Vertebrata. Zoological Collections* 241 



Mr Yarrell is of opinion, that a third species of herring, of a larger size 

 than either of the others, occurs sometimes on our eastern coast. 



He also mentioned to the meeting, that he had obtained last summer from 

 the Thames, the two shads, regarded by M. Cuvier as the Ciupea Alosa, 

 Linn., and the Ciupea fallax, Lacep. 



Notice regarding the Salamandra atra. By Mr Stark. — The two specimens 

 of this reptile presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh by George 

 Fairholme, Esq. " were found very high on the i\lps, in the canton of 

 Berne. They are perfectly black, frequent dry grounds, and have a slow 

 crawling motion. I have not, (says Mr Fairhohne, in a note which 

 accompanied the specimens,) seen this kind in any museum, even at Berne; 

 and it is not much known, probably from its only appearing a few weeks of 

 the year. The chamois hunters call it RoggimulU, and consider it venomous j 

 but it appeared perfectly harmless when alive." 



Mr Fuirholme is not A\dthout reason in supposing that the present species 

 is not much known ; for it is not alluded to by Cuvier in the lirst edition 

 of the JRegne Animal, probably from that celebrated naturalist never having 

 seen the animal. In the second edition of this work, however, the species 

 is noticed at the close of the desciiption of the Salamandra terrestris, on the 

 authority of Lauren ti, in these words ; " There is found in the Alps a 

 salamander similar to the common one, but entirely black, and without spots. 

 Sal. atra, Laurenti, pi. 1. fig. 2." 



The other French naturalists who have mentioned the Salamandra atra, 

 do not appear to have been able, by the possession of specimens, to identify 

 them with the description and figure of Laurenti. Sonnini and Daudin, 

 long before the publication of the Regne Animal, had described the black 

 salamander of the Alps as a separate species ; but their statements rested 

 solely on the authority of the original describer. Daudin, in particular, thus 

 speaks of the Salamandra atra : " Laurenti has described and figured this 

 salamander, which appears not to differ from the preceding species, (the 

 Salamandra terrestiis,) but in its colour, which is deep black, without any 

 yellow spot, and in its being one-half smaller. This author informs us, that 

 the Austrians name it Lattermandl, and that it is found in holes or clefts in 

 the mountains of Etscher, where the salamander with yellow spots has 

 never been observed. We ought, then, wdth Laurenti and Sonnini, to regard 

 this salamander as a particular species, and not a simple variety, as Gmelin, 

 Lacepede, Latreille, Schneider, and other learned naturalists have believed." 

 — Daud. Hist. Rept. viii. 225. 



I have not been able to procure a sight of Laurenti's work containing the 

 description and figure of the Salamandra atra ; but there can be little doubt, 

 that the specimens which Mr Fairholme presented to the Society, are those 

 of the animal which Laurenti has described. The locality of this species, 

 at a certain elevation, joined to the total want of the coloured spots, and its 

 diminutive size, distinguish the Salamandra atra from the common Sal. 

 terrestris. The doubts of the French naturalists seem to have arisen from 



not having seen this apparently rare species Edinburgh Journal of Science. 



April, 1831. 



Anatomical characters to distinguish venomous from harmless Serpents. — 

 Travellers in Brazil, Africa, and I.idia, relate, that many serpents regarded 

 by naturalists as harmless, because they want fangs in front of the palate, 

 are, nevertheless, reputed to be very noxious by the natives. A point so 

 important to science and humanity requires clearing up. For this purpose, 

 M. Duvernoy has made a great number of researches, not only on the 

 serpents in the Museum of Strasburg, which he had at his command, but 

 also on those of the Museum of Comparative Anatomy of the Garden of 

 Plants of Paris ; and he has presented a memoir on this subject to the 

 Academy of Sciences. 



VOL. III. 2 H 



