2 3 o NATURAL SCIENCE. April, 



doubt, was left to rot in a Scotch lane like any London rat thrown 

 into the gutter. We could have spared a rarer serpent. 



We freely admit that Dr. Harley's letter and the well-informed 

 article in the Saturday Review have shaken our scepticism. None the 

 less, the guile of the serpent is known to us all ; it has deceived 

 persons even more known to history than Dr. George Harley, F.R.S. 

 You will observe that he preferred his trout to his adder ; the serpent 

 did not tempt him and he ate. However, it was in good company 

 that he fell, and before his fall he was able to satisfy himself that if the 

 young are swallowed they get into a plausible part of the adder's 

 anatomy. We hope that before long, if the tale be true, someone will 

 establish it for all time. If anyone comes across an adder that has 

 performed this feat let him bottle it at once ; let him resist all tempta- 

 tion, in whatever form the temptation comes, and forthwith send the 

 adder in a bottle of spirit to Sir William Flower at the British 

 Museum, to Professor Stewart at the College of Surgeons' Museum, 

 or, an he will, to the Editor of Natural Science ; he shall have due 

 credit and the thanks of everyone. 



The New Giraffe. 



The Zoological Society and the public are to be congratulated 

 upon the fine young giraffe which has just been housed in the so long 

 empty giraffe shed. It is an awkward time of the year for a South 

 African animal of delicate constitution to arrive ; but at present, at 

 any rate, the beast shows no symptoms of discomfort. This new 

 giraffe, the first that has been on view since 1892, when the last 

 survivor of the old gang departed this life, is an example of the 

 southern form ; this variety is more seldom to be met with in mena- 

 geries than the familiar Soudanese animal. It is not spotted, but 

 marked out into areas of dark colour by white lines. In the enclosure 

 outside the house is to be seen the ingenious box in which it per- 

 formed the journey from Southampton, which reflects credit upon the 

 management of the Society for its minimum of restriction to the 

 animal considering the exigencies of railway travel where bridges 

 abound. 



John Hancock Memorial Medal. 



With the object of creating a more general interest in the study 

 of natural history, it has been proposed to establish a fund for a 

 medal or other prize to be given annually by the Natural History 

 Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for 

 the encouragement of field-work and original observations in any 

 branch of the subject, whether botany, geology, or zoology. The 

 object is not to foster a passion for mere collecting, but to stimulate 

 observation and consequent research. It is therefore proposed that 



