14 THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



eleqans, Menetr., on the steppe. The skink is fairly common though 

 seldom seen. Twelve species of snake are known in Aresh, but only 

 one is venomous, Viiwia lebetina, L. This is by no means rare in the dry 

 steppe, where it feeds upon the gerbilles, hares, and small birds. 

 It attains a length of 1420mm., and a diameter uf 60mm. It is very 

 poisonous, and bites are frequently attended with fatal results. They 

 are followed by the usual painful symptoms of snake-bite. Cattle are 

 often bitten by" them in the leg, and usually die from the effects. The 

 Tartars employ wet-cupping over the wound and by this means often 

 avert fatal consequences. V. Ichi'tina, owing to its heavy build, is a 

 sluggish creature, and, with ordinary precautions, is easy to handle. 

 If held firmly by the tail at arm's length, it is unable to raise its body 

 and employ its fangs, and so may be picked up and dropped into a bag 

 or collecting box. 



In the Amphibia frogs swarm along the canals. The Green Toad 

 is common and the Tree Frog joins with the cicadas and crickets in 

 the usual nightly chorus. 



As the train drew into the station of Evlach next morning at 8, I 

 saw my host waiting on the platform, the smiling face of Alexander 

 Borisovich Shelkovnikoflt'. Few men have done so much for the 

 investigation of the Fauna and Flora of the Caucasus. A keen lover 

 of Nature in all her moods, and a really good all-rouud naturalist, for 

 nearly twenty years he has collected reptiles, insects and plants in all 

 parts of the Caucasus. His home is on his own property called Geok- 

 Tapa, the Green Hill, an oasis in the sunburnt steppes of Aderbadjan. 

 Here, some 30 versts from the railway, he devotes his time to collecting 

 insects of all orders for his friends and correspondents. The Caucasus 

 Museum at Tifiis is enriched by innumerable donations from this 

 infatigable field-worker. His fine collection of Caucasian coleoptera 

 he has given entire to the Museum, and at present he is almost 

 entirely occupied by forming a herbarium of the plants of the district 

 of Aresh, in which his estate is situated. Even his mundane occupa- 

 tions keep him in the air and in touch with the nature that he loves, for 

 when not busy collecting he is engaged in superintending his crops of 

 grapes, rice and cotton. A better indication of the climate I cannot 

 give. And what a relief for a native of Western Europe to find 

 himself in a place where they were longing for rain, for not a drop 

 had fallen for over three months. Owing to the dryness of the climate, 

 the heat, though great, is by no means disagreeable, and the clean, 

 dry air of the steppe is most invigorating, even when the sun is 

 scorching one's skin. The district is consequently very healthy ; the 

 chief local disorder is malaria, which is very common, in the irrigated 

 and cultivated districts, where both Cnlex and Anopheles occur. There 

 was no wind in the daytime, but soon after sunset, a strong breeze 

 sprung up from the east, with unfailing regularity. 



An hour or two's drive over the steppe in a Tartar " pbci^ton," 

 brought us to the stcoitsia of Khaldan, where there is a post and 

 telegraph office, our last link with Europe, but only a partial link, as 

 telegrams can only be accepted in Russian characters. To communicate 

 with home, therefore, and to wire the news of the safe termination 

 of a long journey, I was obliged to wire in Eussian to Dr. Schmidt at 

 Tiflis and request him to forward the message home in English. 

 The scenery is thoroughly Asiatic ; the local population is almost 



