LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



Philadelphia, January 16, 1886. 



Dear Sir: In the following pages you will find a systematic and 

 synonymic catalogue of the species of Batrachia and Eeptilia described 

 up to this date as inhabiting Central America and Mexico. It is very 

 largely based on the specimens contained in the Museum of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. To each species is added a list of the localities at 

 which it has been discovered, together with the name of the discoverer, 

 or, in the absence of that, with the name of the author who is responsi- 

 ble for the correctness of the locality. 



In the great majority of cases I have seen the species, and am responsi- 

 ble for their validity, but I have admitted a number on the authority of 

 other authors. For aid in the identification and in other respects, I am 

 indebted to the magnificent report on reptOes and amphibians by Du- 

 meril and Bocourt in the series published by the Mission Scientifique 

 au Mexique et dans I'Amerique Centrale, and to the work of Giinther 

 in the Biologia Centrali- Americana, of which four numbers have ap- 

 peared up to this date. The receipt, at the last moment, of the Cata- 

 logue of the Lizards in the British Museum, by Boulenger, has enabled 

 me to make a number of additions, but not to quote it as fully as I 

 should like. 



No attempt has been made to arrange the species in accordance with 

 their geographical distribution, as the facts collected to this end are 

 not yet suflficiently numerous. 



The total number of genera represented in this catalogue is 197, and 

 of species 705. These are divided between 135 Batrachia and 570 Eep- 

 tilia. For further details, see end of catalogue. 



I am your obedient servant, 



E. D. COPE. 

 Professor S. F. Baird, 



Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



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