J 64 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. II, No. 2, 



or two whorls near the top. Besides it there are several species 

 of Cereus and another small Opuntia similar to the common prickly 

 pear, together with a species of the same group cultivated for its 

 fleshy branches which are eaten. All through this dry region 

 agaves or century plants are very common. There seem to be 

 several species, but they are such terrors to botanists that it is 

 hard to tell anything about them. 



From this brief sketch it will be seen what a diversified flora 

 Porto Rico offers to the student. There are opportunities for 

 several ecological studies of surpassing interest, and on the sys- 

 tematic side the work has only been begun. At present there are 

 scant facilities for the student, but with the fuller occupation of 

 the island by American govennnent and customs, we may hope 

 that some of our enterprising universities will establish there a 

 school of tropical agriculture and botany, fields now white for the 

 harvest but almost without workers. 



Washington, D. C, October 30, 1901. 



SALAMANDERS TAKEN AT SUGAR GROVE. 



Max Morse. 



On Ma)^ 25, 1901, Prof. Hine, while collecting in the hills at 

 Sugar Grove, Fairfield County, O., found a salamander under a 

 piece of pine log on the slope of a hill, about a hundred yards 

 from water. It was, for the time, put in a jar along with several 

 individuals of Desmognathus fusca Raf. , which were taken in, or 

 within a few feet of the rivulets which flow down the valley. 

 Aside from this specimen taken on the hill-side, all the specimens 

 were found not farther than a half dozen feet from the water. 

 When the collections were examined in the laboratory it was 

 foimd that the single specimen just mentioned differed in many 

 respects from the others. This led to investigation and it was 

 found that it corresponded closely with the description of D. 

 ocliropha^a Cope. Thus, the posterior portion of the mandiljle was 

 edentulous ; no tubercle in canthus ocelli ; belly paler than in 

 any of D. fusca taken ; length nearly three-fourths of an inch 

 shorter than the others ; a light liar from eye to corner of mouth ; 

 tongue free behind ; parasphenoid teeth separated behind. The 

 specimen was kindly examined by Dr. J. lyindahl, of the Cincin- 

 nati Society of Nat. Hist., who is acquainted with the form. He 

 agreed that it corresponded with the description of Cope. 

 Wliether the characters as given above are sufficient to place the 

 specimen under ochrophsea is a matter hard to decide. Cope 

 gives the range of ochrophiea as " in the Alleghenies and their 

 outlying spurs."' Dr. L,indahl has a specimen from I^ogan.sport, 

 Ind., taken November 10, 1900. 



