88 NATUKAi- IIISTOKV 



them ; whicli eggs do not hatch till the 

 Spring following, as 1 have often expe- 

 rienced. Several intelligent folks assure 

 me that they have seen the viper open her 

 mouth and admit her helpless young down 

 her throat on sudden^surprises, just as the 

 female opossum does her brood into the 

 pouch under her belly, upon the like 

 emergencies ; and yet the London viper- 

 catchers insist on it, to Mr. Barringlon, 

 that no such thing ever happens. The ser- 

 pent kind eat, I believe, but once in a 

 year; or, rather, but only just at one sea- 

 son of the year. Country people talk much 

 of a water-snake, but, I am pretty sure, 

 without any reason ; for the common snake 

 (coluber natrix) delights much to sport in 

 the water, perhaps with a view to procure 

 frogs and other food. 



I cannot well guess how you are to make 

 out your twelve species of reptiles, unless 

 it be by the various species, or rather va- 

 rieties, oi owx lac crli, of which /?«// enume- 

 rates five. 1 have not had opportunity of 

 ascertaining these ; but remember well to 



