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Show 1 9 0 5 .] AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES. 2 1 7 of the hot, well-wooded parts of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Vera Cruz, whence it extends far into Central America. It is far less quick than Cnemiclophorus, and I have found it invariably in the vicinity of water. A n g u id .e .- Anguis, with its sole species fragilis, and two species of Opliisaurus s. Pseudojms (Morocco to Burma) are the only members of this family which are not American, and even the third species of Ophisaurus, 0. ventralis, lives in the United States. The countries now richest in Anguidse are Mexico, Central America, and the Antilles; a few extend into South, and a few, Gerrhonotus with the Ophisaurus, into North America, where the latter is widely distributed (also recorded from Jalapa). Diploglossus is peculiar to the mountainous regions of Mexico; D. steindachneri from Orizaba, Jalapa, and Guatemala. The related genus Celestus in Antilles and Central America. Gerrhonotus is the main genus, eight species of which occur in Mexico, entirely in mountainous districts or on the plateau ; they are consequently absent in the hot lowland forests, and references to Vera Cruz and Tehuantepec do not apply to such towns but to unknown places in the state or district. G. cceruleus has the widest range, from British Columbia and Colorado along the Pacific side of Mexico to Costa Rica. Most of the species live on the ground, in the oak- and pine-forests, preferring clearly a moist and by no means warm climate. G. antauges ascends Citlaltepetl to an altitude of more than 12,000 feet, in the pine-forests, or in the grass near little streams, and higher up amongst the tussocks of grass, basking on the top of such a tussock and making its home among the roots or in the mass of last year's rotting blades. In such a place they disappear easily, although they are not quick. The same applies to G. imbricatus. G. gramineus, delicately light green above and yellow below, is arboreal, ascending the highest trees in search of insects and making its lair in hollow trees of oak, pines, and arbutus. They all are viviparous, live on insects and worms, and lose their shyness a few hours after having been caught and handled. X k n o s a u r iD/E.- Xenosaurus grandis alone is recorded only from the mountains near Orizaba, Cordoba, and Oaxaca. H e l o d e r m a t id .e .- The sole genus Heloderma, unless we include Lanthanotus of Borneo. II. suspectum of Arizona and New Mexico, and II. horridum of Mexico. The notion that Heloderma is a dweller on arid mountains is quite erroneous. It is restricted to hot lowlands with sandy ground. Most of Arizona is high and dry tableland, and there is quite a trade in " Gila monsters," but, so far as I could find out, they all came from such terribly hot and low sandy places as Yuma, on the lower reaches of the Gila river, and from similar localities in Sonora. II. horridum is |