80 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



9. Hemidactylium scutatum Schlegel. Four-toed Sala- 

 mander. Scaly Salamander. 



Salamandra scutata, Salamandra melanosticta, Desnwdactylus mela- 

 nostictus, Desmodactylus scutatus, Batrachoseps scutatus. 



Description. — Whole skin finely granulated. Head flattened above, 

 broadest just behind the eyes. Snout short, truncate. Width of head 

 in length to groin about six times. Gnlar fold rising above nearly to 

 middle line. Vomero-palatine teeth in two short series just behind the 

 choanae. The parasphenoidal patches not in contact. Eyes not large 

 nor prominent. 



Body cylindrical. A dorsal furrow runs forward to the vertex of the 

 head, where it bifurcates, sending a branch to each eye. Fourteen 

 costal grooves, which are more or less indicated across the belly. On 

 each side of the back is a faint longitudinal groove; above this, the 

 costal furrows run forward and meet in the middle line in an acute 

 angle. Base of tail with a decided constriction, beyond which the tail 

 again swells out and then tapers to a point. Both upper and lower 

 edges of tail with an evident ridge for the greater part of the length. 

 Limbs feebly developed. Fingers and toes almost rudimentary. 



Color. — Back, dark chestnut. Snout above, eyes above, and, in cer- 

 tain lights the furrows above the lateral lines, light chestnut, approach- 

 ing to golden bronze. Pupils large, black. Iris above golden bronze. 

 Head, body, and tail below chalk white, with a tinge of blue, sparingly 

 and irregularly marked with rather large black spots; spots disposed 

 along the sides and the white of the tail beneath. Central tract 

 unspotted. (Cope.) 



Size. — From end of snout .to vent 33 mm., tail 21 mm. Total length 

 54 mm. 



Habitat. — This species is distributed from Massachu- 

 setts and Canada westward as far as Missouri and Ark- 

 ansas, south to Georgia. It is regarded as rare, although 

 it appears to be abundant in places. My friend, Dr. 

 George W. Bock, found one — the only Missouri specimen 

 I have — at Bourbon, Crawford Co., Mo. He found it on 

 a gently sloping hillside, where a little creek flows at 

 times, under a rock on the side of the creek bed. The 

 writer found two under a rock in a little valley near Hot 

 Springs, Ark. 



Habits. — Kennicott reports this species common in 

 some localities in northern Illinois. He found it under 



