316 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



Other collections used by Professor Cope in this memoir 

 are those of Dr. Van Patten and Mr. C.N. Riotti, these cover- 

 ing: the reo^ion extending: from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 Eighty-nine species were furnished by Professor Gabb, of 

 which thirty-seven were new to science. The total number 

 of species known from all investigators in Costa Rica is one 

 hundred and thirty-two, and it is probable that a large num- 

 ber yet remain to be discovered, showing that the region is 

 rich in terrestrial cold-blooded vertebrates. 



SNAKE-EATING SNAKES. 



Some years ago Professor Cope described the snake-eating 

 habits of Oxyrrho]jus plimibeus^ a large snake which was ob- 

 served to have swallowed the greater part of a l^vgQ fer-de- 

 lance^ the largest venomous snake in the AVest Indies. More 

 recently a specimen was brought by Mr. Gabb from Costa 

 Rica, almost five feet in length, which had swallowed three 

 feet of a large harmless snake {Herpetodryas carmatus) about 

 six feet in length. Still more recently Dr. J. G. Cooper re- 

 cords the fact that in California a garter-snake M^as swallow- 

 ed whole by a milk-snake {^Lampropeltis hoylii). The two 

 snakes were so nearly of a size that he did not, at a casual 

 glance, notice any diflference between them ; the garter-snake 

 was over two feet in length. Am. N^cit.^ 3Iar. and Auy., 

 1876. 



REMARKABLE HABIT OF FROGS. 



Professor Peters has recently described the mode of laying 

 its eggs employed by a species of tree-frog {Polypedates) from 

 tropical Western Africa. This species deposits its eggs, as is 

 usual among batrachians, in a mass of albuminous jelly, but 

 instead of placing this in the water, it attaches it to the leaves 

 of trees which border the shore and overhans: a water-hole or 

 pond. Here the albumen speedily dries, forming a horny or 

 glazed coating of the leaf, inclosing the unimpregnated eggs 

 in a strong envelope. Upon the advent of the rainy season 

 the albumen is softened, and, with the eggs, is washed into 

 the pool below, now filled with water. Here the male frog 

 finds the masses, and occupies himself with their impreg- 

 nation. 



