Queries and Answers, 279 



according to the termination of the word from which they are formed. 

 As far as entomology is concerned the penult is always short ; as 

 Cynipidee. 



The terms Animal and Vegetable. — Sir, I should consider myself highly 

 favoured, if you would give me, in your forthcoming Number of the Maga- 

 zine, a distinct definition of the term *'animal j" also, a distinct definition of 

 the term " vegetable ;" and if you would show me how you can satisfactorily 

 draw a line between the animal and vegetable kmgdioms. — Inquisitor. 

 Jan. 2^, 1831. 



Lady Derwentwater. — Is your correspondent, W. B. Clarke (p. 92.), 

 acquainted with the voice of the heron ? If not, will you allow me to 

 hazard an opinion that it is the mortal body of this majestic bird, upon 

 which tradition has fixed as a tabernacle for the spirit of this Lady of the 

 Lake ? I well remember, whilst leisurely rowing round the islands on this 

 beautiful sheet of water on a lovely evening last spring, to have watched 

 this bird soaring high above my head whilst uttering its singular scream. 

 After the sun had disappeared behind the western mountains, and the dusk 

 of evening precluded my again seeing this feathered friend, its cry was 

 still to be heard ; and, though there is nothing particularly plaintive in it, I 

 shall be inclined to adhere to my opinion, in the absence of a better illus- 

 tration of the fair spirit's dwelling-place. The unsuccessful attempt of 

 your correspondent and his friends to obtain a sight of the birds on the 

 island, strengthens the probability of its being some bird that emits its note 

 whilst high on the wing. — 17. B. Giles. March 28. 183 L 



The Breathing-Tube of the Boa. (p. 20.) — Quaere, Whether the breathing- 

 tube of the boa, noticed by Mr. Dillon, was not the fleshy receptacle (if I 

 may so apply the term) into which the snake withdraws its tongue ? 

 Whilst I was an under-graduate, I kept a couple of snakes for some time, 

 which, after fasting for three months, at length began to take food. I have 

 frequently seen them swallow the largest-sized frogs. When these were 

 sometimes slowly receding, hind quarters foremost, into their enemy's 

 stomach, the distended jaws of the snake were in one period of the pro- 

 cess tightly contracted round the frog's head, producing the curious effect 

 of an animal with one mouth (the frog's) and four eyes, two of which 

 were winking continually and the other two in a glazed stare. I never 

 saw any breathing-tube exserted during the operation, neither should I 

 consider any such apparatus to be needful, because my snakes would fre- 

 quently lie wholly under water for a much longer time than was necessary 

 for them to swallow their food. The common snake is particularly 

 abundant in the fens of Cambridgeshire ; and may be seen in the spring, 

 upon any fine day, basking on the banks of the ditches, into which it im- 

 mediately retreats upon being disturbed, swimming across them with the 

 greatest facility. A fenman and his two sons were formerly employed to 

 procure these snakes for an agent from London, who paid for them, when 

 skinned and dried in the sun, at the rate of one shilling per dozen. The 

 men remember to have had one day's sport more remarkably good than 

 usual, in which the three respectively caught nine, eight, and seven dozen. 

 To their great regret, this profitable trade has suddenly ceased. What 

 the man who purchased them did with them they never knew ; but per- 

 haps some of your correspondents may throw some light upon the subject. 

 — J.S.Henslow. Cambridge, Feb. 'i. 1831. 



On Snakes taking the Water. — Sir, In Vol. III. p. 450., J. Murray of 

 Carmarthen says: — "In reference to your Portsmouth correspondent, it 

 may be remarked that I believe it not a rare phenomenon to find snakes 

 or vipers occasionally take the water, either to cross a stream or traverse 

 a pond or lake." I think there can be no doubt of the fact. Although 

 my opportunities of observing the habits of snakes in this country have 

 been few, I have often seen them in the water in North America in search 



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