HEKPETOLOGY (»F PORTO EICO. 



701 



The question whether Cope's ^I. inchoucJi/ius, from lluiti, is iden- 

 tical witli the Porto Kican specii^s can not l)e said to ])e settled yet. The 

 scale formula seem to be tiie same. l)ut it is not certain that tliere ma}" 

 not 1)e other distino'uisliino- features. It will be noted that the AIsopJus 

 from ]\Iona is referred to the Porto Kican form witiiout hesitation by 

 those haA'iny" had an opportunity to exainin(> it, but it should be 

 remembered that none of these authors luid any Porto Rican speci- 

 mens for com})aris()n and that the identitication is liased entirely on 

 the scale formula, lender these circumstances the whole (juestion 

 can not be sohed until someone is able to com})are directly laro-e scries 

 from each of these islands. We Xyaxq such startling- proof of the eli'ect 

 of isolation working- with a variable material 

 to })roduce sei)arate forms of these snakes 

 that it is ({uite unwarrantable to lump 

 the various names without incontrovertible 

 proof. 



Professor Garman" mentions as a good 

 distinguishing character of the Porto Rican 

 specimens "the narrow^ness of the h)wer 

 postorbital.'' This charactei" is not confined 

 to this form alone, as it is also found in 

 Alsoph is (Oitlllensis. 



Ih'scription.—AJult; U.S.N.M. No. 27766; 

 Humacao, Porto Rico; spring 190(»; L. 

 M. McCormick, collector. — Rostral much 

 broader than high, barely visible from 

 above; internasal suture shorter than pre- 

 frontal suture; frontal l)roader than supra- 

 oculars, as long as its distance from the 

 tip of snout, which is shorter than parietal 

 suture; nostril large, between two large 

 nasals; loreal moderate, trapezoid; one 

 preocular, not in contact with frontal; two 



postoculars, the lower one very narrow; temporals 1 + 2; 8 supralaliials, 

 third, fourth, and fifth in contact with eye; fifth and following ones 

 suddenly nmch higher than the others; fi\'e lower labials in contact 

 with anterior chin-shield which is shorter than the posterior; 17 rows 

 of smooth scales round the body, with two conspicuous pores near 

 the tip; 178 ventrals; anal divided; 128 pairs of subcaudals. Color 

 (in alcohol) above luiiform ))rowaiish drab, below whitish; each scale 

 anteriorly tipped with black, posteriorly narrowly margined with 

 black so as to form a regular network; ventrals, except on throat and 

 neck, as well as the subcaudals, narrowly edged with black; a narrow 

 blackish line emphasizes the suture lyordering the supralabials above. 



Fig. 170. — Ai.sophis j'ortoricex- 

 sis. 2 X nalural .size. No. 27766, 

 U.S.N.M. 



«Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, XXIV, 1887, p. 283. 



