North American herpetology, or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States

^

HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

II ig

LIBRARY

MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.

^/^yJ^^-

HERPETOLOGY;

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 EDINBIIRGH; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF

NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA; AND OF THE NEW YORK AND

BALTIMORE LYCEUMS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

Vol. I.

PHILADELPHM:

J. DOBSON, CHESTNUT STREET.

> 1836.

E. G. DORSEY, PRINTER,
LIBRARY STREET.

TO

GEORGE EDWARDS, ESQ.,

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA,

THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

BY HIS NEPHEW,

JOHN EDWARDS HOLBROOK.

PREFACE.

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.

t consider myself fortunate in having secured the assistance of Mr. J. Sera,
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

VI PREFACE,

especially to Di-. Ogier 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.
Wurdeman and Dr. Baron, who have furnished me with many beautiful prepara-
tions: to Dr. Ravenel, and to Dr. Geddings of Baltunore, for interesting remarks
on many southern Reptiles: to Dr. Harlan, for the use of his Library and
Manuscript Notes: to Dr. Binney and Dr. Storer of Boston, and to Mr. Wil-
kens of New York, for many Reptiles of the northern parts of the United States:
to Charles Hammond and Ogden Hammond, Esqrs., of West Chester, New York,
who have furnished me with many animals, together with observations on their
habits: and to T. L. Ogden, 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 liberahty 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. Pickering 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.

Introdtiction, __..---. page 9

Organization of Reptiles, - - - - - - -12

Testudo Polyphemus, ..--.-- 41

Emys hieroghjphica, ...__. .47

megaccpha/a, ....... 51

Troostii, --------- 55

MuTilenhergii, ....... 59

Ameiva sex-lineata, --------63

Atiolius CaroUnensis, ....... 67

Scincus lateralis, - - - - - - - -71

Biifo Americanus, ....... 75

clamosus, ---------79

Engystoma Carolinense, ------- 83

Scaphiopus solitarius, --------85

Ra7ia halecina, ........ 89

palustris, --------93

sylvatica, ........ 95

ornata, ---------97

Hyla versicolor, - - - - - - - - 101

squirella, - - - - - - - - -105

Coluber Jlagelliformis, - - - - - - - 107

Alleghaniensis, - - - - - - -111

quadrivittatus, - - - - - - - 113

erythrogrammus, - - - - - - -115

abacurus, ....... 119

INTRODUCTION.

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

Naturalists have experienced much difficulty in giving an appropriate name to
this great class of animals. Linnseus, 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.
Vol. I.— 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 naturahst. Brisson* was the first who arranged
them under the name Reptiles,t 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,J 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 vsdth 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 gracefubess of form of some Mammalia, — though without
the beauty of plumage of some Birds, or the intelligence of others, — though they
lack the brilliancy 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 anmiated beings would be Avanting. Elevated above the Fish by the

* Regne Animal, divise, &c. Paris, 1756.

t Dumeril observes the term had been previously used by Lyonnet. Hist. Nat. des Rept.,
torn. i. p. 2.

t From ffTrmv, a reptile, xo>oc, 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 Avalking, for swimming, and even for flying,
that it would be impossible to generahze 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. 35.

ORGANIZATION OF REPTILES.

1. Organs of Integumation. — 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 annual itself. This phe-
nomenon is not confined to the season of spring, as believed by Linnaeus, but is
influenced by variations of temperature, the health of the annual, &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 Hylee, change according to the state
of excitement in the anunal, or the activity of the circulation.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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 pomts 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. Digestive Organs. — 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, hke 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 HylaB, feed
on insects — the Water-snakes, on Tadpoles, Frogs, or small Fish; other Serpents
Uve on Squirrels, Rabbits, or even Birds, Avhich 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., torn. i. p. 6S.

14 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

capacity, not only by expanding the jaws, but by separating the lateral branches
of the inferior maxilla, which are only joined by ligaments.* This structm-e 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 ofiice of lips. The shape and arrangement of the
jaws, the form and size of the teeth, and the modes in which they are implanted,
oflfer interminable varieties, differing in ahnost 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;t 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 Hyte 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 being 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, Legons d'Anat. Comp., torn. 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
dra\¥n 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 Ungual bone varies greatly m 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 moved 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.*

Pharynx. In 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 cesopJiagits 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 anunals 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 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

horny points in the oesophagus, 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 oesophagus, 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 produces 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 stomach are thin, it is most 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

ORGANIZATIONOFR.EPTILES. 17

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 becorties 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 valvules
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 hnk of organization connecting Reptiles
with Birds, as well as with the Mammalia, through the Ornithorhynchus, where
the same disposition of parts prevails.*

The liver 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 containing bile of a brownish-yellow or greenish colour,

*Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Zweit. Theil., p. 508.
Vol. I.— 3

18 ORGAN IZATIONOFREPTILES,

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 Manmialia, 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 intestmes.

A spleen exists in all vertebrated animals, the type of its form being the same
as in the Maimnalia; 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 Manmialia.t

Physiology of Digestion. — The absence of proper organs of mastication and
insalivation, together with the short almientary 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., torn. i. p. 143.
t Cuvier, Legons d'Anat. Comp., torn. iv. p. 57.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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
tlieir 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 smiimer 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. Of the Absorbents. — 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.J 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.
tHewson, Phil. Trans, for 1769, p. 17S.
J Dumeril, Hist. Nat. des Rept., torn. i. p. 145.

20 ' ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

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

4. Organs of Circulation. — In the Zoophytes, and lovi^est 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 aflbrding certain secretions
for glands. The organs of circulation in Reptiles vary even more than those of
digestion fi-om 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 Avails and several cells, all commu-

* Sopra il Sist. Linf. dei Rettili: Par. 1833. These cavities will be described in our special
anatomy of the genera.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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
sino-le ventricle, subdivided into cavities conmiunicating 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 conmiunicates 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 Weber4 they describe the auricle as subdivided into two cavities
by a transparent membrane, which is certainly not the case in any of the American
Frogs that I have examined.

Physiology of Circulation. — 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. Organs of Respiration. — 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. J Beitrag. von dem Herzen. 8vo. 1S33.

22 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

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 puhnonary
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 anunal, 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."t This structure of Reptiles
evinces less necessity for a constant and rapid change in their circulating fluids

* Carus, Vergleich. Zoot. Zweit. Theil., p. 514.
t Cuvier, Legons d'Anat. Comp., torn. iv. p. 162.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 23

than in the Mammalia and Birds; many can hve 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,t 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 hmgs 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 anunals, 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.

tDe rinfluence des Agens Ph3'siques, &c. Paris, 1S24, p. 15.
t Meckel. Vergleich. Anat. Drit. Theil., p. 128.

24 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

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 rudmient
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, fillmg 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 puhnonary air sacs, reaching almost to the posterior part of
the abdomen.

The trachea presents considerable variety in its structure and mode of subdivision;
in 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, surroimding only the anterior part. In the Batrachia, the bronchia are
extremely short, as the limgs 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 puhnonary cells, while in Serpents they end in large orifices.

Mechanism of Respiration. — This differs greatly in Reptiles from the Mam-

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

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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 lingual bone is drawn down by the muscles
coming from the sternum; this enlarges the cavities of the mouth and fauces; air
inishes 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.

Physiology of Respiration. — 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.
Vol. I.— 4

26 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

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 hfe; the
heat of the body being maintained by respiration, gives them the abiUty 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 profomid 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.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 27

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 anunals 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
Blumenbach:]: have confirmed this remark, and made many curious experiments
on the reproductive power of Reptiles. They removed the limbs of a Water-

* Mem. de I'Acad. des Sciences, 1729, p. 144.

t CEuvres d'Histoire Naturelle, torn. v. t Speclm. Phys., p. 31.

28 ORGANIZATION OFREPTILES.

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 dehcate 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 eftbrts 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 Medusae.

Organs op 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 larynx 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 palateij: 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 Natiirelle des Reptiles, torn. v. p. 209.

t Oken, Zool. § 46 G. 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.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 29

sioned by the rushing of the air through the glottis. Some of the Sauria, as the
AlHgator, 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 Hylas; 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 Hylae, 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 Hylse
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 Physiologic, 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 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

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 vertebrse; in Frogs and Toads, it is short and thick, and ends at the sacrum.*

The 6ram, 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. Cuvierf 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.

* Serres, Anat. Comp. du Cerveau, torn. 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.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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 vitse;
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 brain. 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."t

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 Surres, Anat. Comp. du Cerveau, torn. ii. p. 485; also Tiedemann, Anat. Comp., par
Jourdan, p. S42.

32 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

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 fmictions
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.

Vision. — 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., torn. i. p. 411.

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

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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 structm'es: 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 eyehds 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 Milnch. Akad., 1808, § 84.
Vol. I. — 5

34 ORGAN IZATIONOFREPTILES.

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 cihary 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 innocuous. 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 eyehds; the part described by some Naturalists;}: 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 Museum, torn. 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.

t Cuvier, Legons d'Anat. Comp., torn. ii. p. 433.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 35

the internal towards the external angle of the eye.* The arrangement of the
eyelid is the same in the Toads as in the Frogs and Hylae, 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 aniixials 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.

Hearing. — 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 Avholly 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 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

than do those of the eye; the Chelonian and Saurian Reptiles, in some respects,
approaching the Birds, -while in the Sirens Ave perceive a similarity of structure to
the Fishes. We find no external ear destmed 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 Hylse 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, Hylas, &c. this cavity is large, and contains two bones

* Scarpa. Disq. de audit, et olfac, p. 27.
tBlainville, Princip. d'Anat. Comp., torn. i. p. 541.

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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 all in the Salamanders; nor have they an Eustachian tube openmg into the fauces.
The labyrinth or internal 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.

Smell. — 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 ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES.

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 being 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 etlunoid 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.

Organ of Touch. — 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 loiown
to the higher animals by a sense of touch. In the inferior animals this sense is
intunately connected with the nutritive organs, and is only sufficient to afford

* Dumeril, Hist. Nat. des Kept, torn. i. p. 37.

s

ORGANIZATIONOFREPTILES. 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 man)'^ 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. 390.

rosIinli> |»olv|»luMiiM«
1.

On il*»t tu 4S t^ttn,t.

t../nif»„ i, /<«/■„./,/»'.'

T E S T U D 0.—Brong7iiart.

Genus Testudo. — Characters. 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.— DaM^fm.

Plate I.

Characters. 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, Bartrmn, Travels in the Floridas, Carolinas, &c., p. 182.
Testudo Polyphemus, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., torn. ii. p. 256.
La Tortue Gopher, Bosc, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat, torn. xxii. p. 269.
T. Polyphemus, Say, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. iv. p. 207.
T. Carolina, Leconte, Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. iii. p. 79.
T. Polyphemus, Harlan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. vi. p. 21.
T. depressa, Cuvier, Reg. Anim., torn. ii. p. 10,
T. Polyphemus, Gray, Synop. Rept., p. 11.
Gopher and Mungofa, 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.
Vol. I.— 6

42 TESTU0OPOLYPHEMUS.

Description. 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
margmal 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 strise, 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-
like 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.

TESTUDOPOLYPHEMUS. 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 sl\ 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.

Colours. 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, 14| inches; sternum, 121 inches; thigh, 2k inches;
leg, to the centre of the sole of the foot, 2i inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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, &ic. &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

TESTUDOPOLYPHEMUS. 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 Avinter, 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.

General 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 Linnaeus, which is considered by most authors as
the Box Tortoise. From the very short description of the Testudo Carolina
contamed in the twelfth and last edition of the Systema Naturae, by Linnaeus
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." Lideed, 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. tShaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii., Part I., plate 7.

46 TESTUDOPOLYPHEMUS.

In the twelfth edition, Linnaeus quotes in addition Gronovius,* "Testudo pedibus
digitatis," &c., 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 Linnaeus should
have given an additional reference to Seba,t 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 Naturae, besides retaining the description
and reference of Linnaeus, 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 Linnaeus to another species.

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

Eiiivs liirroolYnhica
•I

M Srjmt ki4 !'• /.'/fr'jt'f

/.iA^ia/t i i. ../ i.i.

47

E M Y S . — Brotigniart, Dumeril.

Genus Emys. — Characters. 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 11.

Characters. 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 ' EMYSHIEROGLYPHICA.

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 long and very flat; the tarsus and metatarsus greatly expanded; the
toes are remarkably palmated, and furnished with four long nails.

Colour. 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

EMYSHIEROGLYPHICA. 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 teiminates 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 hne;
the tail is dark brown above and below, with two longitudinal yellow lines.

Dimensions. Length of shell, 12 inches; of sternum, 9h inches; breadth of shell,
7 inches; height of shell, 3 inches; length of tail, 3 inches; length beyond the vent,
li inch.

2

Geographical Distribution. It is found in our western waters. Professor
Vol. L— 7

50 EMYSHIEROGLVPHICA.

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

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

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

j^m

«

.../ /

'.liivs iiH'o;i<-i'|,lKil;i

f ^'f.-ii. I' If t''/,t/i'.

I.u,„„m .1 ir,,,;/ /.,.■/,'•' P/imW

51

EMYS MEGACEPHALA.

PlaU III.

Characters. 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

52 EMVSMEGACEPHALA.

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 pahnated, and furnished with four nails. The tail is smaU,
minutely carinated, and pointed.

Colours. 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 fines of obscure
white. The sternum is of a dingy yellow colour; the wings and supplemental
plates marked with waving brownish lines.

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

EMYSMEGACEPHALA. 53

is continued backwards, between the orbits, and terminates at the occiput; two
other Hnes 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 hne 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
like 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 hnes are distinctly marked
only as far as the vent.

Dimensions. Length of shell, 8i inches; of sternum, 7 inches; height, 3 inches;
breadth of shell, 6 inches; length of tail, 2} inches; length beyond the vent, li
inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

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

54 EMYSMEGACEPHALA.

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

General Remarks. Though having the general characters of the Emys tribe,
the E. megacephala might, from the great size of the head, ahnost 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.

Kiiiv.s Troostii

4

!>a\t fuii-x.

u'l: .^ftfrif b:fli heh>'*<7t'

I.^^inuti: K' JJUi'nl i,tfh'''J'hrieui-

55

EMYS TROOSTII.

Plate IV.

Characters. 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 slightly 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 ahnost 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 EMYSTROOSTII.

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 niunber and broadly palmated; the four internal ones only are furnished with
nails. The tail is short, conical, and obtuse.

Colours. 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 Ime 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

EMYSTROOSTII. 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 hne,
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, 7i inches; length of
sternum, 6^ inches; length of tail, 2| inches; length beyond the vent, 1^ inch;
height of the animal, 2| inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Vol. I.— 8

58 EMYSTROOSTII.

Habits. 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.

KiiivsAliililciiltiiriui .

.V I'.i (. U,„

l,J„„^„ ,(■///.-./ I.ilh" I'lultJ^

59

EMYS MVnLENBERGII.—Schweigger.

Plate V.

Characters. 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. Koenigs., torn. 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 romided 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 strise and concentric
furrows in the young animal. The sternum is oblong and deeply emarginate

60 EMYSMUHLENBERGII.

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.

Colour. The shell is very dark bro-vvn, 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

EMYSMUHLENBERGII. 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 inferior surface is brownish-yellow, with one or two
lines of Hghter yellow. The tail is dusky yellow above, and yellow tinged with
orange, below.

Dimensions. Length of shell, 3i inches; sternum, 3^ inches; height, H inches;
tail, H inches.

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

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

General Remarks. This animal was first described and figured by Schoepflf,
in his Historia Testudinuin, from specimens furnished him by the Rev. 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 Schoepft' had previously given
it another name. Leconte has since described this animal with an accuracy that
leaves nothing to be desired.

A meiva - s cx-1 i ii ea ta

r iiiru-

On /Ivft^: hy 6 L<-Jirn<in

///■/«*« Si 'Pu&a^ /-^lA "'^f/tiMic/ -*'

63

A ME IV A. —Cwmcr.

Genus Ameiva. — Characters. 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.

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

Synonvmes. Lacerta sex-lineata, Linnxiis, Syst. Nat, torn. i.p. 364; exclus. syn. Calesby.
Lacerta sex-lineata, Gmelin, ed. Syst. Nat., torn. iii. p. 1074.
Le Lezard a six raies, Bosc, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat, torn. xvii. p. 527.
Le Lezard a six raies, Daudin, Hist. Nat des Rept, torn. 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. IS.
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 AMEIVASEX-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 dehcate, 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.

Colour. 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 fines; 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

AMEIVASEX-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.

o

Dimensions. Total length, 9| inches; head and body, 3? inches; tail, 6j inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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.
Vol. I.— 9

66 AMEIVASEX-LINEATA.

General Remarks. Tliis animal was certainly first described by Linnseus,
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. ii. 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 Linnseus have copied tliis 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 palatme teeth, and a bony plate to the orbit, &c., which structure
brings it within the genus Ameiva.

AiioliiiN rai-oliui>iiMis .

7.

iW-v niyi^ '

{',1 S/„nt-lu O Zr/,„

L,/i,Han ^ /Juta/ /^itlt '^^' f/nln^'

67

AN O LI US. —Cwmer.

Genus Anolius. — Characters, 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.— Cwvfer.

Plate VII.

Characters. 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.

Stnonymes. Lacerta viridis Carolinensis, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 65.

Anolius Carolinensis, Cuvier, Regn. Anim., torn. 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 ANOLIUSCAROLINENSIS.

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 strise, 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.

Colour. 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,

ANOLIUSCAROLINENSIS. 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, 2| inches; length of
tail beyond the vent, 4j inches; total length, 6| inches.

GEOGRApmcAL DISTRIBUTION. 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.

Habits. 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 genei-al 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 roquet, an animal supposed for a long time to be

70 ANOLIUSCAROLINENSIS.

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 spring 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 brilhancy
of the emerald.

General 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.! Linnaeus describes the Jamaica species (Lacerta viridis
Jamaicensis) as the Lacerta bullaris, and without fiirther 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 diflferent 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
I'Hist. Nat. de Saint Domingue: Paris, 1776, p. 348.

* Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 65. t Catesby, loc. cit., vol. ii. tab. 66.

i

Seiutus r.tter;ilis

Str-a fiinj-'

(■'j/ y/,t/rr/'*/ 0./,d/tM^tn

L i/i/nan Sr '/Jui i// J.t/A-^'^^/'/i fJu

71

SCIN CVS.—Daudin.

Genus Scincus. — Characters. Head oblong, pointed, covered with plates;
jaws furnished with closely set teeth; two rows of teeth on the palate; tongue
fleshy, slightly extensible, eraarginate; 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 ioes.

SCINCUS LATERALIS.— %.

Plate nil.

Characters. 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.

Synontmes. 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.

tZ 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
tapering. The anterior extremities have five fingers, each furnished with a minute
and curved nail; the posterior extremities are I'ounded, 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.

Colour. 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 fine the sides of the body are dark
gray. The superior surface of the extremities is darker chestnut than the back;
the inferior surface is light brown.

o

Dimensions. Length of head and body to vent, 1| inches; of tail, 3 J inches;
total length, 4| mches. It is our smallest and most slender species.

Geographical Distribution. 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, S. C, Leconte in Georgia and Florida, Say on
the Mississippi; and how much farther west it may exist, cannot now be determined.

Habits. 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

SCINCUSLATERALIS. 73

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, containing numerous holes and crevices, to which
they can easily retreat. We have never observed it ascend trees in its attempts
to escape when pursued.

General 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.

Vol. L— 10

BuCo Aincncnuus

i^Cpt A/(7/;4-^'.

/.,Am.>n X. //u<.,:/.f/'':' ritiltdtMH.

B U F O. — Laurenti.

Genus Bufo. — Characters. 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 papilte; posterior extremities but slightly elongated.

BUFO AMERICANUS.— LecoH^e.

Plate IX.

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

Synontmes. 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 BUFOAMERICANUS.

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.

Dimensions. Length from snout to vent, 2^ inches; of thigh, 1 inch; of leg,
less than an inch; of tarsus and toes, Ij inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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

BUFOAMERICANUS. 77

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

The Toad is looked upon with aversion by the greater part of mankind;
its SAvollen 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 Naturahsts 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,J which prove that
"the skin of the European Toad is possessed of minute follicles, secreting a thick
yellow fluid of a poisonous nature."

General Remarks. Leconte was the first to separate this toad both from the
southern animal, with which it had been confounded, and from the conamon 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, &c.

* Laurenti, Synop. Rep. p. 195. t Oken, Zool, B. II., § 198.

% Dr. Davy, Phil. Trans, for 1826, Part II., p. 127.

78 B U K O A 31 E R I C A N U S .

Leconte first proposed calling this animal Bufo Americanus; and although he has
never pubhshed 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.

BulV) «'l;iiiiosii,s

tfii .••'loHi f-i/ t'' f.Jittl.:

I.thiiiau K'l>„i;,ll.,lli'''n„/,„l-

79

BUFO CLAMOSVS.—Sc/meider.
Plate X.

Characters. 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.

Synontmes. Land Frog, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 69.
Land Frog, Bartram, Travels in Carolina, Florida, &c., p. 279.
Bufo clamosus, Schneider, Hist. Amphib., fasc. i. p. 214, No. 8.
Rana lentiginosa, Shaio, Gen. Zool., vol. iii., Part I., pi. 53, p. 173.
Bufo musicus, Daudin, Rainettes, p. 92, tab. 33, fig. 3; — Hist. Rept., torn. viii. p. 190.
Bufo musicus, Bosc, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. 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 distmct tooth. The nostrils are small and round, placed
near the point of the snout. The eyes are large, promuient, 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 BUFOCLAMOSUS.

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, extendmg 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 annual 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 bro^vn; the lower surface dirty white, tinged 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
broNvn, and dirty white beneath. The toes are five in number, and semipalmated,
the fourth a good deal longer than the others; the metatarsus is fiirnished with
two tubercles or spurs, the outer of which is cartilaginous, and so long as to
resemble a sixth toe.

Dimensions. Length of body, 2| inches; of the thigh, 1 inch; of leg, rather less
than an inch; of tarsus and toes, li inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. This anunal is timid and remarkably gentle m its habits, remaining
concealed dming 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

BUFOCLAMOSUS. 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 Hylae tribe, they have a large
sac under the throat, which is distended when the animal croaks.

I have 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 superciUary 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 Linnaeus, 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 Linnaeus, in the 12th edition of the Systema
Naturae, 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.

Vol. L— 11

I'jio^'sltmiit (VirnliiiriiN*'

^tra piffx:

iht AYi-z/f /'// iiJ^./tw.ui li/f///.f// .( PtH-ii/ /.i//t '■■' /'ftfM ''

83

ENGYSTOMA .—Fitzinger.

Genus Engystoma. — Characters. 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 XL

Characters. 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.

Description. 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 is marked by a delicate fold of the integuments 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 ENGYSTOMACAROLINENSE.

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 pahnated.

Dimensions. Length of body, 1 inch; of thighs, f of an inch; of leg, f of an
inch; of tarsus and toes, | of an inch.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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.

General 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 Pliiladelphia,
where they not only arrived in safety, but lived a considerable time.

*Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. vi. p. 489.

Scapliiopiis solltunus
a.

Oh Sftfu &if f^ ^tAntan.

/.r/w,/// i ' /^Mitl lifM ^^/'/'i/ac/ '

85

SCAPHIOPUS .—Holbrook.

Genus Scaphiopus. — Characters. 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.

Characters. 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 brilhant, 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 SCAPHIOPUSSOLITARIUS.

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 tliigh; 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-like 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, 2i inches; of the thigh, rather less than an inch;
of the leg, f of an inch; of the tarsus and toes, l^ inches; of the forearm, with
carpus and fingers, nearly an inch.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

SCAPHIOPUSSOLITARIUS. 87

Habits. 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.

General 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.

Kmii:i luilfciiiii

15

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89

RANA.

Genus Rana. — Characters. 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.— A'a/wi.

Plate XIII.

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

Stnontmes. Rana aquatica; Water Frog, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 70.
Rana halecina, Kahn, Iter. Amer., torn. iii. p. 46.
Shad Frog, Barlravi, Travels in Carolina, Florida, &c., p. 278.
Rana pipiens, Gmelin, Ed. Syst. Nat., torn. iii. p. 1052.
Rana pipiens, Bonnaterre, Erpetologie, p. 5, tab. 4, fig. 3.

Rana halecina, Daudin, Ralnettes, p. 63 — Hist. Nat. des Rept, torn. viii. p. 122.
Rana pipiens, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. p. 165.
Rana pipiens, Merrem, 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, pi. 26; non Leconte.
Shad Frog, Vulgo.
Vol. L— 12

90 RANAHALECINA.

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.

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

* This line is yellow in the young animal.

RANAHALECINA. 91

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

Geographical Distribution. 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. I have 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°.

Habits. This is a lively, active anunal, 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 meadoAvs and clover fields in search of
insects, at a great distance from its accustomed haunts.

General Remarks. The history of this Frog is a good deal obscured by
reference to very dissimilar animals in the works of Naturahsts; 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 Linnfeus. 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" bemg an Indian name for Shad or Herring.
Liimseus:]: 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, torn. viii. p. 113.

J Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 356.

92 RANAHALECINA.

identical with his R. ocellata, to which it bears but a shght 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.
Linnseus 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 Naturae, 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 Kahn.

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93

RANA PALUSTRIS.— Lecon^e.

Plate XIV.

Characters. 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.

Stnontmes. Rana palustris, Leconte, Ann. Lye. N. Y., vol. i. p. 282.
Rana pardalis, Harlan, Silliman's Journal, vol. x. p. 50.
Pickerel Frog, Vidgo.

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, ahnost 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 RANAPALUSTRIS.

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-broAvn
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, bro^vnish 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, Its inches;
of the leg, 1^ inches; of the tarsus and toes, 2to inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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.

General 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.

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95

RANA SYLVATICA.

Plate XV.

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

Synontmes. Rana sylvatica, Leconte, Lye. 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,
tlae 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 RANASYLVATICA.

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 hue 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, 1 J inches; of the
thigh, 1 inch; of the leg, H inches; of the tarsus and toes, 1| inches; total length,
from the snout to the extremities of the toes, 5t inches.

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

Habits. 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.

General 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.

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97

RANA ORNATA.

Plate XVI.

Characters. 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.
Vol. I.— 13

98 RANAORNATA.

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.

Dimensions. Length of body from the snout to the vent, Ij inches; of the
thighs, 2 an inch; of the leg, 2 an inch; of the tarsus and toes, nearly i of an inch.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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.

General 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

RANAORNATA. 99

several South American species, forming the genus Ct/stignathus 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 pecuharity exists in the Rana ornata,
I have not yet been able to determine.

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101

H Y L A. — Laurenti.

Genus Hyla. — Characters. 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.— Lecow/e.

Plate XVII.

Characters. 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.

Synontmes. Hyla versicolor, Leconte, Lye. 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 Avhite: 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 Linnteus in other species.

Dimensions. Length of the body from the snout to the vent, 2 inches; of the
thigh, nearly an inch; of the leg, t^ of an inch; of the tarsus and toes, II inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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 AUeghanies; 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

Habits. This animal is commonly found on trees and about, old stone fences,
overo-rown 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 1-1-1-1-l-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.

General 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 aflibrded 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 Linnteus, to which it bears but a slight resemblance. Leconte
was certainly the first who mmutely 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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105

HYLA SQUIRELLA.— 5osc.

Plate XVIII.

Characters. 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.

Stnonymes. Hyla squirella, Bosc, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. xxix. p. 543.

Hyla squirella, Daudin, Rainettes, p. 18, t. 3, f. 1 — Hist. Nat. des Rept., torn. viii. p. 35.
Calamita squirella, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amph., p. l7l.
Hyla squirella, Leconte, Ann. Lye. N. Y., vol. i. p. 279.
Hyla squirella, Harlan, Jour. Aead. Nat. Seien., vol. v. p. 342.
Auletris squirella, Wagler, Naturliehes Syst. der Amph., p. 201.

Description. 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
Vol. I.— 14

106 HYLA Sq,UIRELLA.

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 semipahnated.

Dimensions. Length of body and head, 1} inches; of the thigh, I of an inch;
of the leg, T of an inch; of the tarsus and toes, tV of an inch.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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 clmibs even the highest trees in search of
insects.

General Remarks, The colours of this animal are even more changeable than
in 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 length, and tliis 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
yelloAv on the thighs, disappear altogether.

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107

COLUBER FLAGELLIFORMIS.

Plate XIX.

Characters. 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. PI. 203 — Sc. 109.

Synontmes. 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.

Tlie 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.

Colour. 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 hght 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 bro^\'n; 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
alniost white, but always raven-black near the head.

Dimensions. Length of the head, to the small scales, H 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.

Geographical Distribution. 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 hving specimen, which was sent me by Mr. Hay, of Abbeville
District, South Carolina.

Habits. 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."

General 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.

Linnaeus 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 m its geographical distribution. Laurenti next gave a
Natrix flagelliformis:t 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,| 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. 3S3. t Synop. Kept., p. 79.

J Hist. Nat. des Rept, vol. vi. p. 380.

110 COLUBER FLAGELLIFOR MIS.

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 Linnaeus 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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Ill

COLUBER ALLEGHANIENSIS.

Flatt XX.

Characters. 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. PI. 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 specmien figured had 235 abdominal plates and 78 pairs of subcaudal scales;
a second, 240 plates and 84 scales.

112 COLUBER ALLEGHANIENSIS.

Colours. 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, IJ
inches; of the mouth, from the angle to the centre of the lower lip. If inches;
total length, 5 feet 3 inches; tail 9 inches. Circumference of the body in the
thickest part, 4 inches.

GEOGRAPfflCAL DISTRIBUTION. This fine specimen was captured on the summit
of the Blue Ridge in Virginia, by Mr. George Bobbins 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.

Habits. 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.

General Remarks. The Coluber Alleghaniensis is readily 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.

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113

COLUBER QUADRIVITTATUS.

Plate XXL

Characters. Body veiy 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. PI. 233 — Sc. 90.

Sy^-ontme. 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.

Colours. 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
Vol. I.— 15

114 COLUBERQ,UADRIVITTATUS.

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, 1^ 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.

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

Habits. 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 innoxious, 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.

General 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. AUeghaniensis, 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. ^sculapii of Europe, Zamcnis of Wagler, approaches
these species, though the tail is a little longer in proportion.

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115

COLUBER ERYTHROGRAMMUS.— Z>aw(?;».

Flute XXII.

Characters. 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. PI. 178 — Sc. 39.

Synonymes. Coluber erythrogrammus, Daudin, Rept. , vol. vii. p. ^3, tab. S3, f. 2.
Natrix erythrogrammus, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amph., p. 117.
Helicops erythrogrammus, Wctgler, Natur. Syst. der Amph., p. 170.

Description. 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 COLUBERERYTHROGRAMMUS.

back, and nearly uniform in size throughout, the inferior row being a Httle 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.

Colours. 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, fomtiing
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, tV of an inch; breadth across the temples, i
of an inch; circumference, 85 inches; length of head and body, 38 inches; tail, 5|
inches; total length, 3 feet 7^ inches.

Geographical Distribution. This Serpent is by no means uncommon in
Carolina. I have 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.

Habits. 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

COLUBERERYTHROGRAMMUS. 117

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

General 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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119

COLUBER ABACURUS.

Plate XXIII.

Characters. 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. PI. 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.

Colours. 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 COLUBERABACURUS.

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, Avhere it resembles in no
slight degree the ornamental borders found on the walls of Pompeii.

Dimensions. Length of the head, li inches; breadth of the head, ItV inches;
length of the head and body, 48 inches; tail, 5 inches; circumference, 3h inches;
total length, 4 feet 5 inches.

Geographical Distribution. 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.

Habits. 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
land animal.

General 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 Wagler 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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