Proceedings of the United States National Museum

Vol. Till, No, 14. Washington, D. €. June

8,

188 J.

nary type, colorplainblackish gray, withoutmarkings, the loweri)arts scarcely paler; no reddish shades.

Few

specimensof this species have been studied,

and

only one has been recorded ofless than 100i^ouiids weight,so far as1 remember.

Itisevident thatthisspecies hasnospecial relation totheGreatJew-

fishor

Guasa

{Promicropsitaiara). Itsnearestrelationsseemtobewith T^.pinephehis morio.

Not

havingseen specimens of the

two

atallsimi- larin size,it is hard todecideas to

how

neartheserelationsare.

The most

obvious differences arein color,in the

more

robustformofU. ni- gritus,

and

inthe

much

greater concavity of the caudalin E. morio.

Dr. Bean,

who

has

examined

the

young

of E.nigritus,regardsitas very distinctfrom the

young

of E. morio.

Indiana University,

April 1, 1885.

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF AMBLYSTOMA (AMBLY-

STOMA COPEIANUM) FROM INDIANA.

By

O.P.

HAV.

The

specimen on which the following description is based

was

found dead

and somewhat

mutilated.

The

injury that it has suffered does not, however,in

anyway

obscure the characters of thespecies,amount-

ing,asitdoes, onlytoalossoftheentire leftfore-limb

and

slightfract- ures ofafew of the bones ofthe anteriorpart of the head.

The

headis large,

somewhat

widertha^u the body,

and

flattened; the

body

short,

and

thetail long

and

compressed.

The

skinis,for themost part, smooth,but everywhere,as seen under a lens,is pittedwiththe openings of the cutaneous follicles.

Of

these, there areafew enlarged ones in a

band

surrounding the orbit and extending forward tothe nostril. Othersare found above the angle of the jaw,

and

afew ^still largeroneson the posterior border of the parotid region.

The

prom- inent keel,

and

thewholetip of thetail areso richly provided withen- larged poresas topresenta gr?nulated appearance.

The

width of the

head

is

somewhat

greaterthan that of the body. It ispossible that thebrcradth

and

flatness of the head have been exag- gerated

somewhat by

theinjuries thatit has received; butti is can be trueonlytoaveryslight extent.

The

breadthis aboutthe sane atthe angle of the

jaw and

the cornerof themouth.

From

the former point the head tapers backward,the outline being concaveto its posterior border, where itis suddenlv constricted into the neck.

From

thecor- ners of the

mouth

thehead tapersforwardtonearlyoppositethenostrils,

beyond which itis rapidly rouuded to form the snout.

The

widthof Proc. Nat.Mus. 85 14

210 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

[1885.

the lieadis alittle less than the distance fromthe snoutto the gular fold;

and

is contained intbe distancefromthe snoutto the groin three

and

six-tenths times.

The

distancetothe gularfoldis containedin the distance to the groin three

and

two-tenths times.

The

depth of the head, on alinejoiningthe angles of the jaws, is a little lessthan one- halfits width.

The

gularfold does notoverlap, as it doesin

some

spe- cies. It

may have

done so inlife, but manipulationofthe skin failsto restore anoverlappingfold.

The

upper

jaw

projectsbe.vond thelower.

Eyes

of moderate size. External nares small; their distance apart

somewhat

lessthan thewidth ofthe interorbital space.

The

tongueis not notably dift'erent from that of A. tigHnum.

The

teeth are arranged infour series, which togetherform

an

invertedV, theangle ofwhichisveryobtuse.

The

limbs of the V,as seen with the unaided eye, appearnearlystraight,

and

are seen toextendbeyondthe internal nares along their external fissure. Examination with a^lens proves that the innerseriesareeachslightly^{'^-"-^}shaped

and

sodisposed asto

make

theaiigle ofthe

V

roundedoff.

The

outerserieson eachside isnearly as long astbecorresponding innerseries,is plainlyseparated fromit,

and

nearly straight or slightly concave on the posterior side.

Inner nares

more

distant than the external.

The body

is

somewhat

depressed,but has not the swollenappearance presented

by

A.opacum.

The

distancefrom the snoutto the axillaisjust equal to thatfrom the axillatothegroin. Thereareelevenwell-markedcostalgrooves. There

is a

median

furrow, not deep but distinct,beginning on the occiput

and

runningalong the back,deepening on thesacralregion

and

ending overthemiddleof the vent atthe

commencement

of the caudalcrest.

The

cloacal region is considerably swollen

and

is broad

and

rounded, orslightlyemarginato, behind.

The

distancefrom the grointo thepos- teriorend of the ventin this species is greater proportionally thanin

any

other of the genus, so far as I

have

been able todetermine. Itis

containedinthe distancefromthe snoutto the groinbut three

and

one- sixth times.

The

tail is equal in lengthtothe distancefrom the snouttothe be- ginning of the vent. Itis

much

compressed

and

ratherhigh. Ithas a well-developed keel,orcrest,whichbegins immediatelyover the cloaca

and

extends to the tipof the tail.

The

keel is sharp above

and

is

bounded

below, on eachside,

by

a shallow groove. Inferiorlythetail isbroadly roundedfor its anterior thirdor more,

and

is traversed

by

a

median

longitudinal groove.

The

remainderofitslower borderis com- pressed to a sharp edge.

A

transverse section of thetail, taken just behindthecloaca,would form approximately anisoscelestriangle

whose

base

would

be aboutone-halfitsheight. One-third of the distanceback toward thetipthe height of the tailis threetimesits thickness.

The

limbs are welldeveloped.

The

posteriorarealittle longer,some-

what

stouter,

and

thefoot broaderthan the

same

limbs of a specimen of

A

tigrinum that measures the

same

distancefrom the snoutto the

1885.]

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 211

end ofthevent.

They

are alsofnlly as lon^ as the

same

limbs of a specimen of A. pmictaium that measures from snouttotheendof the ventthree-fourths of an inch

more

than the specimen I

am

describing.

The

toes are nuichlike thoseof

A %m«(m,

perhapsnot sobroad,while they are notso slender as thoseof aspecimen^ofA.punctatum

now

be- fore me.

They

are provided with a narrow marginal

and

basal

mem-

brane. Therearetwo distinctplantartubercles.

Measurements.

Length: Inches. Lines.

Fromsnouttoendoftail 5' ₈

Fromsnout to gularfold 8.5

Fromsnoutto linejoining axillae 1 1.5

Fromsnouttogroin 2 3

Fromsnouttoendofvent 3

Fromendofventto tipoftail 2 8

Fromaxillatogroin 1 1.5

Fromgrointoendofvent 8.

Widthofheadatangle ofjaw 7.

Distancebetweenanteriorcanthi 4.

Interorbitalspace 3.25

Greatest height of the tail 5

Thicknessoftailathighestpoint 2

Lengthofwholefore-leg 11

Lower armajid hand 7.

Lengthof thirdfinger _2.

Hinderlimb,totallength 1 0.05

Lowerlegandfoot 9

Freeportion fourthtoe 3

Expanseofoutstretchedhinder limbs 2 5

Distancebetweenexternal nares 2.6

Distancebetweeninnernares 3.6

Proportionaldimensions.

Times.

Muzzletogularfold

In distancefromsnouttogroin , 3.2

In distancetoendofvent(nearly) 4.2

Fore-armandfoot •

In distanceto groin 3.

In distancetoendofvent _4.7

Lowerlegandfoot

In distancetogroin 3

' In distancetoendofvent 4

Widthofhead

In distancetogroin 3.

The

coloris dark brown,almostblack,above, brownish-yellow below.

Between

thefore

and

hind legsthelight colorof thebelly

mounts up

on thesides to alevelwith the uppersurfacesof the limbs.

The

mid- dle of the bellyis of a duskier hue than itssides. Pectoral, inguinal, and pubic regions slightly brighter yellowthan the sidesof thebelly.

Head

above like the back, below like the other lower parts. Just

212 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

[1885.

behindthesymphysisof thelower

jaw

areindicationsof abrightyel- lowspot.

The

upperhalf ofthetailisnotsodarkasthe back, thelower halfduskierthan thebelly.

The

limbsbelow

and

in front yellowish,as otherlower parts. Feet, especially above, dark. Thisspecies

must

be (iompared withA. hicolor, A. tigrinum,

and

possibly with A.ohscurum.

Tbe

last

two

belong tothegroup which hastwelvecostalgrooves, as the si)ecies arearrangedin Prof. E. D. Cope's ''Reviewof the

Amblystom-

idie" (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1867, 166). A. ohscurum has the internal naresno

more

widely separatedthan aretheouter; thelimbs of the palatine

V

^aredecidedly concave,

and

the inner seriesof teeth are about twice the length of theouter.

The

frontalregion of A. oh-

scurum isalso said to be very convex. It is alsoa rather long-bodied species,the distance from thesnoutto theaxilla beingcontainedin the distancefrom thesnouttothe[groin] nearly

two and

four-tenths times, whileinA. copeianum the latter distance is buttwice the former. In- deed,this form diftersfrom allothers, so faras

my knowledge

extends, in thisequality of the distances from snoutto axilla

and

fromaxilla to groin. A. hicolorapproaches^itmost nearly. In such specimensofA.

tigrinum as I have been permitted to examine, the ratio of the

two

dimensions is about the

same

as given aboveforA. ohscurum. It is

aboutthe

same

inspecimens of A. mavortium, as deduced from meas- urementsg-iveninProfessorCoi^e'spapercitedabove.

From

A.tigrinum

my

speciesdiftersfurther in having no traces of the yellow spots so characteristicof that

common

form. A. copeianum hasalso a broader

and more

depressed head, a

more

compressed tail,

and

longerlimbs.

A. hicoloris described as having thepalatine teeth in three entirely transverseseries; as having a very shortmuzzle,

and

as being

more

or less spotted.

A

comparisonof

some

of thedimensionsof the

two

spe- ciesisnecessary.

The

type of A. hicolor

now

in the

museum

of the

Academy

of theNatural Sciences of Philadelphia furnishes themeas- urements found in the first column, which are taken principallyfrom Professor Cope's paper. Those

marked

with an asterisk have been kindly obtained for

me by

Prof.

Angelo

Heilprin. Itisalmost exactly thesizeof thetype oiA. copeianum, 5 inches 10.05lines.

Measurements. A.bicolor.

The

above^{table of}comparative measurements shows that A. hicolor has, iu comparison with A.copciamon, a longerand still broader head;

in spite of this a distance from the axilla to the groin greater than that from the snout to the axilla, a

much

shorter i^elvic region

and

shorterforeand hindlimbs.

Found

at Irvington,near ludianapolis,April 7, 1885,

by

one of

my

students, Mr. George H.Clarke.

The

species is dedicatedto Prof. E.D. Cope, herpetologist

and

palse- ontologist. Itisrepresented on Plate

XIV

ofthis volume.

IrvinGtTON, Indiana,

May

5, 1885.

LIST OF PLANTS COLLECTED BY MR. CHARLES

^L.

McKAY AT NUSHAGAK, ALASKA, IN

1881,

FOR THE UNITED STATES NA- TIONAL MUSEUM.

By

FRANK

».KIVO%VI.TOIV.

The

plants enumeratedin the followinglistwere collectedduringthe spring

and summer

of 1881

by

Mr. Charles L.

McKay,

of the United States Signal Service,stationed atNushagak, Fort Alexander,Alaska.

The

collection, although small in point of numbers, containsseveral species of extreme interest,

and

adds alsoa fewto thefloraofAlaska.

]!:^othing like an exhaustive collection

was

made, owing, of course, to lack ofsufficienttime,

and we remark

theabsenceof

many

well-known generr, e.g.,Draba, iSaxifraya, Aster, &c.

In passing itisa pleasure, as well as an act ofjustice,torecord the highly satisfactory

manner

in which this collection

was

made, a fact quite atvariancewiththegeneralityof suchitinerant collecting.

The

greatest care

was

taken to fully representevery species, which, as in the case of the species of ^alix, often necessitatedvisitingthe

same

locality several times. Itis to beregretteddeeply thatsciencelost

by

the untimely death of Mr.

McKay

(he

was drowned by

the unfortunate overturning of his boat,on April 19, 1882), one so well fitted to do thorough work.

Iwish to acknowledge

my

great indebtedness in thepreparation of thislistto Prof. LesterF.

Ward,

of theKational

Museum;

Dr.George Vasey,ofthe

Department

ofAgriculture; and Mr,

M.

S.Bebb,ofEock-

ford,'lll.

In the arrangement of families

and

genera,

Bentham and

Hooker's

"

Genera

Plantarum^"hasbeen exclusivelyfollowed. In the arrange-

ment

of species,the various publications of Dr.

Asa Gray

have been followedwhereavailable.

PEOCEEDINGS OP UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

^{\.l88^i.}

EXPLANATION OF PLATE

XIV.

(Fortestseepages209-213.

)

Amblystoma copeiamm Hay. Aboutnaturalsize.

Thetype specimenwasfoundatIivington, Ind.,byMr. George H.Clarke.

A.MI5IA'.STOMA COPKIAXTM, KAY