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Show 154 DB. J. DE BEDEIAGA ON THE PYEENEAN NEWT. [Feb. 19, comparatively indistinct, whilst the lower surfaces generally turn paler in the male and retain the primitive tint in the female, or acquire in the latter more and more intensity. The sexual difference in the colour of the belly, throat, and edge of the tail is almost constant, although it is not so striking during the terrestrial existence of this newt. Var. rugosa. My friend Mr. G. A. Boulenger refers Hemitriton vel Triton cinereus, rugosus, bibroni, puncticulatus, Duges, Dumeril & Bibron, Hemitriton asper, Duges, Triton repandus and Tr. pyrenceus, Dumeril & Bibron, to the synonymy of Molge aspera, and in fact the descriptions given by the French authors are so superficial and unsatisfactory that they lead merely to confusion. Besides, the above-named authors were neither well informed about the localities in which their indifferently preserved specimens were captured, nor did they take the trouble to discriminate the sexes. Mr. Boulenger was therefore perfectly right in referring all those numerous species to M. aspera, Duges. Nevertheless one of them, the Hemitriton or Triton rugosus, may be considered as a variety. At least I believe that the specimens of M. aspera which I collected in the Lac de Gaube and in the river Gave are different to a certain extent from those I found in the Lac d'Oncet. Those lakes (and tbe same may be said of the greater number of lakes in the Pyre-nean mountains) are perfectly isolated one from the other, and it is therefore hardly possible that the newts of one of the lakes ever mix with those of the neighbourhood. The principal characters of the rugous variety of M. aspera are as follows :- The physiognomy and coloration resemble those of M. waltli. Total length 150 m m . This newt is therefore somewhat larger than the type. Head large and much depressed; snout distinctly truncate. Skin strongly tuberculate above, especially along the sides of the head, body, and tail, where regular spines are to be found. The upper surfaces are light or dirty grey with a more or less pronounced brown tint, spotted with dark olive-brown or blackish. These spots are (especially when small and round) very distinct upon the lower parts of the sides of the body and towards the belly. In individuals with yellow markings on the back and tail these spots concentrate near the markings and generally form their dark margins. The above-mentioned warts are yellowish or dirty white, with dark horny granules or spines in the middle. The tail seems to be always a little lighter than the body, mostly greyish with small dark spots and a brownish-yellow line along the upper caudal edge, which is very often interrupted by dark brown or blackish specks. Sometimes more or less confluent yellow spots appear on the upper part of the tail. Throat and median region of belly yellowish, with rather numerous small dark grey or blackish spots, especially towards the posterior part |