE. 
Plate XT. 


Cuaracters. Body short, thick, nearly oval, covered with a delicate skin; 
chestnut above, and thickly mottled with blackish specks beneath; head and mouth 
larger than usual. 


Descrietion. The general form of this animal approaches the oval; the skin 
is smooth; the head remarkably small and short, though large for the genus; its 
extent 1s marked by a delicate fold of the imteguments behind the orbits; its 
shape is triangular, the snout being very pointed; the upper jaw is dark brown, 
the lower dark gray; the mouth is inferior and minute. The eyes are very small, 
and but slightly prominent; the pupil is black, the iris very dark gray. The back 
is round, somewhat flattened in the living animal, and smooth; dark brown along 
the vertebral line, and chestnut on either side of it; the sides of the head and neck 
below the orbits, and the flanks, are grayish; the throat and abdomen lighter, all 
thickly sprinkled with blackish specks. The anterior extremities are chestnut- 


84. ENGYSTOMA CAROLINENSE. 


brown above and yellowish-brown beneath; the fingers are five in number, short, 
and distinct. The posterior extremities are short and thick, chestnut-brown above, 
with a few dark spots; the toes are five in number, short, and not palmated. 


Dimensions. Length of body, 1 inch; of thighs, $ of an inch; of leg, § of an 
inch; of tarsus and toes, $ of an inch. 


Geocrapuicat Disrrwution. Hitherto this animal has never been found north 
of Charleston; its range extending westward to the Lower Mississippi, where it 
has been observed by Le Sueur. 


Hasirs. This animal passes most of its days in concealment, near old fences, 
or under the bark of fallen and decaying trees, emerging only towards evening and 
after heavy rains. They are frequently seen with myriads of the young of the 
Bufo clamosus, apparently washed from their places of concealment by summer 
showers. It makes a feeble chirp at night, and at times when captured; and being | 
but a clumsy swimmer, if thrown into water it repeats this chirp frequently in its 
endeavours to escape. 


Generat Remarks. ‘This is the only species hitherto observed in the United 
States, and must not be confounded with those of South America. The E. Suri- 
namense is nearly twice the size of our animal, is uniformly dusky on the back, 
and has a white line along the posterior surface of the thigh, and a white spot at 
the axils. Our species differs in the comparatively greater size of the head and 
mouth, as well as in the markings. It is possible that Bosc* referred to this animal 
when he says he observed in Carolina a “crapaud bossu, ou une grenouille” living 
under the bark of dead trees, though he describes its skin as so excessively delicate 
as to prevent his preserving it alive even for a short distance, in order to make a 
drawing of it. Now, though the skin of our animal is delicate, I have kept them 
alive for several months, and even sent them from Charleston to Philadelphia, 
where they not only arrived in safety, but lived a considerable time. 


* Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vi. p. 489. 


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ei ‘all bones ih za mail 

(im? lit [Pert i 
1 A . i 


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“" X p tad 4 a aah 
Md hs ‘ae % eh hie. 
ii. i 


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sone of me 


Scapliopus solitarius . 
i2. 


Sera puna? 


Thilad * 


On Steneby Lehman Lehane 


SCAPHIOPUS.—Ablbrook. 


Genus Scapniopus.—Cuaracters. Body short, thick, swollen; head short; 
minute teeth in the upper jaw and on the palate; a small glandular wart behind 
the ear, from which a watery fluid can be pressed: posterior extremities short, 
stout, and muscular; leg shorter than the thigh; a spade-like horny process occupies 
the position of a sixth toe, and is used by the animal in excavating. 


SCAPHIOPUS SOLITARIUS. 
Plate XII. 


Cuaracters. Back olive coloured and somewhat warty, with two lines of pale 
yellow extending from the orbits to the vent; beneath yellowish-white. 


Description. This singular animal approaches nearly to the toad in form. 
The head is short, the snout obtuse. The upper jaw is greenish-yellow, the lower 
yellowish-white. The nostrils are very near the extremity of the snout, and placed 
on a rounded prominence. The eyes are large and very prominent, almost resem- 
bling warts or excrescences; the pupil is black, the iris golden, very brilliant, and 
subdivided into four portions by two black lines. The tympanum is small, and 
yellowish-green; behind the tympanum is a small glandular wart, from which minute 
jets of watery fluid can be pressed. 


86 SCAPHIOPUS SOLITARIUS. 


The back is yellowish-green, clouded with dark brown blotches, and covered 
with small warts of different sizes; many of these are of a dark brown colour; 
others, reddish or orange. ‘Two decurved lines of pale yellow extend from the 
orbits to the vent; on each flank is another line of the same colour, but less distinct 
and shorter, reaching only from the shoulder to the thigh. The inferior surface 
of the throat is yellowish white; the abdomen dirty white, and granulated pos- 
teriorly. 


The anterior extremities are long; their colour yellowish-green, clouded with 
a few blotches of brown on the upper surface,—a reddish tinge on the lower, 
approaching to flesh colour. The fingers are four in number, short and distinct. 
The male is distinguished by having the two inner ones black above. 'The pos- 
terior extremities are short, but very muscular, and have the leg conspicuously 
shorter than the thigh; they are yellowish-green on the upper surface, marked . 
with a few blotches and transverse bands of dark brown, and sometimes with a few 
small reddish spots. The lower surface of the thighs is flesh colour, and granulated. 
The toes are five in number, and distinctly palmated. On the internal margin of . 
the metatarsus is a horny spade-hke process, containing a bone, which moves by 
an imperfect joint: the breadth of this process is about a line and a half, its length 
one line; the cutting edge is jet black. 


The skin is very delicate; and though warty after long exposure, when first 
taken from its hole the Scaphiopus presents the etiolated appearance of a genuine 
subterraneous animal. 


Dimensions. Length of body, 2¢ inches; of the thigh, rather less than an inch; 
of the leg, } of an inch; of the tarsus and toes, 14 inches; of the forearm, with 
carpus and fingers, nearly an inch. 


GrocraruicaL Distrisution. Its range is more extended than I at first appre- 
hended. It is found in Carolina and Georgia, and Dr. Troost has sent me a speci- 
men from Tennessee. 


SCAPHIOPUS SOLITARIUS. 87 


Hasirs. This is a strange animal—an odd mixture of Toad and Frog, having 
the teeth of the one and the rudimental post-tympanal glands of the other; it ° 
approaches, however, nearest the Toad in its form and habits, as it never ventures 
in water except at the breeding season; it lives in small holes about six inches deep, 
excavated by itself in the earth, which for a long time I took for holes of insects: 
here it resides, like the Ant-Lion, seizing upon such unwary insects as may enter 
its dwelling. It never leaves its hole, except in the evening or after long con- 
tinued rains. It shows great dexterity in making this dwelling; sometimes using 
the nates, and fastening itself by the spade-like process; at others it uses the legs 
with these processes, like a shovel, and will in this way conceal itself with great 
rapidity. In progression its motions are not very lively, and its powers of leaping 
but feebly developed. It appears early in March, after the first heavy rains of 
spring, and at once seeks its mate. I have met them even in very cold weather, 
with ice on the ground. 


Generat Remarks. This animal is perhaps somewhat allied to the Ceratophris 
of South America, which has teeth, the posterior extremities short, and the hind 
feet furnished with a movable unarmed tubercle. The Rana cultripes of Cuvier* 
would seem to be furnished with a process more nearly resembling that of our 
animal. 


* Cuvier, Regne Animale, vol. ii. p. 105. 


Ae 2 ah 
eee 


ities 


pigs stew ee a ests 
bea et re deb . ila ‘ 


‘et /- ree +s i a 
aaa w ey a x di 


Pe oc re 


fet gone died see epeall ; 


Rana haleecima. 
15. 


Sera pucxe On Stone by C helman Leman & Duval Lathe Vhiladelph va 


89 


RANA. 


Genus Rana.—Cuaracters. Body covered with a smooth skin; upper jaw 
furnished with a row of minute teeth; another interrupted row in the middle of 
the palate: no post-tympanal glands; posterior extremities long, and in general 
fully palmated; fingers four; toes five in number. 


RANA HALECINA.—Kalm. 
Plate XIII. 


Cuaracters. Body green above, with ovate spots of dark brown, margined 
with yellow; yellowish-white beneath. 


Synonymes. Rana aquatica; Water Frog, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 70. 
Rana halecina, Kalm, Iter. Amer., tom. iii. p. 46. 
Shad Frog, Bartram, Travels in Carolina, Florida, &c., p. 278. 
Rana pipiens, Gmelin, Ed. Syst. Nat., tom. iii. p. 1052. 
Rana pipiens, Bonnaterre, Erpetologie, p. 5, tab. 4, fig. 3. 
Rana halecina, Daudin, Rainettes, p. 63—Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. viii. p. 122. 
Rana pipiens, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. p. 165. 
Rana pipiens, AZerrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amph., p. 175. 
Rana utricularia, Harlan, Silliman’s Journal, vol. x. p. 60. 
Rana halecina, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. v. p. 337. 
Rana palustris, Guerin, Iconographie du Regne Animale—Reptiles, pl. 26; non Leconée. 
Shad Frog, Vulgo. 
Vou. I.—12 


90 RANA HALECINA. 


Description. This is one of our most beautiful species. Its head is rather 
small and pointed, with an ovate black spot on the top of each orbit: a very bright 
bronze line* begins at the nose and runs to the eye; a second line of yellowish- 
white extends from the nose to the shoulder; the latter is less extensive in the male 
animal, ending at the vocal sac. The upper jaw is dark coloured, with several 
yellowish-white spots; the lower, almost white. The nostrils are lateral, and 
placed half way between the anterior part of the orbit and the snout. The eyes 
are large and prominent; the pupil is black, the iris of a brilliant golden colour, 
with a longitudinal black band passing through it. ‘The tympanum is large, and 
finely bronzed, with a yellowish spot on its centre. In the male, the skin at the 
angles of the mouth is loose and folded, forming a vesicle on each side, when the 
animal utters its note. 


The superior surface of the body is bright yellowish-green, marked with ovate 
spots of dark olive, margined with bright yellow: these spots are disposed in two 
rows on the back, and in two others less distinct and less extensive on the sides. . 
From the posterior part of each orbit runs an elevated line or cuticular fold of a 
bright yellow, terminating near the posterior extremity of the body. The inferior 
surface is silvery-white at the throat, and yellowish-white on the abdomen. 


The anterior extremities are bronzed green above, marked with several blotches 
of dark olive, one of which is very regularly found at the elbow; their inferior 
surface is whitish. The fingers are four in number, and distinct; the thumb of the 
male animal is furnished with a tubercle. ‘The posterior extremities are very long, 
bright green above, marked with dark olive oblong blotches and transverse bars; 
the inferior surface is pale flesh colour and quite smooth, except at the posterior 
part of the thigh, where it is granulated. The toes are five in number, and well 
palmated; the fourth is of great length. 


Divensions. Length of body from the snout to the vent, 3 inches 2 lines; of 


* This line is yellow in the young animal. 


RANA HALECINA. 91 


the thigh, 1 inch 7 lines; of the leg, 1 inch 8 lines; of the tarsus and toes, 2 inches 
2 lines. 


GrocrapnicaL Distrisution. The Rana halecina is perhaps the most widely 
distributed of all the Frogs of the United States, and may be regarded as the 
representative of the common Frog (Rana esculenta) of Europe. Ihave observed 
it in all the Atlantic States, from the White Mountains of New Hampshire to 
Georgia: Leconte has seen it in the south-western States; Le Sueur on the Wabash, 
and Say even at the Lake of the Woods, in lat. 49°. 


Hasits. This is a lively, active animal, leaping the distance of eight or ten 
feet when disturbed; it feeds on insects, and is commonly found in damp places, 
or on the margins of pools of fresh water. Bosc says it is seldom seen far from 
water; but we have frequently met it in meadows and clover fields in search of 
insects, at a great distance from its accustomed haunts. 


Generat Remarks. The history of this Frog is a good deal obscured by 
reference to very dissimilar animals in the works of Naturalists; yet by taking the 
earlier descriptions, it may be made clear. Catesby certainly first described the 
Rana halecina under the name Water Frog, and accompanied his description with 
a very good figure. The next mention made of this animal is by Kalm,* a Swedish 
traveller, an accurate observer, and excellent Naturalist, who called it the Shad 
Frog, and believed it to be identical with the Rana ocellata of Linneus. He has 
described its habits, observing that it appears in Pennsylvania in the spring of the 
year with the Shad and Herring, and hence the Swedes who settled on the Dela- 
ware called it “Sill hoppetosser,” or herring hopper; and in the Latin versiont of 
his travels it is called R. halecina, “halec” being an Indian name for Shad or Herring. 
Linneus{ probably considered the R. halecina, from Kalm’s description of it, as 


* Kalm’s Travels in North America, Forster’s translation, vol. ii. p. 88. 
tIter Amer., tom. iii. p. 46, quoted by Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. viii. p. 112. 
+ Linneus, Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 356. 


92 RANA HALECINA. 


identical with his R. ocellata, to which it bears but a slight resemblance; both are 
certainly ocellated, but the spots are not disposed in the same manner; the R. 
ocellata is more than twice the size of the R. halecina, is peculiar to the West 
Indies and South America, and has never been found in the United States. 
Linneus gave a still more remarkable reference to the R. maxima Americana 
aquatica of Catesby, which is certainly the Bull Frog, and entirely unlike the R. 
halecina. Gmelin, in his edition of the Systema Nature, gives the name R. pipiens 
to this Frog, but for what reason and on what authority we know not, as he refers 
at the same time to the original name halecina. Daudin separated this Frog, not 
only from the R. ocellata, but from all others, and described it under the name 
R. halecina, the original one given by Kalm. 


ie iead 


iw “hy ita hs ~~ ae 
pk ae iat gle gs le eg 
wlth 


wi sale # Oh aaltea 


‘ 


eA eh tee 


Rana Palustris - 


Ld 


Sera pine On Stone by C Leben Limand Paral ib! Pad * 


93 


RANA PALUSTRIS.—Leconte. 
Plate XIV. 


Cnaracters. Body pale brown above, with two longitudinal rows of square 
spots of a dark brown colour on the back and on each flank; yellowish-white 
beneath; posterior half of the thighs bright yellow, mottled with black. 


Synonymes. Rana palustris, Leconte, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., vol. 1. p. 282. 
Rana pardalis, Harlan, Silliman’s Journal, vol. x. p. 50. 
Pickerel Frog, Vulgo. 


Description. The Rana palustris is a slender and delicately formed animal. 
The head is short and rather obtuse, with a dark brown spot on the top of each 
orbit, and another near the snout: an indistinct dark line extends from the nostrils 
to the orbit of the eye. The upper jaw is yellowish white, spotted with black; 
the lower white, spotted in like manner. The nostrils are nearly midway between 
the orbit and snout; a little nearest the latter. The eyes are large and prominent; 
the pupil black, with the iris of a golden colour: the tympanum is evident, though 
smaller than in the R. halecina; its colour is bronze, with a spot of a darker shade 
in the middle. A yellow line begins at the eye, and runs below the tympanum to 
the base of the anterior extremities. The superior surface of the body is pale 
brown, almost covered by oblong square spots of very dark brown, arranged 
symmetrically in two lines along the back: we sometimes find two of these squares 
confluent. <A bright yellow, but not raised, longitudinal line begins behind each 
orbit, and extends to the posterior extremity of the body; below this line, on each 
flank, are two other rows of square brown spots, the superior row beginning on a 
level with and behind the tympanum; the inferior row is less regular, frequently 


94. RANA PALUSTRIS. 


consisting only of small spots, disposed without order. The inferior surface of 
the neck and abdomen is yellowish-white, except at the posterior part, where the 
yellow is more decided. The anterior extremities are short, yellowish-brown 
above, marked with a few very dark blotches; their lower surface is silvery white; 
the fingers are four in number, light brown on the upper, and yellow on the lower 
surface. The posterior extremities are very long, brownish above, with transverse 
bands of dark brown continued to the toes; the inferior and posterior parts of the 
thigh are granulated, and of a bright yellow, with black spots; the inferior surface 
of the leg and tarsus is yellow. 


Dimensions. Length of the body and head, 2? inches; of the thigh, 1:5 inches; 
of the leg, 13 inches; of the tarsus and toes, 27> inches. 


GeocrapuicaL Distrisution. This animal is found in the Atlantic States from 
Maine to Virginia, which State must be considered for the present its southern 
limit. Leconte has observed that it is the only one of our Frogs that frequents the 
neighbourhood of salt marshes, hence its name palustris. It is however by no 
means confined to such situations, being common throughout the middle and north- 
eastern States. I have observed it among the White Hills of New Hampshire, 
and in Massachusetts and Vermont, in the valley of the Connecticut. 


Hasirs. The Rana palustris is very similar in its habits to the Rana halecina; 
it is generally found in the neighbourhood of ponds or rivers, yet I have often seen 
it in the morning after heavy dews, at a great distance from water. 


Generat Remarks. Leconte first called the attention of Naturalists to this 
Frog, and established it as a distinct species, under the name of Rana palustris. 
It is singular that this very common animal should have been so long overlooked, 
and especially by so accurate a Naturalist as Kalm: it may have been confounded 
with R. halecina, but may be distinguished by the more obtuse head, the absence 
of cuticular folds on the back, the different form of the spots, and by its peculiar 
odour. 


oe en ic le 
‘eet rahi all 9 
ag toe ie: ” es 


re « a. ne 
” J 1 


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« Ri anal upinec Wi) el 


* tel oe tet pe 4 
pmemwon % wy He 


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oT 


a 
| a a tat 2 


4 ’ fa —— 


Rana Sylvatica.. 
1. 


OL pure me 2 z 
pe Un Stone by CL tman Leman Ducal lik hilad & 


RANA SYLVATICA. 
Plate XV. 


Cuaracters. Body above pale reddish-brown, beneath yellowish-white; head 
with a very dark brown stripe, extending from the snout through the eye, and 
including the tympanum. 


Synonymes. Rana sylvatica, Leconte, Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 282. 
Rana Pennsylvanica, Harlan, Silliman’s Journal, vol. x. p. 60. 
Wood Frog, Vulgo. 


Description. The superior surface of this Frog is of a pale reddish-brown 
colour, with a slight tinge of green. The head is small, narrow and pointed. 
A very dark brown stripe, narrow before and broader behind, begins at the 
snout and extends to near the shoulder, including the nostrils, the pupil, the 
inferior half of the eye, and the tympanum: below this dark vitta is a yellowish- 
white line, extending to the shoulder: a black spot is usually present at the base 
of the anterior extremities. The upper jaw is bronzed, and mottled with dark 
brown; the lower is nearly white, having only a few black spots. The nostrils 
are placed nearer the point of the snout than in R. halecina. The eyes are large, 
the pupil is black, and oval in shape; the iris is very dark brown below, but the 
portion above the pupil is golden. The tympanum is small, and very dark brown. 


The back is pale reddish-brown, with two elevated longitudinal yellow lines, often 
interrupted with black spots, extending from the orbit to the posterior extremity 
of the body. The flanks below these lines are mottled in front, greenish-white in 
the middle, and yellow near the thighs. The inferior surface is silvery-white at 


96 RANA SYLVATICA. 


the throat and anterior part of the abdomen; yellowish-white on the posterior 
part, and yellow near the thighs. 


The anterior extremities are short, coloured above like the back, with a dark 
brown band running from the humerus towards the lower jaw, and another inter- 
rupted black line on its posterior border. The forearm is blotched and sometimes 
banded: the palms are more tuberculous than usual: there are four distinct fingers, 
flesh-coloured on their inferior surface. The posterior extremities are extremely 
long, coloured like the back, with regular transverse bands of darker brown con- 
tinued to the feet; beneath, the thigh is flesh-coloured and granulated behind, white 
and smooth in front, and yellow near the abdomen. There are five toes, fully 
palmated, dark above and flesh-colour below. The tips of the fingers and toes 
are slightly enlarged and obtuse. 


Dimensions. Length of the body from the snout to the vent, 13 inches; of the 
thigh, 1 inch; of the leg, 13 inches; of the tarsus and toes, 1% inches; total length, 
from the snout to the extremities of the toes, 53 inches. 


Grocrapuicat Distrisution. The Rana sylvatica is confined to the Atlantic 
States, and is found from New Hampshire to Virginia. 


Hasirs. This Frog is found, though not abundantly, in the woods of the 
northern and middle States, choosing thick forests of oak. It is active, and when 
“pursued, conceals itself among dried leaves, the colour of which it so nearly 
resembles as to be discovered with difficulty. In general it is found far from 
water, which it only approaches in the breeding season. 


Generat Remarks. We cannot find any notice of this animal previous to the 
memoir of Leconte, where it is indicated under the very appropriate name of 
Rana sylvatica, but not fully described. Harlan nearly at the same time published 
a detailed and satisfactory account, in the tenth volume of Silliman’s Journal. 


Rana ornata 
10. 


sera pina! on Stone by Gleliman Lehman Duval Luh Phila 


a7 


RANA ORNATA. 
Plate XVI. 


Cuaracters. Small; body rather short and thick, dove-colour above, with 
oblong spots of dark brown margined with yellow; toes not palmated, and the two 
outer ones united at base. 


Description. The head is small, with a broad indistinct triangular spot between 
the orbits, the apex of which is directed backwards. A black line extends from 
the snout to the orbit of the eye, including the nostrils; below this black line is a 
yellowish blotch, covering most of the upper jaw. The lower jaw is cinereous above 
and white below. The nostrils are placed on a slight prominence. The eyes are 
large and projecting, the pupil very dark, the iris of a golden colour. ‘The tym- 
panum is small, very dark coloured, and placed in a dark vitta, which extends 
from behind the orbit to within a short distance of the shoulder. The teeth in the 
upper jaw are obvious. 


The body is short, of a delicate dove-colour above, with two or more oblong 
spots of dark brown margined with yellow, on each side of the vertebral line; 
below these, and on each flank, are three smaller spots, likewise margined with 
bright yellow, the anterior one being the largest: these, with a smaller one above 
the vent, form a triangle on each flank: several bright yellow spots, also disposed 
in a triangular form, with the apexes directed forwards, are concealed by the 
thighs. The inferior surface of this animal is silvery-white, and except on the 
throat, every where granulated: about the throat are a few indistinct points of 
black; the anterior and middle parts of the abdomen are white, with a slight tinge; 
the posterior third approaches to flesh-colour. 

Vor, 1.—13 


98 RANA ORNATA. 


The anterior extremities are short, dove-coloured above, with a few distinct 
dark bands placed transversely on the forearm, and a black spot at the elbow; a 
black line runs from the inferior and upper part of the shoulder towards the lower 
jaw; the fingers are four in number, distinct, nearly equal, and the thumb seems 
less inclined to turn backwards than usual. The posterior extremities are also 
rather short, dove-coloured above, with transverse bands of dark brown: on the 
anterior part of the thigh are several small yellow spots; on the posterior surface 
these spots are so numerous and so closely approximated, as to resemble at first 
view a yellow waving line. The whole under surface of the thighs is flesh- 
coloured and granulated: the inferior surface of the legs flesh-coloured, with a few 
yellow dots: the toes are five in number, not palmated, and the two outer ones 
are united at base. 


Divensions. Length of body from the snout to the vent, 14 inches; of the 
thighs, + an inch; of the leg, 4 an inch; of the tarsus and toes, nearly % of an inch. 


Grocrarnicat Distrisution. This animal has hitherto been found only in South 
Carolina, and as yet only in one locality, about four miles from Charleston, 
between the Cooper and Ashley rivers, where it abounds. 


Hagzits. Little can be said on the habits of this animal, which it seems resemble 
very much those of the Rana sylvatica. We have always found it on land, and 
in dry places; frequently in corn fields after light summer showers. It is very 
lively and active, making immense leaps when pursued, and consequently is taken 
with great difficulty. An individual thrown into water floated, struggling with its 
limbs extended, as though altogether unacquainted with the art of swimming. I 
have never heard it produce any sound. 


Genera Remarks. The great beauty of this little animal, the number and 
variety of its spots and bars, leads me to give it the specific name of ornata. It 
is remarkable for having its hinder feet not palmated, the toes being very nearly, 
if not altogether, destitute of a connecting web; in which respect it agrees with 


RANA ORNATA. 99 


several South American species, forming the genus Cystignathus of Wagler; which 
name, however, is not entirely appropriate, for the male of the Rana halecina has 
a vocal vesicle at each angle of the mouth, though agreeing in every respect 
with the true Frogs:—whether the same peculiarity exists in the Rana ornata, 
I have not yet been able to determine. 


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Hyla Versicolor. 


17. 


Mera pina? On Stone hy C Lehman Loman s Deval, bie Thalia” 


101 


HY LA.—Laurenti. 


Genus Hyra.—Cuaracters. Body in general elongated; upper jaw and palate 
furnished with teeth; tympanum apparent; no post-tympanal glands; fingers long, 
and with the toes, terminating in rounded viscous pellets. 


HYLA VERSICOLOR.—Leconte. 
Plate XVII. 


Cuaracters. Resembling the Toad in form, but more flattened; body short, 
and warty above: colour varying at times from the palest ash to dark brown, 
marked with several large irregular blotches of brown and frequently tinged with 
green; white and granulated beneath: abdomen yellow near the thigh: leg shorter 
than the thigh. 


Synonymes. Hyla versicolor, Leconte, Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 281. 
Hyla versicolor, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. v. p. 343. 
Tree Toad, Vulgo. 


Description. This is a beautiful species of Hyla; its colours seeming to vary 
at the will of the animal. The head is short, broad and obtuse, with a dark brown 
spot on each orbit: the upper jaw is brown, marked with white spots; the lower, 
entirely white: the nostrils are in front and near together: the eyes are large and 
brilliant; the pupil black, the iris of a bright golden-yellow: the tympanum is brown, 


102 HYLA VERSICOLOR. 


surrounded by a circle of a lighter shade. The throat of the male becomes inflated 
while uttering its note. 


The superior surface of the body is covered with minute warts and granulations, 
an unusual character in this genus: its colour is changeable, passing in a short 
time through every intervening shade from dark brown to the palest ash-colour, 
becoming in some parts perfectly white: it is marked with large irregular blotches 
of dark brown; and we often find between the shoulders one of these blotches cruci- 
form; they disappear however, almost entirely when the animal assumes its lightest 
tint. The inferior surface of the body is white, with large granulations; a small 
portion of the sides and posterior part of the abdomen is bright yellow. 


The anterior extremities are ash-coloured above, with a few small blotches of 
brown; the fingers are four in number, cleft, and terminating in rounded pellets, 
by means of which the animal adheres to smooth surfaces. The posterior extre- 
mities are moderately long, and ash-coloured above, with a few transverse bars of 
dark brown, continued even to the toes: the under surface of the thighs is granu- 
lated and yellow near the abdomen, white in the middle, and yellow near the legs; 
the inferior surface of the leg is yellow, and of the foot brown: the toes are five 
in number, palmated, and terminating in pellets like the fingers. The skin above 
these pellets presents quite obviously the appearance of the “human nail,” spoken 
of by Linnzus in other species. 


Dimensions. Length of the body from the snout to the vent, 2 ches; of the 
thigh, nearly an inch; of the leg, 7% of an inch; of the tarsus and toes, 13 inches. 


GeocrapuicaL Distrisution. The Hyla versicolor is found abundantly in all 
the northern and middle States, as far as lower Virginia, which State must for the 
present be considered its limit on the south. I cannot determine its geographical 
distribution west of the Alleghanies; it seems however widely extended:—Mr. Le 
Sueur has observed it on the Wabash, and Professor Troost furnished me with 
several fine specimens from the banks of the Cumberland river. 


HYLA VERSICOLOR. 103 


Hasits. This animal is commonly found on trees and about old stone fences, 
overgrown with mosses and lichens, the colour of which it so closely resembles 
that it frequently escapes observation, even when sought for. It very commonly 
chooses old and decaying Plum trees for its abode, probably because the insects 
on which it feeds are most abundant in such situations. It is very noisy towards 
evening, in cloudy weather, or before rain, its voice consisting of a liquid note, 
terminating abruptly, like I-I-I-I-I-l-luk. At the close of spring, and during great 
part of the summer, when the Toad has become silent, this note may be heard, 
especially in the evening, from various shallow pools, to which the animal 
resorts for the purpose of depositing its spawn. Harlan* mentions an instance of 
one being dug up at the root of an apple tree, during the winter season, several 
feet beneath the surface of the ground. 


Generat Remarks. The verrucose body of this Hyla and its rounded shape, 
give it the appearance of a Toad; the skin also is moist and viscid, exuding an 
acrid fluid, which has led many persons to believe it poisonous; and certainly the 
secretion afforded by the glands of the cutaneous organs is more acrid than that 
given off by any other Toad or Frog which we have seen in a living state. 


It is remarkable that an animal so common and so very noisy should have 
so long escaped the attention of Naturalists. The first mention made of it is in 
Kalm’s Travels in North America: he however only describes its habits, and refers 
to the R. arborea of Linneus, to which it bears but a slight resemblance. Leconte 
was certainly the first who minutely and accurately described it, and established 
its claim to be considered as a new and distinct species. 


* Medical and Physical Researches, p. 109. 


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livla squirella 


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Seraporet On Stone by 6 Lihunan, Lehman & Duval Lith’ Philaddpiie 


HYLA SQUIRELLA.—Bosc. 
Plate XVIII. 


Cuaracters. Body olive-green above, marked with dark brown blotches irre- 
gularly disposed; a transverse dusky band between the orbits; whitish beneath and 
granulated: head short, with a white line extending along the upper lip to the 
shoulder. 


Synonymes. Hyla squirella, Bosc, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxix. p. 543. 
Hyla squirella, Daudin, Rainettes, p. 18, t. 3, f. 1—Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. viii. p. 35. 
Calamita squirella, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amph., p. 171. 
Hyla squirella, Leconte, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., vol. i. p. 279. 
Hyla squirella, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. v. p. 342. 
Auletris squirella, Wagler, Natiirliches Syst. der Amph., p. 201. 


Descrietion. The head is short, with a dark band between the orbits, the line 
from each orbit being directed backwards so as to meet at an angle: the snout is 
obtuse, with an indistinct dark band extending from the nostrils to the eyes, below 
which is a white line along the margin of the upper lip, reaching to the shoulder; 
the lower jaw is almost white: the nostrils are placed near the extremity of the 
snout: the eyes are prominent; the pupil black, the iris golden: the tympanum is 
bronzed and surrounded by an indistinct circle of dark brown. The skin is smooth: 
the body short and depressed while living; the back is olive-green, with irregular 
blotches of darker olive; the flanks are gray. The inferior surface of the body is 
granulated, greenish-white in front, with a few dark spots at the throat; the pos- 
terior part of the abdomen is darker. The anterior extremities are olive-green 
above with occasional spots of brown, and flesh-coloured beneath; the fingers are 

Vor. I.—14 


106 HYLA SQUIRELLA. 


four in number, distinct, and each terminating in a viscous pellet. The posterior 
extremities are long, green above obscurely blended with dark brown, and flesh- 
coloured beneath, tinged with yellow externally; the lower surface of the thigh is 
granulated; the toes are five in number, and semipalmated. 


Dimensions. Length of body and head, 14 inches; of the thigh, + of an inch; 
of the leg, # of an inch; of the tarsus and toes, i> of an inch. 


GeocraruicaL Distrisution. Its most northern limit must be considered as 
lat. 34°;—-we have no evidence of its being found farther north. It abounds in 
South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida;—how far west of these States it may exist 
cannot at present be determined. 


Hasirs. This animal is found on trees, often seeking shelter under the bark 
of such as are decaying; it frequently chooses old logs for its place of hybernation. 
In fine weather and after showers, it climbs even the highest trees in search of 
insects. 


Genera Remarks. The colours of this animal are even more changeable than 
im any species with which I am acquainted—I have seen it pass in a few 
moments from a light green, unspotted and as intense as that of Hyla lateralis, to 
ash colour, and to a dull brown with darker spots: the spots also at times taking 
on different tints from the general surface. The markings, too, vary exceedingly 
in different individuals, the white line on the upper lip and the band between the 
orbits alone presenting some constancy. Daudin remarks that the leg is “shorter 
than the thigh;” we have found them nearly equal in leagth, and this character is 
by no means so conspicuous as in H. versicolor. 


Daudin first described this animal and gave a figure of it, from a drawing fur- 
nished him by Bosc. Leconte has given the latest and most detailed account of 
it, establishing three principal varieties, in one of which the spots, as well as the 
yellow on the thighs, disappear altogether. 


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Coluber flagelliformis : 


19. 


Sera pura! On Stone by @ Lehman Lehnian & Duval Lith’ Phik 


107 


COLUBER FLAGELLIFORMIS. 
Plate XIX. 


Cuaracters. Head elongated; supra-orbital plate projecting over the eye: body 
very long and slender; the anterior part intense black, both above and below; the 
middle mixed brown and white, the posterior part and tail whitish or chocolate- 
colour. Tail one-fourth of total length. Pl. 203—Sc. 109. 


Synonymes. Anguis flagelliformis, Coach-whip Snake, Catesby, Carolina, &c. vol. ii. tab. 54. 
Coach-whip snake, Bartram, Travels in Carolina and Florida, p. 219. 
Coluber flagellum, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. p. 475. 
Coach-whip snake, Vulgo. 


Description. The head is elongated and narrow, the upper jaw projecting: the 
vertical plate is pentagonal, larger in front, long and narrow, presenting an acute 
angle backwards; the occipital plates are triangular, large, covering nearly the 
whole of the posterior part of the head; the supra-orbital is very large, somewhat 
quadrilateral, and projecting greatly over the eye; the posterior orbital are two in 
number, the superior one extending upwards on the supra-orbital projection; and 
immediately behind these are several scales taking the place of a temporal plate; 
the anterior orbital are two in number, the lower very small, the upper one like- 
wise expanding on the supra-orbital projection; the loral is short and wide; the 
frontal plates are quadrilateral; the nasal nearly of the same form; the rostral plate 
is very small, triangular, and rounded in front. The nostrils are lateral, large, 
placed at the junction of two plates, and very near the snout: the eyes are very 
large, but appear sunken in consequence of the projection of the supra-orbital 
plate; the pupil is black, the iris dark gray. 


108 COLUBER FLAGELLIFORMIS. 


The neck is small, the body very long: the tail is long, attenuated like a whip-lash, 
which it further resembles in the braided appearance produced by the large scales 
and their dusky margins. The scales are all destitute of a carina, and in general 
have two points at the apex; those on the upper part of the neck are quite small; 
on the fore part of the body they are rhomboidal, narrow and elongated; and on 
the tail and lower part of the body they are short and broad, somewhat hexagonal. 
Abdominal plates, in the specimen figured, 203, and 109 pairs of subcaudal scales. 


Cotour. The superior surface of the head and neck, and nearly one-third of 
the body, is glossy raven-black, gradually becoming paler on approaching the 
tail, which is of a very light brown or chocolate-colour; the scales on the tail are 
rendered conspicuous by their dark margins, The inferior surface of the neck 
and anterior part of the abdomen is bluish slate-colour; the posterior part white, 
clouded with brown; some parts of the abdomen are white and shining, as well as 
the inferior surface of the tail. This Snake varies however in colour, or rather 
in shade; Bartram has seen them of a cream-colour, clay-coloured, and sometimes . 
almost white, but always raven-black near the head. 


Dimensions. Length of the head, to the small scales, 14 inches; of the head 
and body, 45 inches; of the tail, 16 inches; circumference, 2} inches; total length, 
5 feet 1 inch. ‘This is the measurement of the specimen from which the accom- 
panying plate was taken; it is said they sometimes reach the length of seven feet. 


Grocrapuican Disrrisution. The Coach-whip Snake is found in South Caro- 
lina, Georgia, and Florida, but is rare. During a seven years’ search I have 
never seen but one living specimen, which was sent me by Mr. Hay, of Abbeville 
District, South Carolina. ‘ 


Hasirs. This beautiful animal is remarkable for the swiftness of its motions, 
“seeming almost to fly over the surface of the ground.’* It feeds on young birds, 


* Bartram, Travels in Carolina, &c., p. 219. 


COLUBER FLAGELLIFORMIS. 109 


but only destroys for food. It is inoffensive in its manners, but defends itself with 
great dexterity when attacked, by twining its long body round the enemy. Bar- 
tram gives the following account of it:—*I observed a large Hawk on the ground 
in the middle of the road; when coming up near him, I found him bound up by a 
very long Coach-whip Snake, that had wreathed itself several times round the 
Hawk’s, body, who had but one of his wings at liberty. Beholding their struggles 
awhile, I alighted off my horse with the intention of parting them; when, on 
coming up, they mutually agreed to separate, each seeking his own safety, probably 
considering me as their common enemy.” 


Generat Remarks. Of all the species found east of the Mississippi, the Black 
Snake (Coluber constrictor) is the only one hitherto known that can be compared 
with the Coach-whip, in the scales, the disposition of the plates on the head, 
and in its general form and habits. 


There is great confusion in the works of European Naturalists with regard to 
this Snake. Catesby first made it known under the name “Coach-whip Snake,” and 
gave an excellent figure of it—one of the best in his work: yet it has been con- 
founded with the Chicken Snake, the Black Snake, the Green Snake, and by some 
Herpetologists has been overlooked altogether. 


Linneus describes a Coluber filiformis,* which some Naturalists have considered 
as the Coach-whip Snake, but it agrees with the latter neither in colour, the 
number of its plates, nor in its geographical distribution. Laurenti next gave a 
Natrix flagelliformis:} this cannot be our Snake, for he refers to tab. 47 of Catesby, 
which is the Dryinus mycterizans, and is not found in the United States. Daudin, 
under his Coluber flagelliformis,t adds still more to the confusion; he refers to the 
mycterizans, and to tab. 57 of Catesby, certainly the Green Snake, which he says 
is “called by the Anglo-Americans Coach-whip Snake;”—his description, then, of 


* Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 383. tSynop. Rept., p. 79. 
t Hist. Nat. des Rept., vol. vi. p. 380. 


110 COLUBER FLAGELLIFORMIS. 


the Coach-whip is taken from the Green Snake! During all this time the plate 
and description of Catesby were overlooked, till Shaw called the attention of 
Naturalists to them, and copied them in his General Zoology. Merrem* gives 
a Coluber flagelliformis, but refers to the filiformis of Linneus and the Natrix 
filiformis of Laurenti, as synonymes; here we find a second reference to Catesby’s 
animal, but it is given doubtingly. 


It seems then that the Coluber flagelliformis has not been described, or even 
referred to properly, by any systematic writer on natural history, except Shaw; 


and even his name must yield in priority to that of Catesby. 


* Versuch eines Syst. der Amph., p. 116. 


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Coluber Alleghaniensis i 


18. 


Sera pirat 


On Stone by C Lehman Lehman & Dunal Lith ™ Philad “ 


111 


COLUBER ALLEGHANIENSIS. 
Plate XX. 


Cuaracters. Above shining black: beneath, white on the throat, becoming 
clouded with brown on the anterior part of the abdomen, and entirely slate-colour 
towards and beneath the tail. Head elongated, rather large, distinct from the 
neck; body very long; scales on the back carinated, on the flanks smooth: tail 
one-seventh of total length. Pl. 235-40, sc. 78-84. 


Description. The head of this Serpent is elongated and large; and the mouth 
is also large. The vertical plate is pentangular, short and broad; the supra-orbital 
plates are large; the frontal, also large; the nasal, somewhat trapezoidal; the 
rostral is above triangular, rounded in front and broad; the temporal are variable, 
sometimes consisting of two or three narrow plates, or their place chiefly occupied 
by the last labial plates, very much enlarged; the posterior orbital are two in 
number; the anterior orbital, single, and very large; the loral is small, and tape- 
zoidal. The nostrils are lateral, and placed at the junction of two large plates. 
The eyes are rather large, the pupil black, the iris brown. 


The neck is small; the body much elongated, fusiform or tapering at each extre- 
mity. The scales are oblong-oval and bipunctate at the apex: those on the back 
have a distinct carina; the four or five inferior rows on each side are smooth; on 
the tail they are broader and hexagonal in form. The tail is short and tapering. 
The specimen figured had 235 abdominal plates and 78 pairs of subcaudal scales; 
a second, 240 plates and 84 scales. 


112 COLUBER ALLEGHANIENSIS. 


Corours. The head is black above; the marginal plates of both upper and 
under lip are silvery white, edged with black; the throat also is silvery white. The 
body is above intense black, glistening or polished; but in a certain light a mixture 
of brown can be perceived on close inspection, without however any definable 
pattern: many of the scales have marginal dashes of white, which become visible 
when the skin is extended; towards the tail however the scales are entirely black. 
Beneath, the anterior part of the abdomen is white, clouded with brown, and the 
posterior part and tail entirely slate-colour. ; 


Dimensions. Length of the head, to the commencement of the small scales, 14 
inches; of the mouth, from the angle to the centre of the lower lip, 1} inches; 
total length, 5 feet 3 inches; tail 9 inches. Circumference of the body in the 
thickest part, 4 inches. 


Geocrapuican Distrisution. This fine specimen was captured on the summit 
of the Blue Ridge in Virginia, by Mr. George Robbins of this city. Mr. Wilkens, 
of New York, also favoured me with a specimen from the Highlands of the Hudson. 
It is probable that its range extends throughout the Alleghanies. 


Hasits. The animal in confinement seemed of an exceedingly mild and gentle 
disposition; forming in this respect quite a contrast with its fellow prisoners, two 
individuals of the common Black Snake, (Coluber constrictor,) who maintained 
at all times their original wildness. It lived several months, and is now deposited 
in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences. 


Generat Remarks. The Coluber Alleghaniensis is veadily distinguished from 
the Black Snake by its carinated scales; still the two species bear a general 
resemblance, and might readily be confounded. Perhaps the accounts of the Black 
Snake occurring of unusual size, that we sometimes hear of, may refer to the 
present species. 


Coluber 4-vittatus . —~ 
Qu. 


Sera porate On Stone by CLehman Leman & Duval Lith” Phila 


113 


COLUBER QUADRIVITTATUS. 
Plate XX. 


Cuaracters. Body very long, above greenish clay-colour, with four longitudinal 
brown bands; beneath yellowish: head distinct; scales on the back carinated, on 
the flanks smooth; tail one-fifth of total length. Pl. 233—Se. 90. 


Synonyme. Chicken snake, Bartram, Travels in Florida, &c., p. 275. 


Description. The plates on the head and the scales throughout are entirely the 
same as in C, Alleghaniensis; except that perhaps the nasal plates are a little 
larger, and the carina of the dorsal scales less obvious: The size of the eye and 
position of the nostrils are also the same; but the tail is longer in proportion. 
There are about sixteen rows of carinated scales on the back, and about three on 
each side that are smooth. The abdomen during life, often presents a plane 
surface, at right angles with the flanks. Abdominal plates 233, and 90 pairs of 
subcaudal scales. 


Cotours. In its colours however, this snake differs widely from the other, 
and the pattern is invariable so far as my observation extends. The whole 
superior surface in the young animal is of a greenish clay-colour, marked 
with four longitudinal dark brown stripes, the two superior ones reaching from 
the occiput to the extremity of the tail. In old individuals the general colour is 
brown, and the dark longitudinal bands are less obvious. ‘The inferior surface is 
yellowish throughout, sometimes a little clouded towards the sides. The scales of 
the back and sides are frequently sprinkled with minute blackish dots, and many have 

Vout. L—15 


114 COLUBER QUADRIVITTATUS. 


marginal dashes of white, which become visible when the skin is extended, and 
give the animal a reticulated appearance. The skin between the scales is blackish. 


Dimensions. Length of the head, 14 inches: total length, 4 feet 5 inches, of 
which the tail occupies 10 inches. It however grows to the length of six or seven 
feet. 


GrocrapuicaL Distrisution. It is found from North Carolina to Florida, and 
westward as far as the Mississippi: being entirely unknown in the northern and 
middle States. 


Hasirs. This animal is by no means rare in South Carolina; frequenting the 
vicinity of houses, and sometimes making its way into the cabins of the negroes. 
It is however perfectly mnoxious, though in bad repute with respect to young 
chickens. Bartram suggests that it might be rendered useful in destroying rats, 
as it is easily tamed and soon becomes familiar. 


Generat Remarks. ‘This animal, though described by Bartram so long ago as 
1791, has not since been noticed by any systematic writer. It is closely allied to 
C. Alleghaniensis, and also to C. obsoletus, to C. guttatus and eximius, and to C. 
Sayi and getulus. These all have the tail short, and are remarkable for their 
gentle disposition. ‘The C. A%sculapii of Europe, Zamenis of Wagler, approaches 
these species, though the tail is a little longer in proportion. 


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Coluber eryth roorammus 
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Sera pine! On Stonehy CLaman Lehman & Duval Lith! Phila 


115 


COLUBER ERYTHROGRAMMUS.—Daudin. 
Plate XXII. 


Cuaracters. Head short, depressed, small, and not distinct from the neck; 
nostrils superior, and placed near the snout; eyes small, directed upwards; body 
stout: superior surface bluish-black, with three longitudinal red lines, and a row 
of bluish-black spots on each side of the abdomen: tail rather longer and more 
slender than in the following species, one-eighth of total length. Pl. 178—Sc. 39. 


Synonymes. Coluber erythrogrammus, Daudin, Rept., vol. vii. p. 93, tab. 83, f. 2. 
Natrix erythrogrammus, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amph., p. 117. 
Helicops erythrogrammus, Wagler, Natur. Syst. der Amph., p. 170. 


Descrietion. The head is short and depressed, smaller than the neck; and the 
mouth is also small. The vertical plate is short and pentangular, presenting an acute 
angle backwards; the supra-orbital is narrow and almost a parallelogram in shape; 
the occipital plates are large, irregularly triangular, the basis directed forwards 
and rounded; the frontal plates are quadrangular, transverse, with the inferior and 
posterior angle forming part of the orbit of the eye; there are two posterior orbital 
plates, the upper one large, the lower very small; the anterior orbital plates 
are wanting, but the loral supplies their place, and is narrow and elongated; the 
nasal plates are two in number, small and trapezoidal; the nostril plates are also 
somewhat trapezoidal; the rostral is very broad. The nostrils are small, superior 
and placed near the snout. The eyes are very small, also superior and placed 
near the snout; the pupil is black, and the iris grayish-red. ‘The body is 
somewhat depressed, elongated and fusiform, tapering at the head and tail. The 
scales are all smooth and shining, broad, obtuse, and somewhat hexagonal on the 


116 COLUBER ERYTHROGRAMMUS. 


back, and nearly uniform in size throughout, the inferior row being a little larger. 
The tail is longer and more slender than in C. abacurus. The specimen figured 
had 178 abdominal plates, and 39 pairs of subcaudal scales. 


Cotours. The head is dark blue: the marginal plates of both the upper and 
lower lip are of a bright lemon-colour, each with a dark blue spot in the centre; 
the throat is bright lemon-colour for about an inch and a half, when it becomes of 
a pale straw-colour. <A vertebral line of red begins at the occiput and runs to the 
tail; on each side of this is another longer line of the same colour, reaching to the 
extremity of the tail; each of these lines is of the breadth of a single scale, and 
between them are broad bands of bluish-black, the breadth of three scales: beneath 
the inferior longitudinal red line is another band of bluish-black, including two 
scales and a half; and next is a third red band consisting also of two scales and 
a half; the margins of the scales being straw-colour, give a lighter appearance to 
the latter band. The plates of the abdomen are flesh-colour, with the posterior 
margin pale straw, and on each are two large rounded spots of indigo blue, forming 
a line of blue spots on each side of the abdomen: a third spot is sometimes present 
in the middle of the plates. 


Dimensions. Length of the head, 7 of an inch; breadth across the temples, # 
of an inch; circumference, 33 inches; length of head and body, 38 inches; tail, 53 
inches; total length, 3 feet 72 inches. 


Grocrapnicat Disrripution. This Serpent is by no means uncommon in 
Carolina. Ihave often seen it on the banks of the Santee. Dr. Ravenel has 
procured me specimens from the Cooper river, and Dr. Wurdeman from Green- 
ville, South Carolina. 


Hasrrs. This animal is found in swampy grounds and damp places, in holes in 
the earth, or under the stumps of old trees, but never takes to the water. It 
frequents the banks of rice fields, where it lies in wait for its prey, the large 
rat that infests them, injuring at once the rice and the banks by burrowing in the 


COLUBER ERYTHROGRAMMUS. WH 7/ 


soil. Spite of this essential service, the universal prejudice against the Serpent 
tribe causes its destruction from all hands. 


Generat Remarks. The Coluber erythrogrammus was first noticed by Palisot 
de Beauvois, who found it in the southern States, and communicated a specimen 
to Daudin. The latter has given a figure of a portion of this animal, and a detailed 
description; with which our specimen agrees in the main, but not altogether. 
Daudin gives “162 plates and 49 pairs of scales, and the tail one-sixth of total 
length,”—neither have I been able to find the “three rows of carinated scales on 
the back,” or the peculiar conformation of the abdominal plates. 


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Coluber abacurus 


25 


Un Stone by G Lehinan Lehman & Duval Lith Philad* 


119 


COLUBER ABACURUS. 
Plate XXIII. 


Cuaracters. Head short, thick, as large as the neck, and not distinct; eyes 
and nostrils superior and near the snout: body bluish-black above; flanks marked 
with transverse bands of bright red; beneath red, with black spots disposed 
with some regularity: tail very short, thick, conical, rounded at the apex with 
a slight point, one-tenth of total length. Pl. 195—Sc. 34. 


Description. The head is short, thick, a little flattened above, and not 
distinct from the neck. ‘The vertical plate is short, broad and pentangular; the 
occipital plates are very large; the supra-orbital are small, nearly rectangular; 
the frontal plates are almost square, with the posterior external angle lengthened, 
to form a part of the orbit; there is but one anterior-frontal or nasal plate; 
the posterior orbital are two in number; the anterior orbital are wanting, and 
the loral is narrow and elongated; the rostral plate is very broad; the nostril 
plates are nearly rectangular. The mouth is small: the nostrils are latero-superior 
and near the snout; the eyes are small, also directed obliquely upwards, and placed 
near the snout; the pupil is black, and the iris gray with a tinge of red. The 
body is elongated and almost perfectly cylindrical, tapering only towards the 
commencement of the tail; the scales are all smooth, shining, broad, and obtuse at 
the apex, and even more uniform in size than in the preceding species. The tail 
is remarkably short, conical, terminating rather abruptly in a slight point. 


Cotours. The head above is dark blue, with the plates tinged with red at their 
junction: the marginal plates of the upper lip are reddish, each with a dark blue 
spot in the centre; most of those of the lower lip are likewise spotted. The 


120 COLUBER ABACURUS. 


whole superior surface of the back and tail is black; the sides are marked with 
about sixty transverse bands of bright red; these bands are sometimes continued 
across the abdomen, sometimes they are interrupted midway; and as they often 
terminate suddenly and have well defined margins, these spaces contrasting with 
the deep black of the other portions, give a tesselated appearance to the inferior 
surface of the body; this is most striking at the tail, where it resembles in no 
slight degree the ornamental borders found on the walls of Pompeii. 


Dimensions. Length of the head, 14 inches; breadth of the head, 1 inches; 
length of the head and body, 48 inches; tail, 5 inches; circumference, 33 inches; 
total length, 4 feet 5 inches. 


GrocrapuicaL DistrieutTion. I have seen this animal only in South Carolina; 
but Professor Green, of Philadelphia, has received it from the Mississippi, in the 
vicinity of New Orleans. 


Hasits. This Serpent is similar in its habits to the C. erythrogrammus; it is rare 
and shy, consequently little can be observed of it, except that it is altogether a 
Jand animal. 


Generat Remarks. The C. abacurus is evidently very closely related to the 
preceding; both will probably be separated from Coluber when their anatomical 
characters shall be properly examined: the small size of the head, mouth and eyes, 
the superior position of the latter and of the nostrils, the absence of anterior 
orbital plates, and their subterranean mode of life, are striking characters. The 
C. erythrogrammus has been referred by Wazgler to his genus Helicops, and indeed 
presents considerable analogy, even to the disposition of its colours, with the 
South American species. 


END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 


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