NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 337 



Brit. Mus. Catalogue we find terrificus (adamanteus,) and Oregonus referred 

 to durissus (horridus,) and Prof. Jan, Rev. et. Mag. de Zoologie, 1859,. p. 

 156, considers atrox and. confluentus as varieties of terrificus (adamanteus.) 



10. C. durissus Linn. Syst. Nature i., p. 214., 1760, (Stockholm Edit.) 

 "Albo flavoque varius maculis rhombeis nigris disco albis." 



Caudisona durissus Laur. Rept. p. 93, 1763. Crolalus durissus Merr. Syst. 

 Ampbib. p. 156, 1820. Cuvier Regne Animal, p. 122, pi. 32 (of the edit. Au- 

 douin, Blanchard, etc.) Griffith's edit. do. ix., p. 267. Crot. horridus Latreille 

 iii., 186, do. Daudin, (1803) Wagler, Schlegel, Gray, Dumeril and Bibron. C. 

 cascavella Wagler, Spix Serp., Brazil, p. 60, 1824. 



The errors introduced into the synonymy of this species and the C. h o r r i - 

 dus of Linmeus, by Latreille and Daudin, and perpetuated by subsequent 

 writers, have been clearly set forth by Major J. Le Conte, Pro. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 vol vi. p. 415. 



There are four specimens of this formidable serpent in the Acad. Museum, 

 which illustrate very well the changes which age produces in the plates on the 

 muzzle. 



No 141 hronwlit by Dr. Hering from Surinam, is a very ynnng individual^ 

 marked precisely as in Regne Animal Reptilia, pi. 32. There are three pairs 

 cf plates all closely in contact on the median line, the first subtriangular, the 

 second oval, the third lie partly between the superciliaries. 



No. 3. Surinam, Dr. Hering. This is 2 feet 7J inches long. The plates 

 are as in the preceding, except that the second pair are broader, and 

 concave. The head is rather narrow, resembling fig. 2, pi. 84 bis of the Erpe- 

 tologie Generale. This and the last belong to var. c of the Cat. Brit. Mus. 



No. 2. Head and tail of a very large individual, Vera Cruz, Dr. Burroughs, 

 the former measuring two inches between the angles of their jaws beneath. 

 Second pair of plates much elongated transversly with some, small scales be- 

 tween and around them ; of the third pair, one is divided, the other partially ; 

 and there are small scales between them and the superciliaries. 



No. 1. Surinam, Dr. Hering. Length four feet five inches. First pair of 

 plates entire ; second, divided into three on each side ; third, small, in con- 

 sequence of irregular subdivision. 



11. C. terrificus. Caudisona terrificus Laurenti Rept. p. 93, 1763. Cro- 

 talus rkombifer Daud. v., p. 325, 1803. Dumeril and Bibron. 1854. Crotalus 

 udamanteus Beauv., Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. iv., p. 368, 1824. Holbrook, Amer. 

 Herp. iii. p. 9, 1842. Baird and Girard, Cat. Smiths. Inst., p. 3, 1853. 



One spec. South Carolina, Dr. Holbiook. 



12. C. atrox Bd. & Girard. 



Three spec. Texas, Dr. Heermann. 



13. C. lucifer B. & G. . 



One spec. S. California, Smiths. Institut'n. 



14. C. oregonus Eolbr. One spec. Oregon, T. Nuttall. 



15. C. cerastes Hallowell. One spec. California. D. Heermann. 



16. C. confluentus Say. C. Lecbntei Hall. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. vi. 

 p. 180. . 



Fifteen spec. Kansas, Dr. Hammond. 



Three " Rocky Mountains, " 



" " California, Dr. Heermann. 



One " New Mexico, Dr. S. Woodhouse. 



C- Lecontei was stated to differ from C. confluentus in possessing two 

 rows of scales between the suborbitals and superior labials instead of four ; in 

 having a row of four scales between the nasals instead of six ; in the less number 

 of longitudinal rows on the body, the absence of a white border to the rostral plate, 

 etc. Examination of the above specimens shows that the number of scales in 



1859.] 



