118 



Two observers have seen ])lack specimens, formerly called H. nigcr, pair- 

 ing with the spotted individuals. Prof. W. S. Blatchley •' found a black 

 and a spotted one copulating on April 19. He speaks in a letter to me of 

 the intermittent organs as being as large as a walnut, and covered with 

 spines. IMr. E. K. Quick, of Brookville, Ind., an accurate observer of na- 

 ture, writes me that he once found a black viper pairing with a spotted one. 

 The time, he thinks, was late in .Tune. The time of gestation of this 

 species is not known. It maj' continue from spring until autumn. Possi- 

 bly the late-pairing individuals may retain their eggs until the next spring. 

 Nor do we know how long the eggs are laid before they are ready to hatch. 

 These matters are known concerning very few of our snakes, and a wide 

 field is ottered for work and observation. 



Of the Colubers, I have been able to make observations on C obsoletus 

 alone. It is likely that others have observed and written on the subject, 

 but I have not met with their statements. Dr. G. B. Goode reckonsf this 

 species among those which are ovoviviparous, but I am inclined to question 

 this. My son, W. P. Hay, captured two of these snakes, near Indianapo- 

 lis, while they were in sexual union. This was on June 19. The male (U. 

 S. Nat. Mus., No. 1794S) was 5 feet 5 inches long, the female (U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., Xo. 17949) (> feet o inches. When they were separated, the intromit- 

 tent organs of the male were everted some o inches. A dissection shows 

 that the hollow portion of the organ extends behind the vent 3 inches, 

 while the retractor muscles form a cord which extends back nearly to the 

 tip of the tail. At the base of the evertible portion, near the vent, the in- 

 ner surface, which when the organ is everted becomes the outer surface, is 

 furnished with numerous plications. Near the middle of the organ are 

 found many hooked papilla, some of them large and horny. The remain- 

 der of the organ has the surface raised up into numerous anastomozing 

 folds, Eo that under the microscope it reminds one of the reticulum of the 

 ox's stomach. On opening the female I find in her sixteen eggs. Of these 

 eggs, four lie about the middle of the animal's body, while the other 

 twelve occupy a much more anterior position ; the one farthest forward be- 

 ing within S inches of the tii^ of the snake's snout, the hindermost one 

 only 9 inches farther back. Several of these eggs are lying apparently 

 loose in the body cavity. It might be supposed that they had just left the 

 ovary and were about to enter the oviduct; but they are surrounded each 



•'Jour. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., 1891, p. :>i. 

 tl'roc. A. A. A. S. 187:"., p. 185. 



