ERRATA. 239 
African snakes to keep in captivity. They are bright and active 
and become very tame, and, moreover, unlike most other snakes, 
they will feed very freely. I have kept several for many years, 
some of which have grown considerably since their capture. 
They are fed upon frogs and toads. 
There is always great danger of treading upon and getting 
bitten by Night Adders, because they are very sluggish, and do not 
make much effort to get out of the way, often preferring to lie 
quiet, seeking to escape observation by that means. The danger 
is increased by their habit of lying across pathways, their colour 
harmonizing with that of the ground. They are termed Night 
Adders because they usually issue forth from their lairs about 
dusk. 
Although belonging to the Viper family, the Night Adders 
are oviparous; that is, they lay eggs. Those I have kept in 
captivity laid batches of eggs varying in number from a dozen to 
twenty-five, during the summer months. None of the eggs 
showed any signs of incubation. The parent in most instances 
coiled round her eggs and remained there several days, but 
eventually abandoned them owing to being repeatedly disturbed 
by the other snakes, and the attendant who cleaned out the cage 
and renewed the water in the water-vessel. In nearly every case 
the parent showed the desire to incubate the eggs, and from this 
I infer they often remain coiled round the eggs, until they are 
incubated, in the wild state. The eggs of snakes can easily be 
hatched by placing them in damp earth and putting them in a 
chicken incubator. A farmer gave me some Night Adder eggs 
which he ploughed up in a field. I placed them in a box of damp 
earth and dead leaves and left them out in the sun. Ina month’s 
time they hatched out. 
ERRATA. 
In the ‘‘Cambridge Natural History on Amphibia and 
Reptiles,’ by Gadow, page 638, there is the following: “ All 
the Viperide are very poisonous, and all except the African 
Atractaspis are viviparous.” 
Fayrer, in his “‘ Thanatophidia of India” says: “ All the 
Viper family of snakes, as their name implies, are viviparous.” 
The Atractaspis snakes, viz. the Oviparous Adder and 
