42 
Transactions Texas Academy of Science 
brown lozenges. Light line from superciliary to angle of the month; 
behind this a dark patch. 
Head above covered with small subtuberculous scales. Superciliaries 
(snpraocnlars) large. Anterior frontals (internasals) large, triangular, 
emarginated behind to receive a series of three small plates. A single sub- 
hexagonal plate between the superciliary (supraocular) and anterior 
frontal (internasal). The exterior plate of the posterior frontal (pre- 
frontal) row is much the largest, and is in contact with the superciliaries 
(supraoculars) . A series of three or four large flat scales extend from 
the posterior extremity of the superciliary (supraocular). Scales on 
cheeks (temporals) very large, truncate. Anterior orbitals (preoculars) 
double, the upper one rectangular, elongated logitudinally, separate from 
the (posterior) nasal by two small plates (loreals). 
General . color above that of roll sulphur ; beneath, whitish yellow. 
Along the back is a double series of subrhomboidal blotches, looking as 
if they had been in contact, and then the line of junction partially 
effaced, for the three or four central rows. The impression conveyed 
by the color of these blotches is that of coarse mottlings of soot or gun- 
powder grains, more crowded exteriorly. There are twenty-one of these 
blotches from the head to the anus, the tail being entirely black. The 
rhomboids are inclosed within about twelve dorsal series of scales. 
Directly opposite to these spots on each side is a series of subtriangular 
blotches similarly constituted as to color, and extending from the 
abdomen to about the fifth lateral row, and some six or seven scales 
long. Anteriorly these are distinct from the dorsal series, but pos- 
teriorly they are confluent with them, forming a series of zigzag blotches 
across the body. The scutellse below show more or less of the grain-like 
mottlings. Posteriorly the yellow of the body is suffused with darker. 
There are no markings of lines distinctly visible on the sides of the 
head. In the center of the spaces between the dorsal and lateral series 
of blotches are indications of small obsolete spots, and in some cases the 
yellow scales external to the blotches are of a lighter color than the rest. 
Humber of ventrals (gastrosteges), 166; of subcaudals (urosteges), 
25; dorsal scale rows, 23. 
Total length, 42 inches; tail, 5 inches.” 
(Stejneger, “Poisonous Snakes of North America.”) 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
“The banded rattlesnake extends even into Texas, as Dr. Shumard 
sent to the Smithsonian Institution a specimen collected on the upper 
Brazos during Captain Marcy’s exploration of that river.” (Dr. Stej- 
neger, “Poisonous Snakes of North America.”) 
In April, 1902, Dr. H. W. Crouse secured a fine specimen near the 
