Mat 3, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



441 



One of the features of the work that will 

 command attention is the nomenclatural 

 changes. Such old friends as Diemyctilus, 

 Ambystoma punctatum, Spelerpes, Bufo len- 

 iiginosus, Eumeces and Elaps, are supplanted 

 respectively by Notophthalmus, Ambystoma 

 maculatum, Eurycea, Bufo terrestris, Ples- 

 tiodon and Micrums. That much abused name 

 Coluber, which has probably been attributed 

 to more groups of snakes than any other and 

 was finally (1907) given by Stejneger to the 

 old-world vipers of the genus usually known 

 as Vipera, is now given to the racers (Zame- 

 nis). Perhaps the most curious changes are 

 in the names of the northeastern hognosed 

 enake, hitherto Heterodon platyrhinus, and the 

 copperhead, generally known as Agkistrodon 

 contortrix. The former becomes Heterodon 

 contortrix, the latter Agkistrodon mokasin. 

 It is unfortunate that it has been found neces- 

 sary to make so many changes in the names, 

 but it can not be denied that the nomenclature 

 in these groups was in need of revision and 

 that the only way to secure stability in nomen- 

 clature is to adhere to the rules which have 

 been adopted for determining the names which 

 shall be used. 



The stand which the authors have taken on 

 the question of trinomials is commendable. 

 " As for the admission of subspecies — or rather 

 trinomial designation — for certain forms no 

 special attempt has been made at consistency, 

 the authors on principle leaning towards bi- 

 nomials in all cases where the need of tri- 

 nomials has not been clearly established." 

 This is precisely the method which if followed 

 will permit advancement in our knowledge of 

 relationships in these groups. To conceal the 

 fact that a form is a true si)ecies by the use of 

 a binomial designation is quite as bad practise 

 as to use trinomials loosely and thus destroy 

 their significance. 



There is abundant evidence that the writers 

 have made a critical study of the status of the 

 species which have been described. There will 

 be differences in opinion here, and more par- 

 ticularly as our knowledge increases, but the 

 rejection of a considerable number of forms 

 which are not valid and which have been a 



source of confusion will be of distinct advan- 

 tage to the student. With good judgment the 

 authors have been conservative in this matter. 

 They could not be expected to examine the 

 status of all of the more recently described 

 forms nor to make detailed studies of the gen- 

 era which are notoriously difficult, and they 

 have adopted the rule of accepting " the judg- 

 ment of reliable workers . . . where no special 

 reason appeared to contraindicate the validity 

 of the form." 



The geographic data will appeal to the stu- 

 dent who has had to search through an exten- 

 sive literature to determine the range of a 

 form, and who has frequently encountered 

 difficulties in determining type localities. Too 

 often the type localities have been omitted or 

 only generally stated in the original descrip- 

 tions, and it is fortunate that in this book 

 " The t3rpe localities are as exact as it is pos- 

 sible to determine." The authors admit that 

 this can not be said of the ranges. "Many are 

 obviously faulty, but a sincere attempt has 

 been made to collect records of authentic cap- 

 tures; however, with a literature so extensive 

 and so scattered, records have almost surely 

 been overlooked. In many cases, our knowl- 

 edge does not warrant drawing hard and fast 

 lines delimiting a form's occurrence, and we 

 often state ranges in purposely general terms." 

 A perusal of the work will show that the ranges 

 are fairly well defined. There are, however, 

 a nimiber of inaccuracies in the sxmimaries, 

 and the subject has received unequal treat- 

 ment. Thus Eana sylvatica does not extend 

 westward to the Great Plains, Rana cantabri- 

 gensis extends eastward to Wisconsin and 

 Michigan, Eumeces skiltonianus is not con- 

 fined to California but ranges eastward 

 through Nevada to Utah, and the ranges as 

 given for Pituophis sayi and Natrix sipedon 

 are too general to be of much use. One may 

 grant the difficulties in gathering all of the 

 records and in drawing definite boundaries, 

 and recognize that too much detail would make 

 the check list cumbersome, but it is suggested 

 that the value of the book would have been 

 greater if the ranges of the amphibians, lizards 

 and snakes had been as uniformly well defined 



