416 [October, 



This we may say is no description at all. But referring to the Museum regis 

 Adolphi Friderici, we find the following : 



Crotalus horridzts. Caput ad latera postice gibbum. Frons tecta squammis 

 obtusissimis, quarum elevatus margo. Palpebrae superiores planae, magns. He 

 refers to Catesby for an account of its habits, who has described and figured a 

 serpent with transverse bands on the back ; and also to a figure in Seba's Mu- 

 seum, vol ii. tab. xcv., which represents one with rhombic spots. This shows 

 how incorrectly references to figures can be made : " Quando que bonus dor- 

 mitat Homerus." 



Gmelin, in his edition, adds to Linnaeus Bodaert, Nov. Act. Acad. Caesar., 

 vol. vii. p. 16 Crotalus '"raaculis trigonis fuscis. Caudisona terrifica Laurenti, 

 p. 93. Michael. Gott. Mag. iv. 1, p. 90. 



Ttiis only tends to make the confusion greater. The animal which Bodaert 

 described could not be one with diamond shaped spots on the back ; there is no 

 difficulty in distinguishing a triangle from a quadrilateral figure, it therefore 

 could not have been a species with rhombic spots. In all the individuals of the 

 species with transverse fasciae, which I have ever examined, these bands were 

 more or less broken up, especially in front, in which the marks formed more or 

 less perfect chevrons, and might easily be called triangles. 



The Caudisona terrifica of Laurenti is our North American species with rhom- 

 boidal spots, and is thus described by the illustrious Italian : " Corpore carinis 

 squammarum exasperato (mari) cinereo-flavo (feminae) spadiceo, maculis dorsi 

 rhomboidalibus, magnis, ex nigro fuscis, albo limbo cinctis, apicibus subcon- 

 tiguis, per summum dorsi caudamque concatenatis. Hab. In America infra 

 gradum, elev. 45. 



The other species durissus is thus described by Linnaeus : 



Crotalus durissus. Scuta 172, Scutellis 23. 



Amcenitat. Acad., i. p. 500. Seba Mus., ii. tab. xcv. fig. 2. Gronov. Mus., 

 ii. p. 70. 



Albo flavoque varius, maculis rhombeis nigris disco albis. Gmelin adds to 

 these references, Bodaert, 1. c No. 2, Crotalus albus maculis rhombeis. Laurenti, 

 p. 93, Caudisona durissus. Weigel, Act. Soc. Hal., i. p. 7. Catesby, Carolina, 

 ii. tab. xli., who figures a species with transverse bands, and not with rhom- 

 boidal marks. Vosmaer Monog. Crotalus fasciis coUique duabus nigris. Now, 

 from all this we may collect that there are three species described, very distinct 

 from each other, but strongly mixed together; one with rhombic spots, the discs 

 of which are white ; one with rhombic spots, the limb or margins of which are 

 white ; and one with triangular spots. I proceed now to show what the three 

 species are^i and shall commence with the first, of which we have a fair speci- 

 men in our collection, which is named C. horridus, because it agrees with Seba's 

 figure as misquoted in the description of that species, but which agrees so well 

 with the description of another, that one would think it never could have been 

 mistaken. 



Crotalus durissus, Linn. 



Fusco et flavo varius maculis per dorsum magnis rhombeis nigris, disco flaves- 

 centibus, non-concatenatis. Capite parte priore fascia-inter oculos transversa, 

 summo et cervice lineis duabus longitudinalibus alteraque laterali nigris, spatiis 

 intermediis flavescentibus. Scuta abdominalia 167, subcaudalia 21, primo bifido, 

 sciitellorumque ad basin crepitaculi paria Iria. 



Hah. In America meridionali. Crotalus durissus Lin. Laurenti, p. 93. Id. 

 Cuvier Regne animal ii., p. 67. Id. Lacepede, ii. p. 423. Shaw, vol. iii. p. 333. 

 C. horridus Daudin, vol. v. p. 311. Id. Latreille, vol. iii. p. 186. 



A very good figure of this species is found in Vosmaer, which has been copied 

 by Shaw. 



Varied with dark brown and yellowish, with a row of large black rhombic 

 spots, the discs of which are yellowish, down the back, and which are not joined 

 together or concatenated ; these rhombs towards the tail gradually become less 

 distinct, until at last they vanish, so that the hinder part of the body may be 

 aid to be only varied with black and yellowish. The tail is perfectly black on 



