190 LIFE OF TEGETMEIER 



of the Field, only to be mercilessly torn to 

 shreds by the natural history editor. Another 

 effective method of rousing him to indignation 

 was to put the query, " Do snakes swallow their 

 young ? " The idea that the common viper and 

 other similar reptiles take their young into their 

 bellies in times of danger was for long, and no 

 doubt still is, widely held, and that not only by 

 the ignorant. Tegetmeier combated this theory 

 for many years : it was always coming before 

 him as a member of the Field staff, and as fre- 

 quently being flouted. To the end of his active 

 career as a journalist he offered a reward of £5 

 to anyone who should send him a viper with 

 her young in her belly ; very many snakes were 

 sent him, but it invariably happened that the 

 £5 reward was still to be won. The specimens 

 were sent to the Curator of the College of Surgeons 

 to be dissected, and his report, as that of an 

 impartial person, would be published in the 

 paper, with the usual intimation that the reward 

 was still awaiting a rightful claimant. 



In 1868 he was invited to be one of a com- 

 mittee appointed by the British Association to 

 collect evidence and report on the practicability 

 of establishing a close season for the preservation 

 of our indigenous birds and animals. The com- 

 mittee included Frank Buckland, J. E. Harting, 

 H. E. Dresser, and the Rev. B. Tristram, all 

 naturalists of high repute. The Act of 1869 for 



