ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY. MICHOSCOPY, ETC. 667 



little remarkable, considering that the forms from the Western Karroo 

 beds are identical with those from similar horizons in the Eastern 

 Province. Very likely the Natal species may yet be found in Cape 

 Colony when the beds are more fully worked. 



Nesting Habits of Florida Alligator.* — A. M. Reese finds that 

 the eggs of the Florida alligator are mostly laid in the month of June. 

 The nest, which is probably made by the female, is placed on a slight 

 elevation near the bank of the " hole " in which she lives. This eleva- 

 tion is generally, though not always, a sunny spot. The female alHgator 

 stays in the neighbourhood of the nest after she has filled it with eggs, 

 \mt it is extremely douljtful whether she defends it from the attacks of 

 other animals. Certainly man is in very little danger when he robs the 

 nest, and it appears that bears are persistent hunters and eaters of the 

 eggs. The nest consists of a mass of flags or marsh grass gathered 

 together, piled into a conical o'- rounded heap, and packed down by the 

 builder repeatedly crawling over it. The nests vary in size and form, 

 and may be 2 m. in diameter, and sometimes quite flat. The average 

 number of eggs per nest in twelve instances was :M. They are laid 

 without any apparent arrangement, are buried in a hole amongst the 

 damp decaying substance of the nest, and covered over so that without 

 examination it is impossible to tell whether in a given nest eggs are 

 present or not. It seems likely that the conditions that are specially 

 favourable to normal incubation are moisture and an even though not 

 necessarily an elevated temperature. The complete process of incubation 

 probably extends to about eight weeks. For some hours previous to 

 hatching the young alligators make a curious squeaking sound inside the 

 shell which may be heard several yards away. This is probably to 

 attract the female alligator so that she may open the top of the nest so 

 as to allow them to escape from the closely-packed mass of decaying 

 vegetation. There is considerable variation in the size of the egg, more 

 in the long than in the short diameter. The longest of more than four 

 hundred eggs was 85 mm., and the shortest 65 mm. The widest egg 

 was 50 mm., and the narrowest 88 mm. 



New Pit-Viper.t — G. A. Boulenger describes a new species of 

 pit-viper, of which two specimens were sent to him from the city of 

 Itapetininga, in Brazil. The species is remarkable for its small size, the 

 specimens in question — the largest so far obtained — measuring only 

 -too mm. in length. The name Lachesis itapetiniiKjce is proposed for 

 the new species, which is closely related to L. neumedii Wagl., Ijut is 

 easily distinguished from it by its stouter form, as expressed by the 

 lower number of ventral and caudal plates. 



Breeding Habits of Amblystoma.J — B. G. Smith describes the 

 spermatophores oi Amhlijstoma }mnctatuin,\\\n(i\\ were found as snow- 

 white tufts firmly attached to leaves, twigs, etc., at the bottom of a pond, 

 in groups of 40 or 5() together. Each consists of a gelatinous base or 



* Smithsonian Misc. Collections, xlviii. (1907) pp. 381-6 (2 pis.). 

 t Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., cxviii. (1907) p. 338. 

 X Amer. Nat. xli. (1907) pp. 381-90 (1 fig.). 



