THE BATEACniA OF NORTH AMERICA. 165 



generally dark bordered liue which passes from the eye posteriorly 

 obliquely to behind the angle of the jaws; and by the absence of yellow 

 on the belly. 



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

 from the vicinity of Lake Oquassa, which appear distinct from any 

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

 Desmognathus, 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 conspicuously mottled. These 

 differences mark a variety which Baird records in his MS. under the 

 name of iS. b. horealis. 



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 plicas have usually shorter bodies. This is particularly the 

 case with three specimens (3748) from Georgia, 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 dorsal region and top of the head are abundantly punc- 

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

 nects with the ^. bilineata, the ISalamandra cirrigera 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 finger, or .05 of an inch in length. The appearance 

 presented is not unlike that of the muzzle of a walrus or morse. The 

 narrow groove extending from the outer edge of the external uares 

 passes all the way down the antero-external 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 distance from muzzle to axilla is contained only about 

 two and a half times in that to the groin. 



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

 the rest of the animal. 



The digits are unusually long and very slender, considerably longer 

 than in var. S. b. bilineatus. The limbs are also well developed. 



The color is much the same as in s. b. bilineatus — yellowish, with a well, 

 defined line of black on each side the back, the intermediate space 



