BRITISH REPTILES 
which had without doubt made good their escape from 
captivity. One very large specimen of a handsome 
Green Lizard was caught in my own garden, but it 
does not come within the province of this book to include 
such events in its survey. 
Before dealing with the few species of Serpents in- 
digenous to our own Country, it will be as well to give 
some general particulars, and instances of folk-lore, old- 
time beliefs, and superstitions, concerning them. It is 
probable that Snakes, or Serpents as they are so often 
designated, are the most unpopular of all living creatures, 
and the reasons for this, rightly considered, are difficult 
to ascertain. Included in the Class Reptilia, there are 
to be found, in addition to the Snakes and Lizards, the 
Tortoises and Turtles (Order Chelonia), and the Alligators 
and Crocodiles (Order Crocodilia), but these latter 
reptiles do not concern us here as they are, of course, not 
found in a wild condition within the borders of our own 
land. Other countries, such as North America, where no 
less than over 350 different species of reptiles occur, are 
more fortunate, or unfortunate, according to the point 
of view adopted, but it is probable that few people will 
lament the fact that our own reptilian fauna is so poorly 
represented. Whilst, too, there are a great number of 
Serpents inhabiting the great Continent of Australia, 
and among them at least seventy venomous kinds, we 
have in our own island only one species which is harmful. 
This is the Adder, or Viper (Vipera berus). Of the three 
species of Snakes we do possess, one, the Smooth Snake 
2 
