1890.] HELODERMA SUSPECTUM. 235 



very close affinity with them. Glinther has said ^ that " Central 

 Ainerica possesses, besides, five other taniilies, small in species and 

 restricted in rans>;e (some belonging to the fauna of great elevations), 

 but highly interesting types. These are the Eublepharidce, Xeno- 

 sauridcE, AnieUidcB, HelodermatidiB, and Lepidophymatidtx. Their 

 locahzation and differentiation cim be accounted for on the hypothesis 

 that they are the remains of the fauna of the various islands into 

 which Central America was broken up at a former period." This is 

 likewise quite hi the Une of my thinking. 



XVI. Bibliography. 



The following works are the principal ones that refer to the 

 HELODERMATID^E, and the most important of them have been 

 consulted by the writer in connection with the present monograph. 



(1) 1651. Hernandez (Franciscus). — ' Historise animalium et 



mineralium Novae Ilispanise liber vnicus ' ; Cap. p. 315. — 

 (This is the first authority that alludes to H. horridmn, and 

 in the volume quoted we find a very fair description of the 

 Re[)tile, tlie author stating that it was known to the Mexicans 

 as the Acasteiepon, but to the Spanish Creoles as the " Es- 

 corpion.") 



(2) 1829. WiEGMANN (Arend Fridericus Augustus). — Isis, 



pp. 627-629. — (Uuder the name of Trachyderma horridum, 

 \\ iegmann, in this place, presents us with rather a super- 

 ficial description of a Mexican specimen of the reptile ; see 

 also the same work, p. 624, H. horridum.) 



(3) 1830. Wagler (Joannes). — Naturliches System der Am- 



phibien. F. 16-1. — (This naturalist places Heloderma among 

 the Thecoylossce pleurodontes.) 



(4) 1833. Idem. — Descriptiones et Icones Amphibiorum. Fasc. 



2. — (An mipaged description, in Latin, illustrated by an in- 

 differently executed figure of Heloderma liorridum, from an 

 alcoholic specimen which had been brought to Berlin.) 



(5) 1833. ScHiNZ (Heinrich Rudolph). — Naturgeschichte und 



Abbildungen der Reptilien. Text and Atlas, 4to. Leipzig. 

 P. 95 ; tab. 33. — (Wagler's drawing accompanied by a no 

 better description in German.) 



(6) 1834. WiEGMANN (Arend F. A.). — Herpetologia Mexicana 



seu Descriptio Amphibiorum Novae Hispanise. Berolini. 

 Pp. 6, 7, and tab. i. — (Here this author's well-known 

 suborder of the Squamata is divided into three series, — the 

 Leptoylossi, the lihyptoylossi, and the Pachyglossi. Of these 

 the Leptoylossi is again subdivided into the Brevilingues 

 and the Fissilingues, and in the last-mentioned group the 

 Heloderma has been placed, in a family created for it, the 

 Trachydermi. His coloured figure of Heloderma horridum 

 is too brown in its colouring, and in form only presents us 



^ Encyclopaedia Britaunica, 'Jth ed. vul. xx. p. 470 (1886). 



[89] 



