Laodities in which Pellagra is Prevalent. 67 



The game fishes and the small competitors of the sand 

 darters adapted to the quieter and deeper parts of streams 

 appear to be the barrier which keeps the sand darters pretty 

 closely confined to the more rapid and shallow parts of the 

 Cumberland. Fifty-four species of fishes in addition to the 

 darters are known to inhabit the headwaters of the Cumber- 

 land, giving a total of seventy-two. The number will be 

 increased, I have no doubt, with careful collecting. 



AMPHIBIANS. 



The common spring frog, a large, olive, obscurely 

 marked species, is very common in the small creeks empty- 

 ing into the Cumberland in the vicinity of Pineville. The 

 adults were not seen, but the large slippery tadpoles, some 

 of them with the legs of considerable size, occurred in num- 

 bers in the shallows at the edges of the creeks, and attracted 

 attention by the disturbance they made in retreating to 

 deeper water. They were easily captured because of their 

 lack of alertness. An example is just about three inches 

 long (76 mm.), the color olive brown, minutely dotted on 

 the head and upper part of the sides with black. The mouth 

 is small, inferior, with several lines of black filaments 

 backed by papillae at the sides and behind. The tail is broad 

 and lanceolate, constituting a very • effective means of pro- 

 pulsion. 



These larvse pass the winter in the water, they were 

 very common during my first visit to the streams in August 

 and September. In October they were not seen, having 

 retreated from the shallows for hibernation. The abundance 

 of this animal renders it an important feature of the life of 

 the waters, and no doubt its presence is felt by other organ- 

 isms in many ways. The capacious body cavity of the tad- 

 poles is filled with the slender, closely coiled intestine; it is 

 coiled in several horizontal layers, one above the other, 

 looking very much like a small red rubber hose. A larva 

 before me, taken August 31, 1911, from Straight Creek, 

 measured two and five-eights inch (2.5 inch)' in length, 

 while its uncoiled digestive tube measures a Httle over 



