1856.] 9 



Char. General form more slender than that of most of the Ambystomata. Head 

 small, convex above, rounded in front ; eyes latero-superior, prominent ; tongue 

 ovoid, firmly attached in front and posteriorly, more free at the sides ; internal 

 openings of the nares moderately large ; teeth in a transverse uninterrupted row, 

 arched in front,* concave posteriorly ; no longitudinal rows of teeth ; a gular 

 fold ; no parotids ; skin perfectly smooth to the touch, presenting innumerable 

 small pores when observed with a glass ; of a uniform brownish color above, 

 lighter below ; no line of lateral pores between the axilla and groin ; fingers and 

 foes free, rather slender, depressed, fourth toe longer than the third ; tail much 

 compressed, shorter than head, neck and body. 



Habitat. Wabash. One specimen in Mus. Acad. Nat. Sc, presented by Dr. 

 McMurtrie. Prof. Green's specimens were found in French Creek, near Mead- 

 viile, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. 



Dimensw7is. Length of head 4 lines ; breadth 3^ ; length of neck and body to 

 vent 1 inch 7 lines ; (Fr.) of tail 1 inch 9 lines. 



Gen. remarks The whitish spots mentioned by Prof. Holbrook, arranged in 

 a linear longitudinal series along the flanks, and also by Dr. Green, are not 

 visible in the specimens above described, probably from long immersion in 

 alcohol. It is a larger animal than Ambystoma laterale, and differs from it much 

 in the arrangement of the transverse teeth and in the coloration. A good figure 

 and excellent description of it will be found in Prof. Holbrook's work on the North 

 American Reptiles. f The Triton porphyriticus of Dr. Dekay (Nat. Hist, of New 

 York, Reptiles, p. 85) is Plethodon gluunosus, judging from the description,! no 

 mention being made of the teeth. The arrangement of the teeth in the species 

 of Ambystoma varies considerably, and with the size of the internal nares, ap- 

 jlears to form very good .specific characters. Dr. Green's description corresponds 

 in almost every important particular with the animal above described, except 

 the head, which, instead of being " rather large," is on the contrary small. He 

 states that " the color on the back varies very much in different specimens, some 

 being dark chocolate, others of a much lighter color, and others again of a pale 

 brown ; the young is nearly white, with a middle line on the sides extending 

 from the anterior to the posterior extremities," (Mad. Lye. p. 3.) Prof. Holbrook's 

 specimen was 4 inch. 5 lines in length ; Dr. Green's between 5 and 6 inches. Prof. 

 Holbrook's drawing is much more accurate than that of Prof. Green, which, 

 although more highly finished, dees not correspond very closely with the speci- 

 men in the collection of the Academy, the head resembling more that of Pseu- 

 dotriton salmoneus, (Sal. salmonea, Storer.)| Prof. Holbrook observes that he 

 had never seen the animal alive, but the coloring was taken from the original of 

 Dr. Green. 



Some years ago I described in the Proceedings of the Academy, a new Sala- 

 mander from California, under the name lugubris. Mr. Gray, in the Catalogue 

 of the British Museum, places it along side of Taricha, with a note of interro- 

 gation. It is however very different from Taricha. 'The species was subse- 

 quently made the type of a new genus by Prof. Baird, with the name Aneides. 



*In glutinosus this is not the case; the vomerine teeth are separated by a 

 wide interval and take another course ; sphenoidal teeth in glutinosus, none in 

 Ambystoma; the fingers and toes are also different. 



t The palate, he observes, " is armed with a row of transverse teeth." 



J He says, tail cylindrical, scarcely compressed. In porphyriticus the tail is 

 much compressed ; in P. glutinosus cylindrical ; the shape of the tail and the 

 teeth distinguish it at once from glutinosus. 



The small eyes and irregular whitish spots in the description do not apply 

 to Salmoneus ; the snout is described as obtuse, which it is in porphyriticus ; in 

 the drawing it is truncate. 



