892 The American Naturalist. [October, 
Prof. E. D. Cope has recently published a paper on Reptiles and 
Batrachians from Costa Rica in which he enumerates fifteen new 
species, distributed as follows ; 1 Urodela, 4 Salientia, 3 Lacertilia, and 
7 Ophidia. Among them are two new genera; Levirana, identical 
with Ranula, but without vomerine teeth, and Pogonaspis, more nearly 
allied to Tantilla than to any other genus, but differs from it in the 
large single genial plate. (Proceeds., Phila. Acad., 1894.) - 
A preliminary list of the Reptiles and Batrachians of the Island of 
Trinidad prepared by Messrs. Mole and Urich shows a total of 76 
species distributed as follows: Tortoises 6; Lizards 25; Snakes 33, 
Batrachians 12. Of these species 21 are recorded for the first time 
from the Island and two are new to science. The latter are described 
by Boettger under the names Spherodactylus molei and Hylodes urichit 
(Journ. Trinidad Field Naturl. Club.) 
A small collection of reptiles and fishes from Lake Tanganyika ex- 
amined by Dr. Gunther includes a new genus of snakes, Glypholycus, 
of which one species only is described, G. bicolor. Two new species of 
Mastacembelus which appear to connect the Asiatic species with the 
West African, and three species referred to Chromis. (Proceeds. 
London Zool. Soc., Nov., 1893.) 
According to Dr. Shufeldt the fibula in many birds is complete, nor- 
mally reaching the ankle-joint. He cites as examples in the Stegano- 
podes, the Snake-bird Plotus anhinga, Phalacrocorax — bieristatus 
(almost complete), Sula piscator, S. cyanops, S. bassana, SS. gossii and 
Fregata aquila. Judging from the literature upon the subject, this 
fact concerning avian anatomy is not generally known. (The Ibis, 
July, 1894.) 
Among the mammals of Baltistan and the Vale of Kashmir, presented 
to the U. S. Natl. Mus. by Dr.W. L. Abbott, are three species of Arvicola, 
A. fertilis, A. montosa and A. albicanda, which are new, and also a new 
geographical race of Mus arianus. Sminthus concolor in this collection 
extends the range of that species a thousand miles. (True in Proceeds. 
U.S. Natl. Mus. Vol. XVII, 1894.) 
In his studies of North American Mammals Mr. F. W. True finds it 
necesssary to place Brewer's mole in a new genus, Parascalops. In the 
same paper are given diagnoses of an undescribed race of Albert's 
squirrel, S. aberti concolor, a new lemming, Myodes nigripes, and a lem- 
ming-like mouse, representing a new genus, Mictomys innuitus. (Pro- 
ceeds. U. S. Natl. Mus., 1894.) 
