oiu' common Glass-snake [Ojyhcosaurus i-eiifraJis]. There is 

 uo need of my enteiing into a refutation of the exaggerated 

 accounts of reproduction, such as if a Glass-snake be cut into 

 several pieces, each portion vriW become a new individual. 

 The sj^ecies simply does not belong to the Coelenterates or 

 Sea-anemones. 



Twenty-three si)ecies of turtles, with possibly a few fut- 

 ure additions, constitute the fauna of the order of Test udhiata 

 in Louisiana. From the immense Loggerhead down to the 

 small Mudbox, a great variety of structure is displayed. Of 

 the six families of turtles of ]Sorth xVnun-ica, five occur in our 

 state, and it is even possible that the sixth does occasionally 

 occur on our coast line in one or another species of Sea 

 turtles. 



The Trionychidae [Soft-shell turtles] are exceedingly com- 

 mon in most of our rivers and bayous. For the Swamp-turtles 

 our state is pre-eminently the home. In some localities it is 

 impossible to pass along a water-course without seeing num- 

 bers of them basking on floating logs or lying on the banks. 

 During a drought, when the swamps have dried out, and only 

 the holes of alligators contain water, then is the time for the 

 collector. Several years ago I took 35 specimens of Fseudemys 

 troostii fi-om one small alligator hole in St. Tammany parish. 



The last reptile which we have to consider, is also the 

 sole representative of the order of Crocodllia. The family 

 CrocofliUdae consists of only two genera: Alligator and Croc- 

 odilus. While I have heard occasional reports of the occur- 

 rence of the American Crocodile in our state, I have never 

 been able to verif\' the statements, and I firmly believe that 

 we will have to content ourselves with the fast disappearing 

 Alligator [Alligator mississi})pienfiis\. The persecution to 

 which this animal has been subjected during the past twenty- 

 five years has reduced its numbers to an astoni.shing degree. 

 In twenty-five more years, alligators captured in Louisiana 

 will be somewhat of a curiosity. The accounts of the size of 

 some individnals of this species are greatly exaggerated. 

 Animals of more than twelve feet in length have been very 

 rare for many years. One captured in Bayou Lafourche dur- 

 ing the summer of ISSi measured fourteen feet, nine inches, 

 and was then considered a monster of its kind. 



In conclusion I wish to record my thanks for the great 

 assistance rendered me by Mr. Gustave Kohn, of ISTew Orleans, 

 who has generously i)laced his large collection of local mater- 

 ial and personal data at my disposal in the preparation of the 

 subjoined check-list. 



