372 THE NATURALIST. 



Common, very near a flock of slieei^ wliicli were rambling about among the 

 fern. In tlie spring of 1863 I saw on Wisley Heath, Surrey, a beautiful 

 black and wliite Yiper, but not then knowing liow rare a variety it was, 

 did not catcli it. It was subsequently cauglit and destroyed by a peasant. 

 Last summer I just missed a fine black one at Snaresbrook, in tlie corner of 

 Epping Forest, nearest to London. There had been a school treat close by 

 the day before. It is a wonder that children on such occasions (which are 

 frequent there) do not get bitten, since adders abound ; they seem emboldened 

 by the constant sight of visitors, and do not glide ofi" so quickly as in 

 Surrey. 



The Slowworm, {Anguis fragilis) changes its skin about once a month in 

 summer. It does not come off whole like that of the snake, but peels off in 

 little bits. I caught one at Wimbledon in 1863, twelve-and-a-half inches 

 in length. The tongue is divided into two round knobs at the end, instead 

 of being merely slit as is the case with the lizard. They are rather shy in 

 confinement. The young Slowworm is of a beautiful gold colour. 



The Common Lizard, [Zootoca vivipara.) thrives as well as any reptile in 

 confinement. Last sunmier I had two broods of young born ; the first con- 

 sisted of five, the second of six. They were born on July 1 6th and 1 7th. 

 At first they seemed healthy, and ate and drank, but gradually all fell off 

 and died. The last died on August 19th. I feed the lizards on insects : 

 they prefer flies and spiders, but also relish earwigs, small moths, caterpillars, 

 &c. When hungry they will eat worms, but evidently they do not like them 

 much. Probably when wild they eat them only in wet weather. Their 

 skin, which in warm weather is changed every three weeks, peels off bit by 

 bit like the Slowworm's Wlien a tail is broken off it begins to grow again 

 in exactly two months, and is completed in another month ; but is then far 

 inferior in length and beauty to the original. The tail when sprouting 

 resembles bee's wax. The reptile keeper in the Zoological Gardens tells me 

 he once caught a lizard, on Hampstead Heath, with two tails : in Avinter the 

 tails are not reproduced. I have a male whose tail came off on August 27th, 

 and which is not yet (February SOtli) sprouting at all. They soon become 

 exceedingly tame. I keep them in small boxes covered with black gauze, on 

 which they frequently crawl with their beautiful under parts uppermost. One 

 now living in my box was caught on April 12th, 1864. In winter, when 

 not torpid, they support life by drinking an immense quantity of water. The 

 heaths near London on which they most abound are Hampstead, Putney, 

 and Snaresbrook, particularly the last. 



