Critical Notes on a Collection of Reptiles 

 from the Western Coast of the \ 

 United States. 



ROBERT BAIRD McLAIN. 



Tliis paper was at first intended simply for a faunal list ; givinj? 

 the new localities from which our common reptiles were found, 

 wii/h tlie view of extending the geographical distribution of many 

 of them. The writer, however, after spending over a, year working 

 with the Paoifie Coast Reptilia, has had a number of things ccme 

 under his notice which were of considerable importance, and in 

 bringing them to the reader's attention this paper has lengthened 

 itself and has taken on a more critical character. As the writer has 

 examined most of the material used bv Mr. Van Denburgh for his 

 paper, 'The Reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin," published 

 as number five of the Occasional Papers ot the California Academy 

 of Sciences, it is safe to say that he feels bettc able to criticise this 

 paper than any one who has not had access to this collection, and as 

 the nature of these criticisms would not very well allow of a simple 

 sketch such as a book review, the writer has incorporated the critical 

 notes in the faunal list. Mr. Van Denburgh's paper is certainly one 

 of the most important contributions to North American Herpetology 

 that has appeared for some time. It set things aright and brings 

 matters up to date for the region it covers, while though the manner 

 of treatment is admirable, we cannot help noticing an apparent care- 

 lessness which crops out in places. The most noticeable of these are 

 mentioned below, so that any errors may be looked into. Mr. Van 

 Denburgh appears not to have been so very familiar with the collec- 

 tion and even not well acquainted with the catalogue in which the 

 specimens were registered. My reasonp for thinking so are, the large 

 number of specimens that were in the collection and some that were 

 registered in the catalogue, which the gentleman seems to have been 

 entirely ignorant of, or else overlooked. . In either case, it seems to 

 point to an apparent neglect or carelessness. 



Most of the new material in the collection was taken by Dr C. H. 

 Gilbert, Mr. J. O. .'-nyder, Mr. Geo. B. Culver and Mr. A. G. Maddren, 

 in Northern California and Oregon, during the summer of 1897. My 

 friend Mr. V. V. Clark presented the Department with a small col- 

 -lection from the Magdalena Mountains, near Kelly, New Mexico. 

 Those specimens from Tempe, Arizona, were collected b}' Prof. W. W. 

 Thoburn and Mr. John Mets. In all cases where possible the num- 

 bers of specimens are given, with the view of correct interpretation 

 by the reader and to assist any future reviewer to verify my state- 

 ments by the specimens themselves. 



The following, as the preceding paper, is compiled from the notes 

 made by the writer when he had access to the collection of the Zoo- 

 logical Department, Leland Stanford, Jr , University, as a student of 

 that institution. This magnificent collection numbers over four 

 thousand specimens and is without doubt the best one of West Coast 



