198 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



p. 60, states, under the heading Coluber dumfrisiensis, Sow.: — 

 " Many years since a small Snake, having the characters of one of 

 the Colubridae, was taken by Mr. J. W. Simmons, near Dumfries. 

 It was published as a new species by Mr. Sowerby in his British 

 Miscellany, and figured in the third plate of that work. It was 

 there named Coluber dumfrisiensis. The specimen remained until 

 within the last few years in the possession of Mr. Sowerby's 

 family; but having come into my hands, it was unfortunately lost 

 or mislaid, and I have never since been able to recover it. There 

 is, I think, great reason to believe that it was a very young Natrix 

 torquata, but differing certainly in many respects from the usual 

 appearance and characters of that species. It was about three or 

 four inches in length, "of a pale brown colour, with pairs of reddish 

 brown stripes from side to side, over the back, somewhat zigzag, 

 with intervening spots on the sides." The most remarkable 

 peculiarity mentioned, however, is that the "scales are extremely 

 simple, not carinated." The abdominal plates were one hundred 

 and sixty-two; those under the tail about eighty. This is all the 

 information at present possessed respecting the species, if it be 

 indeed a species. Mr. Jenyns, in his excellent Manual, expresses 

 the opinion which I have given above, that it is " probably an 

 immature variety of the common species." 



From the above description, I have strong reasons for believing 

 the Snake referred to to have been a Smooth Snake (C. laevis), and 

 if such was the case, it proves it to have a much wider range than 

 generally supposed. In this species the scales are rhomboidal, 

 perfectly smooth, and in long rows (Gimther gives 21), the ventral 

 plates 160 to 164, the anal plates bifid. Its colour is brown or 

 greenish brown, with two parallel rows of black markings. Very 

 probably it may often be mistaken for the Adder, but the entire 

 absence of the dark zigzag line of black markings, which is a 

 specific character of the Adder, would at once distinguish it from 

 that species, while the yellow collar and the carinated scales of the 

 Kinged Snake form a sufficient distinction in the case of that 

 species. 



I have not had sufficient opportunities of observing the habits 

 of the Smooth Snake, but in the volume of the Zoologist for 1865, 

 there are (pp. 9505 and 9734) two interesting papers by Drs. 

 Opel and Blackmore, more especially on the habits of this species 

 in confinement. Its food seems to be principally Lizards, but these 



