190 2 Ansivers to Cor^^espondents 155 



specimen exhibiting the alleged phenomenon. We should be therefore 

 extremely glad to " be able to ascertain that the fact is not of uncommon 

 occurrence," by having a few adders with the young in the gullet sent to 

 us during the coming season of reproduction. — Ed.) 



" Will you allow me to ask, through the medium of your excellent 

 ' Quarterly,' the following questions ? — 



"I. Of the three species of British newts, Molge cristata^ AT. 

 vulgaris, and iM. palmata, is any one, or are all, poisonous to those 

 animals which venture to eat them ? 



" 2. Are these Batrachians provided with ' warning colours ' on the 

 under parts of their bodies ? 



" 3. What is the value of the suggested rule (to which there seem to 

 be so many exceptions) in regard to ' warning colours ' "i 



"Of course I remember the old saying that 'exceptions prove [z>., 

 test] the rule.'" — Gregory C. Bateman, Bratton Clovelly, Devon. 



(Correspondence is invited on the above point. — Ed. F. N. Q.) 



Answers to Correspondents. 



Rev. D. H. Davies, Cenarth Vicarage, South Wales. 



The four adders you sent were all young males (see p. 104). One 

 was a specimen of the Black Adder {Coluber prcester), so rare in this 

 country. The only previous record of this adder is the specimen 

 reported by you in 1901 — i.e., as far as South Wales is concerned. — 

 Editor. 



J. H. Peard Simkin, Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire. 



The curious fungus taken in your garden growing amongst grass 

 under a slab of wood is reported on by Mr Carleton Rea as follows : — 

 "A fine example of Peziza ochracea Boud, which is a somewhat scarce 

 Discomycete. It measured 1 3^ inch (3-4 cm.) across, and so comes 

 amongst the larger Discomycetes which attract attention in the spring. 

 The majority of these are small in size, and are generally overlooked by 

 the field worker unless he carefully scrutinises all old chips, rotten sticks, 

 and old stumps. The dense interwoven hyphee of the excipulum (the 

 outer coat) and the branching hyaline paraphyses separate this species 

 from its neighbours." The specimen was taken on March 22, 1902. 



J. G., Ralph Q., F. B., N. R., and others. 



You have all misunderstood the point at issue. It is not disputed 

 that " throwing back " occurs in dogs, — that is a matter of frequent 

 observation. It is the explanation offered by the theory of Telegony 

 that is denied by Professor Cossar Ewart and other experimenters. In 

 other words, the experiments mentioned prove that the fact of the 



