No. 1. 



REPORT UPON THE REPTILES COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY. 



BY DR. EDWARD HAL ! L. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



California is divided into Upper and Lower, the latter a rocky peninsula, the natural history 

 of which has not been explored. The recent acquisition of Upper California by the United 

 States has served to develop its vast mineral treasures ; and the various government expeditions 

 have brought to the knowledge of scientific men much of its natural history, so that it may be 

 said its herpetology, and, perhaps, its ornithology, are almost as well known as those of our 

 oldest States. Previous to these but little was known of the herpetology of California. 



We shall not, at this time, enter into any remarks upon the distribution of our species of 

 reptiles, but make a few observations upon the genera, some of which appear to belong to the 

 fauna proper of California, and others common to both it and other parts of the Union. Of the 

 former may be enumerated the genera Anota, Uro-saurus, Dipso-saurus, Anietta. The genera 

 common to it and other regions more remote are Sceloporus, Phrynosoma, Crotaphytus, Eumeces, 

 Cnemidophorus, Homalosaurus, Cycluraf, Gerrhonotus, among lizards ; Herpetodryas, Coronella, 

 Tropidonotus, JRhinocheilus, Ablabes, Pityophis, Crotalus, among serpents ; and Nyla, Bufo, and 

 Ambystoma, among Batrachians. The genera Dipso-saurus and Anota appear to delight in the 

 sandy, barren parts of California, in its southern portion, much of which is a desert, where are 

 to be seen but a few lizards and horned serpents, and such plants as live only in desolate 

 regions. Sceloporus is found in New Jersey, 2,500 miles distant ; Gerrhonotus, Cnemidophorus, 

 Eumeces, in Mexico ; Crotaphytus and Homalosaurus in Texas and New Mexico, the former also 

 in Kansas ; Phrynosoma in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and the Creek and Cherokee countries, 

 where it is very abundant ; Tropidonotus exists in most parts of the Union ; Pityophis in New 

 Jersey and New Mexico ; Herpetodryas in South Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 

 New Jersey ; Coronella in South Carolina, New York, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, 

 and Kansas ; Rana, Bufo, and Ambystoma are found in most parts of the United States. Of the 

 genus Emys, including the fresh water turtles, so numerous in North America, but one species 

 has been received from California, viz: that described in the following report : 



IS 



