BRITISH REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS, 
AND 
FRESH-WATER FISHES 
I. CLASS REPTILIA, OR SNAKES AND LIZARDS 
Introduetion.— Whilst in certain parts of Great Britain 
both Snakes and Lizards are of frequent occurrence, 
there are many districts where neither are found, and 
although on odd occasions introduced Snakes have been 
unexpectedly discovered in Ireland, the Emerald Isle 
does not include even one species of Ophidia in its 
native fauna. Moreover, our own island-fauna as a 
whole contains very few species of Snakes, or Lizards, 
and if at the outset it is stated that only three species in 
each of the two Orders of Ophidia(Snakes), and Lacertilia 
(Lizards), are entitled to inclusion, the truth will at once 
be told. Of a fourth kind of Snake (the Small Red 
Viper: Vipera rubra) something will be said at a later 
stage, and as regards Lizards I have myself caught, or 
had in my possession, specimens from foreign climes 
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