N. A. REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS. 5 



Linn6 Coluber ordinatus. The authorities for the races 

 succeeding the first may or may not be written. To 

 write them, D E. sirtalis Say; Jan, is that described by 

 Say as Coluber parietalis, but placed as a variety of sir- 

 talis by Jan. In the synonymy, the history of each of 

 the various forms is indicated under their respective let- 

 ters. The use of the letter leaves little or no excuse for 

 duplication, confusion, and excessive length in the name, 

 or for a questionable disregard of the earlier authorities. 

 It may be objected that the original name tells more about 

 the form than would a symbol. If we grant this in cases 

 in which the name fixes some obvious characteristic of the 

 species, there remain all those in which such names as 

 Smithi, Doubledayi, Wosnessenskyi , and similar ones 

 have been employed, many others in which the history of 

 the form begins under a vernacular, or, if a variety noted 

 by Gray, Gtinther, Bibron, Boulenger and other writers, 

 under a letter, and a multitude of cases of names empha- 

 sizing some peculiarity individual, sexual, or belong- 

 ing to certain seasons or ages, which not being permanent 

 or general are inaccurate or misleading. 



O C 



It is suggested that the names are easier to learn or 

 remember than the letters. Why the name Smithi should 

 be easier than D or II does not appear ; neither does it 

 appear that a large number of letters, as in the long 

 names, is easier to learn or remember than a single one. 



Letters are in use among English and French writers to 

 indicate varieties, the custom dating back half a century 

 or more. 



The method suggested has been applied in a few of the 

 following genera. There are numerous others in which the 

 present list of species, as in Sceloporus, Geolriton, and 

 others, is susceptible of a considerable reduction, which 

 will be a necessary consequence of further study. 



