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Show 32 MR. G. A. BOULENGER ON REPTILES, [Jan. 14, 12 species obtained by Prof. Moesch, carmine spots or markings are present in the following :-Rana limnocharis, Microhyla achatina, Phrynella pulchra, Bufo melanostictus, B. parvus, B. asper. A somewhat similar proportion of carmine-spotted forms was observable in the collection from Malacca presented by Mr. Hervey. Such ornamental markings cannot be regarded as adaptations to the surroundings, and doubtless fall under the head of geographical isomorphism or mimetic analogy. As noticed by Wallace, the fauna of Sumatra is much more nearly allied to that of the forests of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, than is that of Java to either Sumatra or Borneo. Dr. Jentink ' finds " that the Mammalian fauna of East Sumatra agrees much more with the Borneo than with the West Sumatra fauna." I am not struck by any such relation in the herpetological fauna. [P.S. (Feb. 7, 1890).-This list was in type when I received from my colleague, Dr. van Lidth de Jeude, an advanced copy of a paper " On a collection of Snakes from Deli," to be published by him in the 'Notes from the Leyden Museum,' xii. 1890, pp. 17-27, and which, very curiously, was completed on the very same day as my own (Leyden Museum, 30 Dec. 1889). There is, however, no duplication of names, from the fact that both the new forms described by Dr. de Jeude were not represented in the collection worked out by m e ; and I have no alteration to make to m y list. Of the two novelties in Dr. de Jeude's paper, one, Calamaria vermiformis, var. sumatrana, is, however, not unknown to me, as I had found a specimen (also from Deli) in the Fischer Collection, and this I had likewise referred, as a colour-variety, to C. vermiformis. Should such a form warrant a name, that of sumatrana (Jeude) will have to be changed, being preoccupied by Edeling. Hypsirhina hageni, Jeude, is unknown to me ; but, judging from the careful description, appears to be a very interesting new form, intermediate between Hypsirhina bocourti, Jan (Siam), H. sieboldii, Schleg. (India, Burma, Malay Peninsula), and Homalophis doria, Peters (Borneo). The snake described by Steindachner in 1887 2, as a variety of the latter, is probably, again a distinct species, which agrees with H. hageni in the single loreal and 27 rows of scales. Other species mentioned by Dr. de Jeude and not represented in the Moesch and Iversen collections are Typhlops lineatus, Reinw., Lycodon aulicus, L., Odontomus subannulatus, Schleg., Coluber (Gonyosoma) oxycephalic, Reinw., Dryophis fasciolatus, Fischer, 1 Notes Leyden Mus. xi. 1889, p. 19. 2 Molge strauchii, Steind., described and figured in the same paper, =Neu-rergus crocatus, Cope (1862). It appears to me probable that the affinities of Molge crocata are with M. montana, Savi, not with M. crislata and marmorata as suggested by Steindachner. I cannot see how the presence of a ligamentous arcus fronto-tcmporalis can justify the inference that a dorsal crest is probably present in the breeding male. There are Newts with a ligamentous fronto-temporal arch, both with (Molge marmorata) and without (M. montana) a dorsal crest; the same is the case with those in which the arch is ossified (Molge vittata M. boscce) and with those in which it is absent (Molge cristata, Chioglossa lusitanica). |