SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
April 17, 1944 
Col. C. H. Strong, 
Headquarters PCD, 
Quarry Heights, 
Canal Zone. 
Dear Col. Strong: 
About a month ago when I was in your office you men¬ 
tioned to me a request for information regarding a small black 
colored snake six inches long or so that the Indians in Yucatan 
call by the name of Can Chah. I made some inquiry concerning 
this on my return to Washington but was not able to obtain any 
information worthwhile until today. Dr. Hobart Smith, now with 
the Biological Laboratories at the University of Rochester writes 
me as follows: 
"The Indian name 'Can Chah' is not familiar to me. It is no 
doubt rather restricted in use to the Yucatan peninsula, but 
even if it were more widely used I might well not be familiar 
with it. However there is only one species of small black 
snake, about 6 inches in length, common enough to be generally 
noticed, and unusual enough to be distinguished from the 
general run of snakes; that is, there is only one to be found 
in the present list of Yucatan species. It is Leptotyphlops 
phenops phenops . the little worm snake. The. animal is quite 
slender, dark in appearance and frequently almost black, and at 
times is fairly common. Of course there are several other 
species the name might apply to, but this appears to me the most 
probable.' 1 
Dr. Smith held a traveling scholarship under the Smithsonian 
Institution for three years under which he was engaged in a study of 
the reptiles and amphibians of Mexico. We have a Check-list of the 
snakes of that country that he has prepared and that will be published a 
little later. I hope that this may answer your question. ’With my 
kindest regards, I am 
_• _ __ "I 
w A. Wetmore, 
Assistant Secretary. 
Ip 
