38 



CHAPTER IV. 



SNAKES IN IRELAND IN 1900. 



On November 3, 1900, the following paragraph ap- 

 peared in ' Country Life ' : — 



" The services of another St Patrick will soon be 

 required in Ireland if reptiles continue to turn up 

 as they have been doing of late. Erin's total im- 

 munity from anything in the shape of a snake has 

 been so remarkable that the appearance of two lately 

 in County Wicklow has created quite a stir amongst 

 naturalists. A few days since a snake measuring 

 20 inches was killed on the estate of Sir Robert 

 Hodson at Holly brooke, Bray, and just before another 

 was killed on the property of Dr Thompson, near 

 Delgany. These were at first thought to be venomous 

 vipers, but when experts saw them they were pro- 

 nounced to be the common harmless snake. The 

 only solution of their presence in the snakeless island 

 is that they were brought across Channel in a con- 

 signment of shrubs which lately arrived at Holly- 

 brooke. The absence of reptiles from Ireland is a 



