Dr. 0. Wucherer on the Craspedocephali of Bahia. 245 



fering from my three supposed C. bi-asilienses, which again agree 

 among themselves, I may be allowed to state in what one and the other 

 are peculiar. The specimens I refer to G. atrox are all greyish yel- 

 low or olive, and have along the body irregular brown, black-edged 

 spots with sinuated margins, which occupy about as much space as 

 the ground-colour. In young specimens the colours are generally 

 brighter, and the spots more distinct. Underneath they are all, with- 

 out exception, chequered with dark grey or black. 



The three specimens of supposed C. brasiliensis are olive-green ; 

 similar brown, black-edged spots, with sinuated margins, occupy 

 their back, but occur at much wider intervals, so that they occupy 

 much less space than the ground-colour ; underneath, all three are 

 dirty-yellow, punctulated with black, but not at all chequered. 



These differences appear very striking, but I refrain from attach- 

 ing undue weight to them. Schlegel describes some specimens of 

 C. brasiliensis with " larges taches carrees " (Essai, ii. p. 533). 

 Dumeril and Bibron are not explicit as regards the coloration of G. 

 brasiliensis. 



In Prof. Jan's ' Prodrome d'une iconographie descriptive des 

 Ophidiens,' published in 1859, I find Trigonocephalus Neuwiedi, 

 which is synonymous with G. atrox, enumerated as a distinct species. 

 I also find that Dumeril and Bibron consider specimens with a white 

 tip to the tail as a variety ; I may therefore be allowed to make the fol- 

 lowing remarks. Seven of my specimens of G. atrox are quite young, 

 their total length ranging from 0*333 to 0"382 ; in all the tip of the 

 tail is white. Besides these, I have seen many other small specimens, 

 which always showed the same peculiarity. In two specimens of 

 0*620 and 0*530 total length, which may be considered half-grown, 

 the tip of the tail is lighter-coloured than the rest of the body, show- 

 ing the transition to the black colour in the tail of adults. From 

 this I think it reasonable to infer that the difference in the colour 

 of the tip of the tail in individuals of C. atrox depends on their age, 

 and does not constitute a variety, much less a species. The Bra- 

 zilians, however, consider small individuals as a distinct species, which 

 they call " Caisacca." Of the young of C. brasiliensis Schlegel 

 states expressly (Essai, ii. p. 533), " Les petits offrent le bout de 

 la queue blanc." 



The largest of my three supposed specimens of G. brasiliensis has 

 a total length of 0*872, and may be considered therefore about half- 

 grown ; the tip of its tail is lighter-coloured than the body ; under- 

 neath to a greater extent, and above at the extreme tip it is quite 

 white. In one of the other two specimens the tip of the tail is 

 lighter-coloured, in the other white. 



According to the statement of Schlegel, the iris of C. brasiliensis 

 is dark red ; he does not mention how the iris of C. ati'ox is coloured. 

 In many live specimens of the latter species which I have seen, I 

 always found it of a dark grey. I never saw a live specimen of a 

 snake corresponding to my supposed specimens of C. brasiliensis. 

 In these the colour of the iris is not preserved. 



As to C. lanceolatus, I very much doubt whether it occurs in 

 Brazil at all. 



