Reptiles and Batrachians of the Edinburgh District. 501 
The following are the dimensions of some of the specimens 
that have passed through my hands during the past three or 
four years (the first female weighed 22 grammes) :— 
Male, . Head and body, 7 ins.; tail, 8} ins.; total, 15} ins. 
” > 79 6 te) ” 1Z ” 99 144 19 
39> * ” 6 ” 9 14 > ” 134 7 
>> > 5g ”? 99 64 ” be] 128 I 
” ” 7 9? 29 5S ” %) 124 3? 
Female, ” 8} 5, pF tO ” ” 14; 
9 e a? 8 23 2? 63 ” ” 145 > 
9 - 99 73 2) > 43 29 Le) 12 > 
99 P| > 74 byt) 99 3} ”? 7 11 ” 
Fifteen inches is the greatest length alluded to by Bell, 
but Mr Boulenger tells me there is a specimen in the 
British Museum—a male from France—which measures 
193 inches (tail 103). 
Order OPHIDIA. 
[ TROPIDONOTUS NATRIX (Z.).  — RINGED SNAKE. 
Several authors refer to this species as an inhabitant of 
Scotland, but their statements are for the most part of a very 
general character; and, so far as I can discover, no instance 
of the actual capture of a specimen in a wild state is on 
record. 
To begin with, we have the following enumeration of 
species (I quote the paragraph in full) in Sibbald’s “Scotia 
Illustrata,” 1684, under the heading “ De Serpentibus ” :— 
“Atque hic patriz nostre gratulandum est, quod Serpentes 
apud nos paucissimi sint, sc. 
“ Anguis sive Coluber, the Snake, nostratibus the Adder. 
“ Typhlops, Cecilia, a Blind-Worm. 
“ Hydrus, seu Natrix, the Water-Snake.” 
A century and a half later Fleming characterises the 
Ringed Snake as “common in England; rare in Scotland” 
(“ Brit, Animals,” 1828, p. 156), and gives “ Water Snake” as 
its Scottish name. Then we have Bell’s statement (“ Brit. 
Reptiles,” 1849 ed, p. 55) that, “It-inhabits most of the 
countries of Europe, from Scotland and the corresponding 
