202 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



(CZP) — Cleveland Zoological Park, Cleveland, Ohio. 



(DPLM) — Dayton Public Library Museum, Dayton, Ohio. 



(FR) — Forest Risen, Columbus, Ohio. 



(FWB) — Forest W. Buchanan, .Amsterdam, Ohio. 



(GF) — George S. Fichter, Reily, Ohio. 



(HTG)— Herschel T. Gier, Manhattan, Kansas. 



(ISC) — Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. 



(KSU) — Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. 



(OU\'C) — Ohio University Vertebrate Collection, Athens, Ohio — formerly OU. 



(OWU) — Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. 



(ROMZ) — Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, Toronto, Ontario. 



(TMS) — ^Toledo Museum of Science, Toledo, Ohio — formerly TZS. 



(UC) — University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio. 



(WED)— William E. Duellman, Dayton, Ohio. 



An effort has been made to see all material added to collections up to and 

 including December 31, 1948. Some few 1949 records (chieflv for the rarer 

 species) have been admitted to the lists, however. I have not examined the 

 reptiles from the Lake Erie archipelago which are preserved at the Ston" L-ibor- 

 atory, Put-in-Bay. Many of these were collected by Dr. Charles F. Walker 

 who is preparing a review of the herpetcfauna cf the isfaidn. 



New material is available from almost all parts of the state, but there is a 

 really imposing increment of new records from southeastern and southwestern 

 Ohio. The Messrs. Seibert, Gier, and Mittleman (see section on acknowl- 

 edgements) and their students and colleagues have added many specimens 

 from Athens, Jackson, Vinton, and adjacent counties to the collection at Ohio 

 University, in Athens. Wood, Duellman, Walter, and their associates from 

 Dayton, plus Daniel and Fichter, working in Butler and nearby counties, have 

 (collectively) given us, for the first time, some conception of the abundance 

 and distribution of reptiles in the southwestern .section of Ohio. This is an 

 area in which I personally did relatively little field work and where collecting, 

 except in aquatic habitats, often is quite discouraging. 



Much field work remains to be done in Ohio, especially on the subjects of 

 behavior and life histories. Many ranges no doubt will be extended, but it is 

 necessary to point out that such a great amount of material of the more com- 

 mon species is now available in museums that it would seem unnecessary to 

 collect more specimens in quantities. Selective, rather than mass, collecting 

 should be practiced in the future. Conservation is imperative if certain of our 

 reptiles are to survive the broadening impact of civilization. One species, 

 Matrix erythro^aster, already may be gone from Ohio. 



In so far as possible, a definite style has be:n follov.cd in presenting the 

 new information about each species. In general, there is first a discussion of 

 taxonomic changes (if any have taken place), and then mention of alterations 

 in the general range of the species or subspecies. This is followed by a list of 

 new Ohio locality records and comments upon range extensions within the 

 state. Notes are presented upon habitats, habits, scutellation, size, etc.; the 

 rarer species (obviously those about which least is known) are treated most 

 fully. 



Some comment should be made about ventral and subcaudal counts among 

 the snakes. In the original edition (as mentioned on page 17), the anal 



