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Till': HATUAClllA OK NORTH AMKUICA. 



165 



fjoiierally thirk bonU'rcd lino wliich p.i.sses iVoin the eye posteriorly 

 obliquely tobeliiiul the iuigle of the jaws; iiiul by the absence of yellow 

 on the belly. 



In the large series of specimens before mo are some specimens (4735) 

 from the vicinity of Lake Oqnassa, which ajipear distinct from any 

 others in the collection. They have more the general appearance of 

 Desmognathns, though truly Spelerpes. The muzzle is rather longer 

 and considerably higher at the end; the protuberance of the lip on the 

 side of muzzle larger. The side of the head anterior to the eyes is 

 much pitted with pores, scarcely appreciable in the others. The colors 

 are darker; the dorsal stripe browner; and the mottling of the sides en- 

 croaches on the belly. The chin is quite consi)icuously mottled. Tiiese 

 <liirerent;es mark a variety which Baird reconls in his MS. under the 

 name of /S'. h. borealis. 



A few specimens have but thirteen costal folds, and one from Georgia 

 (4737) has that number on one side and fourteen on the other. Those with 

 the fewer plic;e have usually shorter bodies. This is particularly the 

 case with three specimens (374S) from (leorgia, where the width of the 

 head enters the length to the groin but little over five times. The sides 

 are in this variety dusky, with a series of white puncta below the lat- 

 eral band. The dorsiil region and top of the head are abundantly punc- 

 tate; sides of tail uniform black; belly immaculate. This variety con- 

 nects with the S. bilinvnt<i,\\ni Sahxmnndracirrifiet'a of Green. The fol- 

 lowing description is taken from Green's type in the Museum of the 

 Smithsonian Institution (No. 4743). 



The head is depressed and anterior to the eyes. The sides, instead 

 of tapering to a truncated muzzle, are nearly parallel to the truncate but 

 rounded muzzle. This squareness is produced by the development of 

 the protuberances of the upper lips on each side the muzzle, which, al- 

 though partially indicated in other species, here attain their maximum 

 of growth, becoming cirri, which are cylindrical and a little knobbed 

 at the ends, extending downwards past the lower jaw. They are about 

 as long as the outer linger, or .05 of an inch in length. The appearance 

 presentiMl is not uidike that of tlie muzzle of a walrus or morse. The 

 narrow groove extending from the outer edge of the external nares 

 passes all the way down the antero «'xternal surface of the cirri. 



There are but thirteen costal grooves, including an indistinct one in the 

 groin. A fourteenth, if present, would fall above the insertion of the 

 fore leg. The «listan(!e from muzzle to axilla is contained oidy about 

 two and a half tinu>s in that to the groin. 



The tail, as in other species, is slender and compressed, longer than 

 the rest of the animal. 



The digits an; unusually long and very slender, considerably longer 

 than in var. S. h. hilini'dtiis. Tlu' limbs are also well developed. 



Tliecohu' is \\\\u:\i the same as in s. h. hiliticatns — yellowish, with a well, 

 detlned line of bla(;k on each side the back, tlu; intermediate si)ace 



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