34 



IlEVISIOX OF AMEBIC AX MOLES— TRUE. 



SCALOPS AQUATICrS. 



Arcrages and proportions (alcoholics). 



Some specimens of the subspecies austrdlis exhibit (juite strongly 

 the rusty suffusion about the wrists, etc, whicli, as will presently be 

 shown, is very pronounced in specimens from southern Texas. 



Tiie Florida au.stralis., as I view the matter, is the extreme so far as 

 the Atlantic Coast is concerned of thatdimiuutitm in size and increase 

 in delicacy of structure which one finds in passiug southward from New 

 York and Pennsylvania. 



Another Florida form has been recently' described by Mr. Rhoads, 

 under the name of Sadojjs parvus.^ It is based on a single specimen 

 from Tarpon Springs, a locality on the west coast, just north of Tampa. 

 It is in good condition, but the ai)pearance of the skin and the peculiar 

 worn state of the teeth would seem to indicate that the mole had been 

 kept in continenient. The measurements given t)y Mr. Rhoads are evi- 

 dently a misprint. 



Of the series of external and cranial characters given by Mr. Rhoads, 

 there are none which are not found in Carolina and central Florida 

 specimens, except the oval shape of the foramen magnum, and this 

 also IS approached in some. The peculiar form of the hist lower molar 

 would seem to be a strong distinguishing character, but 1 am satistied 

 that it is due to the wearing away of the tooth. An examination of a 

 series of specimens from the vicinity of Tampa Bay may contirra the 

 validity of /S. parrus^ but on the basis of the type alone I am unable 

 to regard it as a distinct species. I have placed it with a <juery under 

 S. aqnaticus austrtdis.' 



A specimen from Orange Hammock, Kissiinmee River, De Soto 

 County, Florida, which is a locality nearer to Tampa Bay than any 

 from which specimens have yet been obtained, is like Gainesville speci- 

 mens, but is a little smaller and is also graj'er. Tlie foramen mayniim 

 is of the usual form. The gray coloration may be due to the fact that 

 the spe(;imen was in alcohol for some three months. 



The relation of the Florida form to fhose of tlie (lulf States is 



iProc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1894, p. 157. 



n have examined a skull from Hiloxi, Miss. (No. 7268, ale, U. S. N. M. ),wln(li may 

 compel 1110 to alter tlii.s opinion. It has a very small oval foramen vianiiuin, and tlit; 

 tail in the alcoholic skin is very short. The skull has the remarkable peculiarity 

 of havinti no anterior lower incisors. 



