114 OHIO STATE ACADEMY OP SCIENCE. 



Spelerpes ruber ruber Daudin. Body vermilion, spotted with black 

 dots above. Sometimes the spots are confluent. Below the dots are Smaller 

 and more closely packed together. Head broad and blunt ; dark bar across 

 eye. Tail short. Length 6 inches. Costal grooves 15. 



A most beautiful animal. It is a most conspicuous object 

 when uncovered amongst stones and leaves, and whatever use the 

 color subserves, it certainly is not protective, unless as a warn- 

 ing. They will remain motionless when uncovered until touched, 

 when they move leisurely away. It occurs in hilly regions and 

 is aquatic, being found in swamps and around springs. In the 

 hilly regions of the State, common. 



Specimens in the U. S. Nat. Mus., recorded by Cope from Cincinnati 

 and Columbus. In Oberlin College, collected by Lynds Jones in Lorain Co.; 

 in O. S. U. Mus., from Fairfield Co., and by the author in Licking Co. 



Family : Desmognathidae. 



Desmognathus ochrophaea Cope. Brownish, yellow dorsally, brown 

 laterally. Median dorsal' band yellow, with black blotches and dots. Below 

 yellowish, unspotted. Costal folds 13. Size small. Tail cylindrical. No 

 teeth in rear of lower jaw. Length 3 inches. 



This salamander may be confused with Spelerpes bilineatus or 

 with Desmognathus fusca. From the former it may be told by 

 the yellow on the belly and the presence of a light ba;r from eye 

 to corner of mouth. From the latter, it is readily told by the 

 rounded tail and (in males) by the absence of teeth in the rear 

 of the lower jaw. 



It is an eastern species, a resident of the mountains and is 

 placed here on the strength of a single specimen taken at Sugar 

 Grove, December, 'or, which agrees with Cope's description. 

 Dr. J. Undahl, of the Cin. Soc. N. H., kindly examined the 

 specimen and agreed with the writer in his identification. Pre- 

 viously it has not been recorded west of the mountains of Penn- 

 sylvania. Its habitat is given by Paulmier ('02 ) as " under bark ; 

 not aquatic." The Sugar Grove specimen was taken far up on 

 a hill, far from the water — a most anomalous place for D. fusca, ■ 

 if such it is. 



In O. S. U. Mus., collected by the author at Sugar Grove. 



