3S MEXICAN BATKACIIIANS AND REPTILES — BLATCIILEY."' 



Spelerpes orizabensis, sj). nov. 



Palatine teotli, s(']»:n;iti'(l IVoiii piinisplicuoids by ii wide interspace; 

 extending externally beyond the nares. I'aijisplienoid patcbes sepa- 

 rated, scarcely diveviiinii' posteriorly. Head long and narrow, bnt little 

 wider than body; greatest width, which is at angle of Jaws, eontained 

 one and three- fourth times in distance from snout to gular fold. iSnout 

 short and blnnt ; nostrils and eyes small. Body cylindrical, elongate, 

 measuring from tiiree to three and a half times the distance from snout 

 to gular fold.* Ijinibs weak, the digits slender and margined, but not 

 webbed atbase. Tail cylindrical, tajtering gradually to a])oint, slightly 

 restricted at base, a little shorter than head and body. Gular fold dis- 

 tinct; twelve costal grooves. 



General color, after inunersion in alcohol, plund)eous; the body with 

 a broad reddish-brown d(n'sal strii)e which is blotched liere and there 

 with small dark spots and margined below by a band of gray which ex- 

 tends from angle of Jaw to base of tail and is broken into patches by the 

 black costal grooves. 



In life, the dorsal stripe was a bright red and unbroken, very similar 

 to but brighter than that of I'litJio^hnciturcKs cri/tliroiiotus Green. In 

 alcoholic specimens the darker bh)tches appear. 



]\IeasurenuMits: Total length, IMI"""; sncmt to cloaca, 50'"'"; snout to 

 gular fold, IL'"""; width of head, 7"""; length of fore limb, 11'"'"; of hind 

 limb, iL^.f)'"'"; of tail, 40'""'; distance from axil to groin, 32""". 



»S. orizabensis ditfers from «s'. h'i>r()siis Cope in possessing a notably 

 longer and narrower head; a blunter snout; a nuich less divergence of 

 the i)arasphenoid patches; a more elongate body, the distance from 

 axil to groin being exactly one-thii'd the total length, whereas in h'pro- 

 sus it is very slightly more than one fourth; a shorter tail; more slender 

 and less depressed digits, and in color. 



Three specimens were taken from between the bark and wood of a 

 large spruce log, at the height of 11,000 feet on the slope of Mt. Orizaba. 



IT. 8. National Mnsciim, Nos. 102()()-102(;7. 



Through the kindness of ]Mr. TiiMinhard St ejiu\ger, a bottle containing 

 five specimens of iSpclcrpcs, belonging to the l'. S. National Museum, 

 and taken at Orizaba by Prof Sumichrast, was forwarded to me for 

 comparison. In a letter accom])anying the s]UM'inuMis ^Ir. Stejneger ex- 

 l)ressed the opinion that one of them was an undest'ribed species. This, 

 after a careful examination, I find to be the case, and, with the consent 

 of Mr. Stejneger, the following descri])tion is herewith inserted: 



Spelerpes gibbicaudus, sp. nov. 



Palatine teeth in two nearly straight series, extending externally 

 beyond the nares; separated from the i)arasphenoids by a well- 

 marked interspace. Parasjihenoid jnitchcs long, separate, diverging 



* The extreiuo lennth of head iimuUts tliis inoportion comparativoly small. 



