1906.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 357 



A comparison of the types of Desmognathus ochrophcea Cope seems to 

 leave it perfectly clear that it is nothing more than the intermediate 

 brown color-variety of D. fusca, which I have represented in the tw^o 

 lower median accompanying figures. The identity of D. ochrophcea 

 with D. fusca, however, was fii-st suggested by Mr. G. M. Allen in the 

 Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H., 29, 1901, p. 73. In view of the material ex- 

 amined I am now able to fully endorse Mr. Allen's view as final. 

 The characters pointed out by Cope in 1889 are certainly not of specific 

 value as they range more or less through most of my material. The 

 habitat of the ochrophcea stage is not confined entirely to the mountain- 

 tops, as the animals are found under damp stones about streams and 

 in the valleys. I do not agree with Cope's suggestion that Salamandra 

 haldemani Holbrook is "an unusually spotted Spelerpes hilineatus'' as 

 the tail is somewhat short. It agrees with some of my examples of 

 D. fusca to some extent in the color of the belly, which is usually more 

 or less livid in life. It had best be regarded as a synonym of D. fusca. 



As small and medium-sized examples greatly resemble Plethodon 

 erythronotus, which is rather abundant in the dry forests, a good char- 

 acter for distinguishing the two species at a glance will be found in the 

 pale or whitish streak extending down from the eye behind. This is 

 present on most all examples and may frequently be traced to some 

 extent in the blackish adults. 



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