PAPERS ON ZOOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY 329 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 
Thirteen species of amphibians and eighteen species of rep- 
tiles have been found by the writer and his students in the 
Charleston region. Since no special effort has been made to 
study these forms, it is very evident that other species also 
belong to the fauna. 
The region is not now a favorable one for amphibians and 
reptiles, which is due in a large measure to the extensive cul- 
tivation of land and to the ephemeral character of so many 
bodies of water in which amphibian eggs are laid. Only three 
species of amphibians are abundant; these are the Common 
Toad, Cricket Frog and Bull-frog. There is no really abundant 
reptile. Poisonous snakes are very scarce, and the only species 
found recently to the writer’s knowledge is the Timber Rattle- 
snake. 
Reptiles and amphibians undoubtedly existed in large num- 
bers in former times about Charleston, before the large prairie 
ponds were drained. Reports by old residents of the many 
rattlesnakes that lived about these places are common. These 
were probably Prairie Rattlers, Sistrurus catenatus. 
Amphibians and reptiles appear to be of little economic im- 
portance in the region, but this may be due to our lack of 
knowledge of their food and habits and ecology. Profitable 
studies of this kind might be made on the toad and its enemy, 
the Hog-nosed Snake and the two well-known bird destroyers, 
the Pilot Snake and the Blue Racer, and the amount of de- 
struction to fish done by the Watersnake. The Bull Frog is 
used to some extent as an object of sport and food. 
Efforts should be made to prevent undue decrease in num- 
bers of our amphibians and harmless reptiles, if for no other 
reason than their biological interest and their adaptability for 
zoology studies, They are easily collected, preserved as speci- 
ments, or kept alive in aquaria or terraria; and they lend them- 
selves readily for life-history studies. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Davis, N. S., and Rice, F. L., 1883. List of Batrachia and Reptilia of Illinois, 
Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Science, Vol. I, pp. 25-32. 
_ Garman, H., 1892. A synopsis of the Reptiles and Amphibians of Illinois. Bul- 
baclh the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History, Vol. 3, pp. 215-385. Plates 
