2. Sp. Ophinectes viridis, Raf. Green Ophinectes. Entirely green.

3. Sp. Ophinectes luteus, Raf. Yellow O. Entirely yellow.

4. Sp. Ophinectes cerulescens, Raf. Bluish O. Entirely of a bluish colour.

5. Sp. Ophinectes versicolor, Raf. Versicolor O. Varied with many transverse zones, blue, white, red, green, and black. Many species are probably meant here.

6. Sp. Ophinectes maculatus, Raf. Spotted O. Covered with many irregular large spots. Many species.

7. Sp. Ophinectes punctatus, Raf. Dotted O. Covered with numberless small dots. Many species.

8. Sp. Ophinectes crythrocephalus, Raf. Red-head O. Head of a beautiful red, body

9. Sp. Ophinectus dorsalis, Raf. Backed O. Dark green with large spots of yellow and light green on the back.-Length 3 or 4 feet; near Dewitt's land.

10. Sp. Ophinectes major, Raf. Large Ophinectes. Green spotted with red and brown.-Length from 8 to 10 feet; also from the shores of Dewitt's land.

This last species appears to be the largest real sea-snake, which has fallen under the personal observation of naturalists as yet. But larger species still have been noticed at different periods. If I had the time and opportunity of perusing all the accounts of travellers and historians, I could probably bring many into notice; but this tedious labour must be postponed, and I must warn those that may be inclined to inquire into the subject, not to be deceived by the imperfect and exaggerated accounts of ancient or unknown writers. Whenever they neither mention the scales nor tail of their Sea Serpents, or when they assert they had no scales, or had gills or fins, you must in all those instances be certain that they are real fishes rather than Serpents. There might however be found some Sea Snakes without scales, since there are such land snakes, and there are fishes with scales and yet without fins; but there are no fishes without gills, and no snakes or serpents with gills! in that important character the classical distinction consists.

Nearly all the writers which I can remember, have been unacquainted with that obvious distinction; and they have

in imitation of the ancient Greek and Roman writers, given the name of SeaSnakes to the large ec's or fishes they happened to observe; this I apprehend is the case with Pontopidan in his Natural History of Norway, with Mongitore in his remarkable objects of Sicily, with Leguat in his travels to Rodriguez-Island, &c. Their observations, and the facts they record, are notwithstanding equally valuable, since they relate to monstrous unknown fishes, which seldom fall under the observation of men. The individuals of huge species are not numerous in nature, either on land and in water, and it is probable they often become extinct for want of food or reproduction.

Among the four different animals which have lately been observed by Americans, and named Sca-Serpents, only one (the Massachusetts Serpent) appears to be such: another is evidently a fish, and two are doubtful. I shall offer a few remarks on each.

1. The Massachusetts Sea Serpent: From the various and contradictory accounts given of this monster by witnesses, the following description may be collected-It is about 100 feet long, the body is round and nearly two feet in diameter, of a dark brown, and covered with leng scales in transverse rows; its head isscaly, brown mixed with white, of the size of a horse's and nearly the shape of a dog's; the mouth is large, with teeth like a shark; its tail is compressed, obtuse, and shaped like an oar. This animal came in August last into the bay of Massachusetts, in pursuit of shoals of fishes, herrings, squids, &c. on which it feeds. Its motions are very quick; it was seen by great many, but all attempts to catch it have failed, although $5000 has been offered for its spoils. It is evidently a real Sea-Snake, belonging probably to the genus Pelamis, and I propose to call it Pelamis megophias, which means great sea-snake Pelamis. It might however be a peculiar genus, which the long equal scales seem to indicate, and which a closer examination might have decided: in that case the name of Megophias monstruosus might have been appropriated to it.

2. Capt. Brown's Sea Serpent. This fish was observed by capt. Brown in a voyage from America to St. Petersburg. in July, 1816, near 60 N. latitude and & W. longitude, or north of Ireland. In swimming, the head, neck, and fore part. of the body stood upright like a mast; it was surrounded by porpoises and fishes. It was smooth without scales, and had 3 gills under the neck, which decidedly

evinces that it is not a Snake, but a new genus of fish! belonging to the eighth order Tremapnea, 26th family Ophiclia, and third sab-family Catremia, along with the genera Spragebranchus and Synbranchus of Bloch, which differ by having only one or two round gills under the neck. I shall call this new genus OCTIPOs (meaning 8 gills beneath), whose characters will be-body round, without scales, (or fins,) head depressed, mouth transverse, large, 3 transverse gills under the neck.And its specific name and definition will be Olipos bicolor. Dark brown above, muddy white beneath, head obtuse. Capt. B. adds, that the head was two feet long, the mouth 15 inches, and the eyes over the jaws similar to the horse's—the whole length might be 50 feet.

3. The Scarlet Sea-Serpent. This was observed in the Atlantic ocean by the captain and crew of an American vessel, from New-York, while reposing and coiled up, near the surface of the water, in the summer of 1818. It is very likely that it was a fish, and perhaps might belong to the same gems with the foregoing; I shall Feter it thereto, with doubt, and name it Oct pos? Coccineus.-Entirely of a bight crimson, head acute. Nothing further descriptive was added in the Gazettes where the account was given, except that its length was supposed to be about 40

feet.

4. Lake Erie Serpent. It appears that our large lakes have huge serpents or fishes, as well as the sea. On the 3d July, 1817, one was seen in lake Erie, 3 miles from land, by the crew of a schooner, which was 95 or 40 feet long, and one foot in diameter; its colour was a dark mahogany, nearly black. This account is very imperfect, and does not even notice if it had scales; therefore, it must remain doubtful whether it was a snake or a fish. I am inclined to believe it was a fish, until otherwise convinced; it might be a gigantic species of eel, or a species of the above genus Octipos. Until seen again, and better described, it may be recorded under the name of Anguilla gigas, or gigantic eel.

ADDITIONS.

1. The Pelamis mezophias,or Great SeaSnake, appears to have left the shores of Massachusetts, and to have baffled the attempts to catch it, probably because those attempts were conducted with very little judgment. But a smaller snake, or fish, 9 feet long, and a strange shark have been taken, of which the papers give no description; let us hope that they will be described by the naturalists of Boston.

2. It appears that another large species of Water-Snake is noticed by D. Felix Azara, in his travels in South America, (Paris, 1809. 4 vol. 8vo.) under the name of Curigu, which may belong to the genus Pelamis, although this worthy traveller has omitted to describe its tail and scales. It may be called and characterized as follows:

Pelamis curi. (Curiyu. Azara trav. Vol. I. p. 226.) Spotted and variegated, of black and yellowish white.

It measures over 10 feet, and is ofthe size of the leg; it lives in the lakes and rivers of Paraguay, north of the 31st degree of latitude. It goes sometimes on land (and shrubs), but moves heavily thereon; it has a dreadful aspect, but does not bite; itlives on fishes, young otters, apereas and copibaras.

3. The Water-Snake of Lake Erie has been seen again, and described to be of a copper colour, with bright eyes, and sixty feet long. It is added, that at a short distance balls had no effect on him; but it is omitted to mention whether it was owing to having har scales, (in which case it might be a real snake of the genus Erhydris or Pelamis) or to the indexterity of the marksman.

4. Mr. W. Lee has brought to notice another Sea-Snake, seen by him many years ago, near Cape Breton and Newfoundland, which was over 200 feet long, with the back of a dark green; it stood on the water in flexuous hillocks, and went through it with impetuous noise. This appears to be the largest on record, and might well be called l'elamis monstruosus; but if there are other species of equal size, it must be called then Pelamis chloronotis, or green-back Pelamis.

5. Dr. Samuel Mitchill has exhibited to the Lyceum of Natural History, at the sitting of the 15th September, the specimen of a species of Sea-Snake from his museum, sent him some years ago from Guadaloupe, by Mr. Ricord de Mariana, which appears to be another new species, belonging to the genus Enhydris, to which the name of Enhydris annularis may be given: we shall add its definition and description.

Enhydris annularis. Ringed Enhydris

whitish, ringed with black, rings broader on the back, which is cinereous and rather angular in the middle; tail broad, short,obtuse,with 70 pairs of scales underneath, more than 200 pairs of abdominal scales.,

This animal is about 18 inches long, covered with smooth and roundish scales above, the head is depressed, obtuse, small,

1877.

covered with similar scales, and nearly black, the lips are white; a white half ring sets on the inpe of the neck, and extends on each side over the eyes; a black line connects the eyes with the nostrils; an oblong white band lays below the head, longitudinally; the nostrils are round, the mouth is small and with a few small teeth; the body is cylindrical, but the back is slightly carinated towards its centre, and of an ash colour; the black rings are narrow underneath. The tail is only two inches long, very compressed; the extremity is broader, obtuse, tipped with white, and has a slight lateral angle on each side, or a protuding longitudinal nerve; a simiLar appearance is perceptible on the upper and lower edges, which appear to be thickened; the whole tail is covered with large scales of a transverse and broad shape.

This snake is found in the West Indies, in the sea, particularly on the shores of the Island of Guadaloupe.

5.

435

Extracts from the Journal of Mr. Charles Le Raye, relating to some new Quadrupeds of the Missouri Region, with Notes by C. S. R.

A concise and interesting Topogra phical Description of the state of Ohio, Indiana Territory and Louisiana, &c. was published at Boston in 1812, in a small 12mo. volume, by an anonymous writer, styling himself a late Officer of the U.S. Army. To this work, an account of the Indian tribes East and West of the Mississippi, is added; and likewise, he Journal of Mr. Le Raye while a captive with the Sioux nation, on the waters of the Missouri. This Journal occupies from page 158 to 204, and is replete with useful and valuable geographical information and natural observations.

7. The great Sea-Shake has been seen again towards the middle of September, in the bay of Massachusetts, and three yellow collars observed on its neck, which has led some to believe it might be another individual and species; but this circumstance might have been overlooked before: it is not stated whether it had streaks of a lighter hue on the body, as the first was represented to have by some witnesses. It is therefore likely that the two characters of "streaks of a lighter hue on the body, and three yellow collars on the neck," may be added to its description. The collars are described as about 2 inches broad and 1 foot apart.

8. Dr. Mitchill informs me that General Hawkins has written a Memoir on the Sea-Serpents of Massachusetts, which he has sent, with a drawing to Sir Joseph Banks; it is a paper of some length, and much interest, as it relates facts and all the circumstances attending the appear ance and natural history of those huge animals, taken upon the oaths of eyewitnesses. He attempts to prove, with much probability, that several individuals have been seen, and two at least, if not three species; one with three collars, another without any, and a smaller one,

wessies, who were then at war with the Osages. He remained their captive until the th April, 1815, and during that period visited many nations on both sides of the Missouri, such as the Ricaras, Mandans, Minetarrees, and the Crow, the Flat-head and Snake Indians. He was allowed to accompany a hunting party of Minetarrecs (or Menitures or Gros-ventres) to the plain of the Yellow Stone river, and the upper plains of the Missouri, near the Rocky Mountains. Those excursions enabled him to observe many of the new and rare Quadrupeds of those regions, and he appears to have been the first observer, who has noticed them with accuracy, and whose observations have been communicated to the public: Since such observations of Captains Lewis and Clarke, as relate to those parts, were only made between 1804 and 1806, and not published until 1814.

Those circumstances will render Mr. Le Raye's observations particularly interesting. It is from intelligent travellers that naturalists derive their most correct and accurate materials: I consider those furnished by Mr. Le Raye as highly valuable, mostly new, and entitled to priority; wherefore they claim the attention of all those who shall feel any share of interest in the study of the animals of North America: and I have been induced to collect them together and illustrate them by appropriate notes or comments, hoping thereby to render them of more easy access and utility.

I. Page 165.-"During our stay, the

Indians killed a deer, which is called the long tailed deer. It was longer than the red deer, of a darker colour, and with a white belly. Its horns are short, small, and somewhat flat; its tail nearly eighteen inches long. They are said to be plenty in those plains." The plains of the Kanzas river.

Note. This concise description is sufficiently accurate to enable us to ascertain that it belongs to a new species of deer, unknown east of the Mississippi, to which I shall give the name of Corvus macrourus, which means long tailed deer; it may be characterized as follows-horns somewhat depressed, shorter than the head, body brownish above, white below, tail elongated.

2. Page 168.-" An animal is found in these plains (on the Sioux river, north of the DIi somi) called the Prairie chien, or meadow dog. It is smaller than the gray fox, and formed much like the dog, Its cars are pointed and stand erect, and the whole head very much resembles the dog. Its tail is long, slim, and of a dim colour. It digs holes and burrows in a fight loamy soil, and in the same holes a small speckled snake takes shelter, which the Indians call the dog's guard. The Indias have many superstitious notions respecting these dogs. The Ay00-wars or Nez percés nation, have a tradition that the human race sprang from this dog and the beaver. All other nations hold them in great veneration."

Note. A very imperfect description of this new species of fox, which I shall name Canis chlorops, (green eyed fox, or meadow fox) as it is probably the same species better described in Lewis and Clarke's travels, vol. i. p. 207. Its definition, drawn from both accounts, may be-tail elongated, strait and dun colour, ears long and pointed, eyes green, fur pale reddish brown.

S. Page 168.-"A kind of deer is frequently killed here, (on the Sioux river) called mule deer. It is smaller and of a darker colour than the red deer, having large branched horns. The ears are very large, the tail about five inches long with short dark hair, and at the end a tuft composed of long black hair.

Note. This short account is however characteristic; it belongs to my Cervus hemionus (mule deer) a new species, akin to the Cervus melanurus, or black tail deer. Its description will be-horns very branched, longer than the head, ears elongated, body of a reddish brown, tail brown with a black tuft at the end.

4. Page 169.-"A species of the badger, called prarow, inhabits these plains, (those of the Sioux river.) Its head much resembles the dog; legs short and very thick in proportion to its body, armed with long, sharp claws, well adapted to digging. The size of the body somewhat exceeds the ground hog; hair of a dark brown colour, and tail visibly resembling that of a ground hog. It burrows and hedges in the ground.”

Note. By this notice, the animal might be a marmot or Arctomys instead of a badger, but as it is called such by Le Raye, I will consider it as a new species of badger, which may be named and characterized as follows-Melesium pratense (meadow badger,) entirely of a dark brown, tail bushy, long claws.

5. Page 187.-"Here, (on the Yellow Stone river) we killed several Rocky Mountain sheep. The male, or mountain ram, is considerably larger than the female, and has much longer horns. The horns of the male which we killed, measured three feet in length, and five inches diameter, at his head. This animal is taller than a deer, and has a larger body. It is covered with soft hair of a dun colour, gradually becoming of a lighter colour towards the belly, which is entirely white. Its horns are shaped, in many respects, like the horns of rams, or the common sheep, bending backwards, but have many rough knots. Its tail resembles that of the red deer. The legs and feet resemble the sheep, but the hoofs somewhat longer. It is swift, and climbs the clefts of rocks with so much agility and ease, that no other animal can follow it, and by this means it escapes the wolves. Its flesh is esteemed equal to that of the deer." A figure of this animal is annexed.

Note. This species of sheep has been well described by Geoffroy in the annals of the Museum of Paris, vol. 2, page 360, and Desmarets has given to it the name of Oris cervina in the new Dictionary of Natural History, vol. 24, page 5, 1614. Yet some American Naturalists persist in the wrong belief that it is the same animal as the argali of Siberia, or Ovis ammon. It has been well distinguished by being denominated an animal with the body of a deer, and the head of a ram. It is called big-horn by some other travellers.

6. Page 189.-"We only hunted the buffalo, mountain sheep and Cabree. A party was sent to gain the summit of a ridge, so as to pass over the other side,

while the rest of us crawled up, surrounding them on every side, excepting towards the river. As soon as the signal was given, by those who had ascended and gained the opposite side, we all raised a sudden yell, and sprang out of the grass, and the affrighted animals instantly fled from us, pitched over the precipice, and were dashed against the stones at the bottom, where we killed sixty-one. Some of them fell nearly two hundred feet; but some of them which were near the bottom made their escape. It took us several days to dress and cure the meat, which is cut in thin slices, and dried in the sun or by a slow fire." With a figure of the Cabree or Missouri antelope.

Note. The Cabree is not described, but is figured, and is said in another part of the work, page 118, to inhabit also the country of the Osage. It appears that several animals of the antelope tribe, or allied thereto, are found in the western parts of North America, four of which I have already ascertained, including this. 1. The Mazama ovina, Raf. (or Ovis montana of Ord. 1st number of the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia) which belongs to an extensive new genus of animals of the western continent, where it is the substitute of the antelope tribe of the eastern continent, the M. pita. Raf. M. bira, Raf. M. pudu. Raf. (Ovis pudu Gmelin,) &c. belonging to it, and probably many more species. 2. The Mazama caprina, Raf. or Pudu of North America, of Blainville. 3. The Cervus bifurcatus, Raf. (or Antelope bifurcata, of Smith,) which is a real species of buck, since it has divided horns. 4. The Strepriceros eriphos, or the Cabree of Leraye, and ibex, or antelope of some other travellers, which by the figure appears to possess the following characters; horns compressed, double the length of the head, tail long and bushy. My genus Strepriceros includes the species of goats and antelopes with spiral horns.

7. Page 189.-" We killed a wild cat (near the Yellow Stone river) which resembled the domestic cat, and was about the same size. It was of a sallow colour, and had a tail nearly of the length of the body. This little animal is very fierce, and often kills Cabree and sheep by jumping on their neck, and eating away the sinews and arteries until they fall, and then sucks the blood."

Note. This short notice refers probably to a new species of cat, very similar to the cat seen by captain Lewis, but not killed, (see Travels, page 266,) which I call Friis fossor, and likewise to the

VOL. 1. NO. VI.

Felis concolor. This species I shall call Felis misar, and characterize thus:Tail nearly as long as the body, which is entirely sallow and unspotted.

8. Page 190.-"One of the Indians killed (near the Yellow Stone river) a beautiful wild cat, about one half larger than the house cat. Its fur was long and exceedingly fine, covered with black and white spots on a bright yellow ground. Its belly was pale yellow, and its tail about two inches long. It is the richest looking skin I ever saw."

Note. All the wild cats with short tails and only three grinders on each side of each jaw, form the genus Lynx: This beautiful genus, of which only four have been recorded, has been increased by me to nearly fifteen, in a monography of it, several of which belong to North America, and among them Leraye's species shall be distinguished as follows: Lynx aureus-Bright yellow with black and white spots, belly pale yellow unspotted, tail and ears without tufis.

9. The other Quadrupeds seen by Leraye, but not described, are the following, which are mostly met between the Sioux country and the Rocky mountains. Leraye. Notes.

Beaver, Castor Tiber, L.
Otter, Lutrix Americana, Raf.
Ermine, Mustela erminea, L.
Marten,

marta? L.
Spotted wild cat, Felis pardalis? L.
Buffalo, Taurus crinitus, Raf.
Elk, Cervus coronatus? Geofrey.
Deer, virginianus, L.

Lepus variabilis, L. Lynx rufus? Raf.

Grizzly, or white bear, Ursus ferox, Raf
Black Bear,
niger, Raf.
White rabbit,
Lynx,
Mountain cat,
Fox, Canis virginianus? L.

montanus? Raf.

BOTANY.

Rafinesque

6. Neogenytum Siculum, or Descriptions of four new genera of Dicotyle Sicilian Plants.

They are extracted from my Fraga Flora Sicula which I ments of wrote from memory in January, 1816, about two months after my shripwreck. I believe all the characters stated are correct; the plants belonging to those genera having all been observed in the spring of 1815, were freshly impressed on my memory.

I therefore consider that should, hereafter, any slight inaccuracies be detected in my descriptions, they will not be material, nor invalidate the establishment, characters and classifica

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