TRitoN. REPTILES. BATRACHIA. 157 



Anguis Sibb. Scot. 28 Vipera, Ray, Syn. Quod. 285 — Col. Berus, Linn. 



Syst. i. 377. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 26 — W, Neidr, Neider du, Giviber ; 



G, Nathair. In heaths. 

 Length from 2 to 3 feet. Colour dirty-j'eUow ; a stripe, on each side, of 

 black triangular spots, and a dorsal stripe of confluent rhomboidal spots. Space 

 between the eyes and two spots on the crown, black. Tha»head is broad be- 

 hind ; edges of the jaws covered with large scales. Belly dusky, tinged with 

 blue. Scales on the belly 142 to 148; pau-s on the tail 30 to 40. Ovovivi- 

 parous, producing from 12 to 25 young. Feeds on insects, frogs, and mice. 

 Becomes torpid during the winter — As this species is subject to considerable 

 variety in its markings, depending upon age, sex, or season, it has been mul- 

 tiplied into the following species, which Dr Leach, in the third volume of his 

 Zoological Miscellany has, with propriety, reduced to the rank of varieties. 



1. Black Viper, Col. Prester, Lin7i. Syst, Nat. i. 377 — Colour nearly black. 

 Lacepede says, Ov. Quad. iii. 247, that, " in this species, the top of the head 

 is not entirely covered with scales, resembling those of the back, as in the 

 common viper ; but there are three scales, a little larger than these, placed 

 between the eyes, one advanced towards the nose, and two immediately be- 

 hind." This character, however, is possessed by the viper. 



2. Blue-bellied Viper, Rev. Revett Sheppard, Linn. Trans, vii. p. 56. In this 

 the back seems more tinged with brown, and the belly with blue, than usual. 



3. Red Viper, Rev. Thomas Rackett, Linn. Trans, xii- 349.— This is sup- 

 posed to be the Coluber chersea of Linnaeus. It possessed the heart-shaped 

 spot on the head, and the dark spot near the extremity of the tail. Above, a 

 bright red colour. " I received the viper from the Reverend John Tregon- 

 will Napier, Rector of Chettle, in Dorsetshire, who killed it in Cranborne 

 Chace. It is extremely rare, but known to the game-keepers under the name 

 of " The Red Viper," ib. 350. It has likewise been found by the Reverend 

 Revett Sheppard, in the parish of Levington, and other places in the county 

 of Suffolk, in arid waste situations."— Linn. Trans, xxii. 615. 



BATRACHIA. 



Gen. V. TRITON. Eft. — Feet four, supported by bones. 

 Four toes on the fore-feet, five behind, without claws. 

 Tail compressed. 



The young are produced from eggs, laid on aquatic plants; 

 breathe at first by gills ; and have two claspers under the 

 throat, by which they can adhere to a leaf. When the 

 feet become perfect, the gills and claspers are absorbed. 



6. T. palustris. Warty Eft. — Body covered with small 

 warts ; brownish-black above ; orange, with black spots below. 



Lacerta palustris, Linn. Syst. i. 370 — Warty Lizard, Penn. Brit. Zool. 



iii. 23. Shepp. Lin. Trans, vii. 52 Inhabits ponds and marshes. 



Length between 6 and 7 inches. Head depressed; snout blunt, finely 

 freckled with yellowish -white. A smooth space between both pairs of legs. 



