108 On the Affinity of the North- American Lizard-Fauna. 



As the greater abundance and variety of forms of the Angnida3 

 occur in the northern lialf and the West Indies, and the reverse 

 is the case as regards the Teiida3 (especially with reference to 

 variety of genera) and the Amphisba^nidfe, we may safely 

 draw the boundary-line between two regions or subregions, as 

 it may be thought fit to term them, at the Isthmus of 

 Panama." 



I have quoted this passage in full because Prof. Heilprin, 

 in his note in the last number of the '■ Annals,' appears to 

 have lost sight of the origin of our controversy. 



In his work on the distribution of animals his reproach 

 was that " The [my] misconception arises from the incor- 

 poration of the tract lying south of the line indicated above 

 [a line drawn from San Francisco to Galveston, in Texas] 

 with the North-American faunal region proper, while in 

 reality it is a transition-tract more nearly Neotropical in 

 character tlian Nearctic." 



To this misstatement I replied by placing before him the 

 list of the lizards of the northernmost province in America 

 from which this type of Reptile has been recorded — British 

 Columbia. Instead of admitting his error Prof. Heilprin now 

 attempts to shift the question by misrepresenting my state- 

 ment ; for he now puts it as if it was by not including the 

 Mexican district that I have formed what he considers a mis- 

 conception of the affinity of the North-American Lizard- 

 fauna. And his remark " What, then, are the features which 

 unite the North-American fauna with the South- American ? " 

 is uncalled for, as I have clearly stated that the North- 

 American fauna is but an offshoot of the Centj-al- American , 

 and I have not said that as regards minor groups (genera) it 

 does not differ from that of South America *. This of course 

 is a totally different charge, in fact the very opposite of that 

 which he first preferred, and to which I have replied. 



My statement that " A list of the lizards of any northern 

 district of the United States would equally well support my 

 view " is met by Prof. Heilprin "with a most emphatic denial. 

 In the whole of the United States east of a north and south line 

 connecting the mouth of the Rio Grande with Canada, or 

 over an area of approximately 1 ,500,000 square miles, there is 

 [he says] scarcely a single lizard which has any Neotropical 

 affinities whatever, and still less so in any northern section 

 of this area." 



* As regards higher groups it is scarcely necessary to repeat that the 

 families Iguauidee and Teiidae are essentially American and character- 

 istic of both northern and southern continents. 



