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Show 1 9 0 5 .J AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES. 199 Cumbre de los Cajones; the pass at 3500' over a ridge which, on the south flank of the main range, marks the beginning of volcanic terrain. Oak and pines and columnar cactus. Buena Vista, 2300'. Wide meadows, with pools in the rainy season; low hills with oak and pines. Typical Tierra Caliente, with an essentially tropical aspect of flora and fauna, begins on the southern slopes of the main ridge, coinciding with what is officially and locally known as La Costa. Its upper limit may be put at not higher than 1000 feet. In the depressions between the successive parallel ranges of hills the type is absolutely tropical and southern, but the country loses this character at once on the ridges which rise higher than 1500 feet. Tierra Colorada, 990'; river valley, volcanic. Andesite overlaid with red rubble. Valley of the Omitlan River, 500'. Limestone, densest vegetation on the slope which culminates in a ridge of 1600', called El Cumbre de Coquillo. Coquillo to Chacalapan, about 700'; tropical life.-From here, across several smoothed down ridges and to the coast, the subsoil consists of gneiss and granite in rapid decomposition, fairly well wooded in clumps or large patches, often interrupted by meadows and natural stretches of pasture. Numerous small rivers, carrying much sand, but nearly always with clear water, but most of them are liable to run dry in the winter. Near the granite-bound coast are numerous lagoons, mostly of fresh water, and there is a broad belt of almost impenetrable high forest, which in many places touches the sea. The mangrove-swamps of course are permanent, but during the rainy season many parts of these forests are inundated. Limon, 1800'. Open, dry grass country. Teconapan, 1500'. Broad meadows. Ayutla, 1200'. Permanent river ; rich vegetation. Cocoyul, 160'. Near the coast forest. Pacific Camp. Near the shore, 99° W., 16° 36' N. Close to the forest; large lagoons and swamps ; granitic rocks and mangroves. San Luis Allende, 930'. Broad river-valley, with well-wooded hills which are covered with various kinds of oak, and from 1900' upwards chiefly with pines. Nearly the whole Coastal District is, during and after the rainy season, covered with a dense mass of tall herbs, which between the trees especially take the place of underwood. Cjscili^:. Dermophis mexicanus.-This is the only Csecilian which extends into the Mexican Tierra Caliente. Previously known to range from " Tehuantepec " to Panama, I found it in the low woods near San Juan Evangelista. The American ancestral home of this circum-tropical family is South America, and none are known to occur on the Antilles or on the Galapagos. It is therefore |