A. G. RUTH YEN. 



the individual variation is so great. It was, therefore, with con- 

 siderable interest that I found last winter, "while working over the 



* < O 



collection of reptiles in the University Museum at the University 

 of Michigan, a number of specimens of this rare snake. I have 

 been able to make a study of the character of these specimens, 

 and to supplement this by a study of the coloration and, to a 

 certain extent, of the habits of a number of living specimens 

 which have been collected about Ann Arbor. The present paper 

 embodies the results of this investigation, and the data on all the 

 other specimens recorded. 



Through the courtesy of Dr. VV. J. Moenkhaus, the specimen 

 taken at Turkey Lake, Ind., has been examined, and Dr. Stej- 

 neger has very kindly sent me a detailed description of the 

 specimen from Waterloo, Ind. I am indebted to Mr. A. E. 

 Brown for a description of the specimens in the Museum of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who also examined 

 two specimens from Ann Arbor, Mich., and pronounced them 

 the same form as those in his possession. I wish also at this 

 time to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Chas. C. Adams, 

 Curator of the University Museum, University of Michigan, for 

 assistance in the prosecution of this work and in the publication 

 of the results. 



I have been unable to examine the type, which according to 

 Professor Cope is Cat. No. 264 at Purdue University. The 

 specimen sent to me as the type is Cat. No. Si, and while 

 labeled E. butlcri, is not that form, but a normal specimen of E. 

 sirtalis sir/a/is, and corresponds in no way to Professor Cope's 

 description of the type. I have also, through the kindness of 

 Professor S. Coulter, examined the garter snakes in the Butler 

 collection at Purdue University, but found no specimens of but- 

 leri among them. 



It is important to diagnose this form, as it is very probable 

 that many specimens are at present stored in museums under other 

 names or undetermined. In this connection, one calls to mind 

 a paper by Dr. H. L. Clark of Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan, 

 on the occurrence of the short mouthed snake in Michigan ('03, 

 pp. 8388). Last year Dr. Clark found six specimens of a snake, 

 which upon the authority of Mr. S. Gormen and Dr. Stejneger, 



