83 



TRITON PORPHYRITICUS.— Green. 



Plate XXVIII. 



Characters. Head moderate; snout obtuse; body elongated; tail length of 

 body, compressed, and slightly carinated on the upper and lower margins of its 

 posterior half; superior surface of the whole animal dark brown, interspersed with 

 irregular whitish spots. 



Synontmes. Salamandra porphyritica, Green, Maclurian Lyceum, p. 3. 

 Salamandra porphyritica, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 98. 



Description. The head is rather large, with the snout obtuse and rounded. 

 The mouth is moderate. The tongue is broad, elongated, thin, attached poste- 

 riorly, less so anteriorly, and most movable at the lateral margins. The palate 

 is armed with a transverse row of minute teeth, beginning on each side behind 

 the outer margin of the posterior nares. 



The nostrils are latero-superior, near the snout, and open upwards and a little 

 outwards, with a slight ridge extending from them to the anterior angle of the 

 eye. The eyes are rather small, with a black pupil and dusky iris. The neck is 

 contracted, and has a large transverse cutaneous fold below. 



The body is cylindrical and long. The tail is much compressed, carinated on 

 the upper and lower margin of its posterior half; in length it is equal to the body. 

 The extremities, with the fingers and toes, are but slightly developed. 



Colour. The whole superior surface of the animal is brown, more or less 



