GRASS SNAKE. 149 



evidence that on the subject of Snakes the average man has 

 not advanced in knowledge beyond that of his prototype a 

 thousand years or so back. With all that has been done in 

 various ways during the last half-century to spread knowledge 

 of natural things, it is astonishing that editors should admit 

 scare reports about Snakes without a line to set the reader 

 right. Internal evidence shows that nine-tenths of these alarm- 

 ing reports about poisonous and aggressive Snakes refer to the 

 innocuous Grass Snake. This is the kind of thing that reflects 

 the vaunted intelligence and calmness of the average Briton : 



" An enormous snake was killed yesterday at , only a 

 few yards from where some children were playing. The Rev. 

 Mr. Blank courageously seized the reptile behind the head, but 

 when it hissed savagely at him he was forced to throw it down. 

 Its head was then smashed with a pole, and finally it was 

 despatched with the aid of a spade. The venomous monster 

 was found to be over three feet in length. Its nest was found 

 and a large number of eggs destroyed." 



A very elementary knowledge of our native snakes such as 

 all country folk might be expected to possess would dispose of 

 all this fear and sensation, for no one has ever found a Viper or 

 Adder our only venomous snake that measured quite as 

 much as three feet, or that had a nest of eggs. 



The Grass Snake is our largest British species, full-grown 

 females averaging four feet in length ; the males a foot less. 

 Exceptional examples are little short of six feet, and in Italy 

 the same species attains to a length of eight feet. It is of 

 graceful form, the body tapering gently from its middle to the 

 very slender tip of the tail. The long, narrow head, covered 

 with large shields, ends in a blunt snout, with eyes and nostrils 

 at the sides. The rather large eyes have round pupils circled 

 with gold and a dark brown iris. Just behind the head there 

 are two patches of yellow or orange (sometimes white) forming 



