EGGS OF THE SNAKE. 305 



moving parties were discovered again. If we con- 

 clude, that the summer light of the glowworm is 

 displayed as a signal taper, the appearance of this 

 autumnal light can have no such object in view, 

 nor can we rationally assign any use of it to the 

 creature itself, unless, indeed, it serves as a point 

 of union in these supposed migrations, like the lead- 

 ing call in the flight of night-moving birds. The 

 activity and numbers of these insects, in the 

 abovementioned evening, enabled me to observe 

 the frequent presence and disappearance of the 

 light of an individual, which did not seem to be 

 the result of will, but produced by situation. 

 During the time the insect crawled along the 

 ground, or upon the fine grass, the glow was hid- 

 den ; but on its mounting any little blade, or sprig 

 of moss, it turned round and presented the lumi- 

 nous caudal spot, which, on its falling or regaining 

 its level, was hidden again. 



My labourer this day, July the 18th, in turning 

 over some manure, laid open a mass of snake's eggs 

 (coluber natrix), fifteen only, and they must have 

 been recently deposited, the manure having very 

 lately been placed where they were found. (Plate 

 5, Fig. 4.) They were larger than the eggs of a 

 sparrow, obtuse at each end, of a very pale yellow 

 colour, feeling tough and soft like little bags of 

 some gelatinous substance. The interior part con- 

 sisted of a glareous matter like that of the hen, 



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