18 



BAYLOR UNIVERSITY BULLETIN 



the same sizes). 



MATERIAL. 



Ambystoma texanum. 

 Three examples (one adult and 

 two young) from Waco, Texas. 



A. microstomum. 

 Thirteen from Waco, Victoria and 

 Laguna, Texas; one from St. Louis, 

 Mo., and one from St. Clair County, 

 Illinois. 



COLORATION. 



Adults light to dark brown above, 

 yellowish beneath. 



Young, brown (i) dull lead color 

 (i) above, underparts almost white 

 with only a slight yellow tinge. 



Blackish brown to black, under- 

 parts lighter but not forming a sharp 

 contrast. 



Essentially the same as that of 

 adults; in most cases young examples 

 are unusually dark. 



MARKINGS. 



A few light (yellow) spots between 

 the costal grooves. A few on the 

 belly, in one specimen. 



Numerous lichen-like specks of 

 gray or plumbeous on the back and 

 especially on the sides. In young ex- 

 amples these spots are almost white. 



PROPORTIONS, ETC. 



Width of head contained from 4 

 to 4^ times in distance to groin. 



Four intercostal spaces between fore 

 and hind limbs when appressed to 

 sides. 



Jaws more deeply cleft. 



Dorsal furrow distinct. 



Fourteen costal grooves. 



Width of head contained from 6j^ 

 to 7 times in distance to groin. 



Six intercostal spaces between fore 

 and hind limbs when appressed to 

 sides. 



Mouth small. 



Dorsal furrow slight. 



Fourteen costal grooves. 



Habitat: My adult specimen of A. texanum was collected at a point five 

 miles south of Waco, in a small bottom which is subject to overflows. 



About a mile and a half from Waco, on the east side of the Brazos River 

 and lying along the line of the M., K. and T. Railroad, is a tract of land that 

 at one time had formed a marsh for at least eight rnonths of each year. This 

 land is in a hollow basin and the water was supplied by backwater from the 

 Brazos during occasional floods, reinforced by heavy rains during spring and 

 early summer. Some years ago this marsh was thoroughly drained and a dirt 

 levee thrown up and for some time it seemed as though the experiment had 

 proven a perfect success. For four or five years extensive crops of cotton and 

 corn were grown on its site and only isolated small hollows and ditches were 

 water-filled during the spring rains. 



In the spring of igo8, this section of Central Texas was the scene of dis- 



