G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 343 



They were veritable hybrids, but presented the characters of 

 the male Triton more distinctly than those of the female Am- 

 blystoma. In spite of the utmost care, they all perished as 

 the time approached for undergoing their metamorphosis. 

 In a subsequent year the experiment met with a similar re- 

 sult the larvae attained some size, but died before the ab- 

 sorption of the gills. 



fossil salamander: salamandrella petroli. 



Professor Gervais has described a fossil salamander from 

 the permian formation, to which he gives the name of Sala- 

 mandrella petroli, on account of its occurring in the petro- 

 leum beds of the Permian formation. It is much more near- 

 lv related to the true salamanders than to C heir other ium* 

 and constitutes a new genus. 13 Z?, February 20, 1875, 191. 



THE BATRACHIA AND REPTILIA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



The Smithsonian Institution has published a memoir on the 

 geographical distribution of the Batrachia and Reptilia of 

 North America, by Professor E. D. Cope, which is based on 

 the large collections of the National Museum. In this work 

 the primary divisions of the earth, as proposed by Sclater 

 and Huxley, are redefined, and the mixture of South Amer- 

 ican families and genera in the North American fauna regard- 

 ed as sufficient ground for separating it as a primary division 

 from Europe-Asia. The subdivisions or provinces adopted 

 are six, viz. : the Eastern, from the Plains to the Atlantic, as 

 far south as the isothermal of 77; second, the Austroripa- 

 rian, extending from the Rio Grande to the Atlantic, south 

 of the isothermal of 77; third, the Central, extending from 

 Texas and the Sierra Nevada to the eastern boundary of the 

 Plains; fourth, the Sonoran, embracing New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona, and a part of Nevada ; fifth, the Pacific, all west of the 

 Sierra Nevada; and, lastly, the Lower Californian, covering 

 the peninsula of that name. Of these the central is the poor- 

 est in reptilian life; the two eastern provinces are distin- 

 guished for the abundance of the species of salamanders and 

 tortoises ; and the Sonoran and Pacific for the abundance of 

 lizards. The Sonoran province is remarkably poor in sala- 

 manders and tortoises, while the Pacific district, with few 

 tortoises, abounds in salamanders. The Austroriparian is the 



