54 BULLETIN 17 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



taureau est," dit-il, "le plus grand que Ton connoisse dans TAmdrique septen- 

 trionale, apres le serpent k sonnette, et peut-etre le surpasse-t-il en longeur. II 

 est marquetd de noir et de blanc. II ne fait aucun mal k I'homme; mais il mange 

 les dcureuils, les oiseaux, les lapins, et tons les autres petits animaux qu'il peut 

 atteindre. Lorsqu'il est en colore, ou lorsque deux m41es se disputent une femelle, 

 ils font entendre un bruit efifrayant, un sifflement fort et profond. On appelle 

 aussi ce reptile serpent a come, parce que sa queue est terminde par une sorte 

 d'dperon dur comme de la corne, que I'animal irrite agite avee vltesse, mais avec 

 lequel il ne frappe jamais. II habite des trous dans la terre oil 11 se retire pr6- 

 cipitamment aussitot qu'il craint quelque danger." 



Palisot Beauvais n'a jamais trouvd ce serpent dans la Pennsylvanie et dans les 

 autres contrdes des Etats-Unis qu'il a parcourues; mais il paroft ndanmoins que 

 cet ophidien est connu des habitans de la Caroline m6ridionale et de la Floride. 



Systematic notes.— When the group of snakes generally known as 

 Pituophis melanoleucus, based on Daudin's Coluber melanoleucus, for 

 which the type locality was given as "Florida," was divided by Bar- 

 bour (1921, 117) into the Floridan form mugitus and the northern 

 form melanoleucus, the latter was chosen as the typical form. The 

 reasons for this choice have been most aptly described by Dr. Barbour 

 as follows {in litt.): 



Bartram,' describing snakes seen in Carolina and Florida, but not specifying 

 which, describes the pine or bull snake in the most general terms; and the fact 

 that Daudin speaks of the species having been found in Florida is not in at all 

 the sense of acting as reviser, but by ignorance of geography or looseness of 

 expression. Bartram's travels took him only to the extreme northern part of 

 Florida where I suspect the Carolina pine snake probably occurs. Also you will 

 note that both writers speak of "the black." 



As first reviser I had the right to settle the type locality, and I picked Carolina 

 principally because Dumdril and Bibron had based their redescription on a type 

 from that locality. 



Of course we know Bartram never saw a specimen from the Floridan zoological 

 region for he never was in it, and for this reason I think there is every reason to 

 believe that I sized the situation up correctly, particularly as I do not believe that 

 Daudin's reference to Florida has any bearing on the matter at all, since Florida 

 at the time of his writing was very broadly used and might easily include Georgia 

 and Carolina in Daudin's mind, particularly as Bartram himself who was specifi- 

 cally being quoted, says nothing about Florida that he does not say equally of 

 Carolina. Hence the two regions actually constitute the type locality and 

 while I believe the same forms probably inhabit the whole area I preferred to 

 restrict the locality to Carolina. 



If you will read Holbrook's remarks on page 10 of volume 4 of the North 

 American Herpetology you will find there after all is a good deal of doubt whether 

 Daudin's remarks constitute a recognizable description. C. melan. of Harlan,* 

 p. 122, is a composite of east and western species as is also Dumdril's, as the latter 

 included bellona of Baird and Girard. * * * Xhe black and white as against 

 reddish and white is the real crucial character. That this occurred to Holbrook 

 is shown by the fact that he had his original sketch, which I have before me, 

 very much darkened before it was finally reproduced in the Herpetology. Had 

 he published it as it originally was sketched it might easily have been mistaken 



' Bartram, 1791, p. 276. 

 > Harlan, 1836. p. 122. 



