10 PITUOPHIS MELANOLEUCUS. 



Geographical Distribution. This serpent abounds in the pine forests of New 

 Jersey; though Daudin says Palhsot de Beauvais never saw it in Pennsylvania; 

 where it is, however, common enough. From Jersey, which seems to be its 

 northern hmit, it passes through Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and 

 Florida, always preferring the same pine districts, from which circumstance its 

 common name is derived. How far south-west it may reach, I cannot say, but 

 it certainly has been observed in some of the states beyond the Mississippi river. 



General Remarks. A good deal of doubt has arisen as to the propriety of 

 continuing the specific name melanoleucus of Daudin, as his description is copied 

 from Bartram, and is thought to be too short and imperfect to characterize any 

 animal with certainty; hence Cloquet and others have proposed to erase it 

 altogether from our catalogue of reptiles; yet it seems to me that, by proper 

 investigation, it can be made clear to what animal Bartram applied the epithet 

 "Pme Snake,'''' and thus the name may be retained. Bartram travelled in 

 Carolina and Florida, where he saw a large snake — "perhaps the largest in 

 North America," — "pied black and white," — and called "Pine Snake or Bull 

 Snake;" all this agrees perfectly well with the animal now under consideration, 

 and with no other. 



1. It is perhaps the largest snake known to inhabit the United States. 



2. Its colour, when the skin has been lately shed, is "pied black and white." 



3. The common name Pine Snake is still applied to this serpent wherever it is 

 found. 



