countries, such migration is more nearly east and west than north and south.

NEW SPECIES OF A NEW GENTS OF SERPENT.

A new species of a new genus of serpents, collected by Lieutenant Wheeler's expedition in Arizona daring the field season of 1874, has just been identified and named by Professor E. D. Cope. It is called Monopoma râpunctatum. The rostral shield of this new genus resembles that of Phimothyra, and the lateral head shields those of Cyclophis asti rus. It is, however, more like Eutania in general character. This is a very interesting discovery.

NEW SERPENT FROM FLORIDA.

Mr. S. W. Garman describes, in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, a new American species of serpent from Florida under the name of Helicops alleni.Pr. Bost. Nat. Hist. Soc., XVII, 1, 92.

RESEMBLANCE OF EXTINCT TORTOISES TO LIVING ONES.

A remarkable announcement is made by Dr. Günther to the effect that the remains of extinct species of gigantic tortoises in the Mauritius and the island of Rodriguez have a very close affinity to the living species of the Gallapagos Archipelago, and differing from other tortoises of the same region in having a flat cranium and a truncated beak. According to Dr. Günther, the presence of these allied tortoises at points so remote from one another can be accounted for only by the belief that they are in each case indigenous.— 4 D, November, 1874, 403.

THE HYBRIDIZATION OF SALAMANDERS.

Professor Gervais, of the Jardin des Plantes, instituted a number of experiments in the hybridization of various species of aquatic salamanders. He mingled males and females of the European Tritons of several species; but the eggs were not fecundated, and soon died. The eggs of a siredon, or undeveloped Amblystoma, from North America, were successfully impregnated by the males of the European Triton cristatus, and were deposited in large numbers. Some thirty young hatched from these, and became objects of much curiosity.

They were veritable hybrids, but presented the characters of the male Triton more distinctly than those of the female Amblystoma. In spite of the utmost care, they all perished as the time approached for undergoing their metamorphosis. In a subsequent year the experiment met with a similar result-the larvæ attained some size, but died before the absorption of the gills.

FOSSIL SALAMANDER: SALAMANDRELLA PETROLI.

Professor Gervais has described a fossil salamander from the permian formation, to which he gives the name of Salamandrella petroli, on account of its occurring in the petroleum beds of the Permian formation. It is much more nearly related to the true salamanders than to Cheirotherium, and constitutes a new genus.-13 B, February 20, 1875, 191.

THE BATRACHIA AND REPTILIA OF NORTH AMERICA.

The Smithsonian Institution has published a memoir on the geographical distribution of the Batrachia and Reptilia of North America, by Professor E. D. Cope, which is based on the large collections of the National Museum. In this work the primary divisions of the earth, as proposed by Sclater and Huxley, are redefined, and the mixture of South American families and genera in the North American fauna regarded as sufficient ground for separating it as a primary division from Europe-Asia. The subdivisions or provinces adopted are six, viz.: the Eastern, from the Plains to the Atlantic, as far south as the isothermal of 77°; second, the Austroriparian, extending from the Rio Grande to the Atlantic, south of the isothermal of 77°; third, the Central, extending from Texas and the Sierra Nevada to the eastern boundary of the Plains; fourth, the Sonoran, embracing New Mexico, Arizona, and a part of Nevada; fifth, the Pacific, all west of the Sierra Nevada; and, lastly, the Lower Californian, covering the peninsula of that name. Of these the central is the poorest in reptilian life; the two eastern provinces are distinguished for the abundance of the species of salamanders and tortoises; and the Sonoran and Pacific for the abundance of lizards. The Sonoran province is remarkably poor in salamanders and tortoises, while the Pacific district, with few tortoises, abounds in salamanders. The Austroriparian is the

head-quarters of the toads and moccasins; the Sonoran is the centre of variation of toads, Scelopori, horned lizards, and rattlesnakes. A great number of species is confined to this division. The snake-like batrachians belong exclusively to the Austroriparian district, the range of the genus Siren being co-extensive with its boundaries. A few Mexican genera extend east along the Gulf as far as Florida, and a few others of Sonoran character extend south into Mexico. The Lower California district is peculiar in its boæform serpents and large iguanas.

On the whole, the North American fauna is peculiar in its salamanders; Old World in its frogs and most of its turtles; and South American in most of its snakes and lizards, and some of its turtles.

REPORT OF THE OCCURRENCE OF LARGE COD-FISH OFF

MAZATLAN.

Land and Water refers to the occurrence of some large cod-fish off Mazatlan, West Mexico, as having been caught in June, 1873, by officers of the British ship Scylla. The largest of these fish measured six feet in length and weighed 230 pounds, the others being of different magnitudes down to 85 pounds. This statement, however, requires confirmation. It is a question whether the fish were really cod, or some other fish of more tropical habit more or less resembling it.—2 A, January 2, 1875, 6.

GRAYLING IN THE AU SABLE RIVER, MICHIGAN.

The discovery of the grayling in the waters of the Au Sable River of Michigan, some years ago, has attracted much attention to this locality recently, and induced efforts to secure and multiply this fish in some more southern waters. Our knowledge of this species is due mainly to Mr. D. H. Fitzhugh, of Bay City; and by his invitation Mr. Fred Mather, the wellknown fish-culturist, of Honeoye Falls, New York, visited the locality in his company on the 1st of April, 1874, but found that the eggs were not then ripe. On the 1st of May Seth Green went to the same region, at which time the fish had all spawned. He, however, dug out from the gravel about one hundred eggs, which he gave to Mr. Collins, of the Caledonia fish farm, to hatch out. These grew slowly at first,

but at the end of six months were much larger than brook trout of the same age. On the 6th of April of the present year Mr. Mather revisited the Au Sable River, remaining there until the 12th. On the 8th he took spawn from two fish, and on the 9th and 10th from several more. He brought away 8000 spawn and 40 yearlings, the latter about five inches long. He also packed 4000 eggs for Mr. N. W. Clark, of Northville, Michigan, and gave him a considerable number of fish. These eggs, at the latest accounts, were thriving finely, and the embryo was expected to hatch out very soon. -Live Stock Journal, May, 1875, 150.

RESPIRATION OF THE LOACH.

M. Rougemont, in speaking of the European fresh-water fish known as the loach (Cobitis fossilis), says that when one of these fish is placed in ordinary water it respires by means of its gills, in a normal manner; but whenever the proportion of oxygen falls below a certain minimum, the fish rises to the surface and there takes in air, while bubbles charged with carbonic acid escape at the anal orifice. It therefore appears that the digestive tube itself performs the functions of respiration, and that it is in this organ that the blood finds the oxygen necessary to its purification. This tube is thus equivalent to an air-bladder, and when filled with air the fish rises easily to the surface. The so-called air-bladder of the fish is a small bony receptacle, situated under the first vertebra, and it is believed, in view of the small volume of air it is capable of containing, that it is not a real air-vessel, but is simply a resonant chamber communicating with the organ of hearing, properly so called.-1 F, October 15, 1874, 162.

MONOGRAPH ON THE ANGUILLIFORM FISH.

M. Dareste has communicated to the Academy of Sciences of Paris a monograph upon the anguilliform fish, and especially the generas Anguilla, Conger, Myrus, Murænesox, and Nettastoma, which he finds to possess comparatively few of the anomalies observed in the subjects of a previous memoir on the Symbranchidae. In Anguilla, to which the common eel belongs, he finds evidence of the existence of only four species. One of these, the A. vulgaris, is found throughout the whole northern hemisphere, both in the New and the Old

World, exhibiting certain variations, it is true, but none of a specific value.

The other species, which he considers as belonging to this genus, are the A. marmorata and the A. mowa of the Indian seas, and the A. megalostoma of Oceanica.

Of the genus Conger he allows but four species; namely, the C. vulgaris, balearicus, mystax, and acutidens, the first two of which he regards as cosmopolite, and found simultaneously in almost all waters.

The variations in the external appearance of the true eel he thinks are produced in large measure by peculiarities of the ossification of the bones. In some the bones are in a cartilaginous or rachitic state, from which results a shortening of the jaws, or other deformations that produce a special impression upon the external appearance of the animal. Other variations are produced in both the conger and the true eel by the extent of albinism and melanism, special features appearing in each.—6 B, November 2, 1874, 988.

LARGEST PIKE EVER TAKEN IN ENGLAND.

Mr. Buckland, in Land and Water, acknowledges the receipt of what he considers to be the largest pike ever taken in England, weighing thirty-five pounds, and measuring three feet ten and a half inches in length. From the best evidence he could gather, this was one of the survivors of a small number of pike, weighing about one pound and a half each, which were placed in Ripley Lake some twelve years ago. The roe weighed three and a half pounds, and contained over 43,000 eggs.-2 A, October 24, 1874, 320.

HABITS OF EELS.

In view of the many points that still remain to be ascertained in regard to the life history of the eel, a recent communication published in Les Mondes may not be without its interest, however doubtful some of its statements may be. According to the writer, M. E. Noel, a certain fish- warden near Rouen, has observed that at about the end of September the large eels leave the sources of all the rivers and descend toward the salt water, at which time they are covered with a much thicker coat of muddy mucus than usual. They do not go down entirely to the sea, but stop in brackish wa

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