46 OUR EEPTILES. 



little fruit but lately conveyed there, about to 

 pluck another yet larger and redder, when lo ! 

 beneath our very fingers glides the sleek, at- 

 tenuated form of the reptile ay, within ten 

 inches of our depressed nose. Under such 

 circumstances, should we be surprised at finding 

 ourselves starting back ; at feeling a slight and 

 momentary sensation, as of a drop of water 

 trickling down our back ; or at forgetting to 

 observe whether the intruder was really a viper 

 or a snake ? 



What is called the Common or Ringed Snake 

 with us, is really the most common snake in 

 Europe. It is found in almost every country 

 from Sweden in the north, to Sicily in the south, 

 excepting Ireland, whence it is said to have been 

 banished by the good Saint Patrick, and in the 

 extreme north of Russia, whence it is probably 

 excluded by the temperature, independent of 

 saintly proscription. In Britain it is far more 

 common in the South than in the North ; some 

 have even had the temerity to deny its occurrence 

 in Scotland, but apparently without good found- 

 ation. Attempts have been made to introduce 

 it into Ireland, an account of one such being 

 narrated in Bell's " British Reptiles." But the 

 hand of every true Irishman was armed against 

 the innovation, and the imports soon suffered 

 extermination. 



