84 COPEIA 



served it only once. Specimens seldom attempt to 

 bite the collector. 



Bryant discovered that the California species of 

 horned lizards are very subject to a form of hypno- 

 tism. The writer has confirmed this on the Texas 

 form, also. Bryant's method is to stroke the animal 

 between the eyes. After three or four gentle strokes, 

 the lizard closes its eyes and becomes very quiet, even 

 losing some of the reflexes. The writer has discovered 

 that if the region over the pineal eye is simply touched 

 a few times with the tip of the finger, that the hyp- 

 notic effect can be induced. He has further found 

 that if after a time, when the animal begins to show 

 signs of awakening, if gentle passes are made in the 

 air over the region of the pineal eye, the animal will 

 return to the hypnotic condition. So far, he has not 

 been able to find a definite explanation of this, but 

 it would seem to suggest that the pineal eye in these 

 animals may be more or less functional. 



W. M. WlNTON, 



Fort Worth, Texas. 



Edited by J. T. Nichols, American Museum of Natural History 

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