A GERMAN VIEW OF THE FAUNA OF IRELAND. 349 
Archangel Michael is proclaimed to all Europe as the dragon- 
Slayer; the dragon killed by him being the symbol of the heresy 
which he had to conquer. Similarly in the Gothic architecture 
and sculpture of the age of romance we find dragons, serpents, 
and frog-like monsters introduced as serviceable to Christendom, 
There are in Germany many similar legends to those of the Irish 
with regard to snakes. When a bell is being founded, a snake is 
often thrown into the molten metal, that all snakes may fly far 
from the sound of that bell. At Bernau, near Berlin, one of 
these bells was broken; all the snakes came back, but were 
obliged to retreat once more when, in 1649, the bell was recast. 
It is said that when Luther was translating the Bible at Witten- 
burg the frogs in the moat round the convent disturbed him 
incessantly. He cursed them, and since that time they have 
“never been heard there. A_ similar story is told of the 
pious monks of two famous convents, Lehnin and Chorin, in 
Brandenburg. 
The true reason for the dearth of reptiles in Ireland lies in 
its position as an island. There are many instances of islands 
whose fauna is strikingly defective as compared with adjoining 
continents. The island of Sylt has no snakes or rats. The 
peninsula of Wittow, part of the island of Riigen, has neither 
Vipera berus, Tropidinotus natrix, nor Lacerta viridis, nor yet the 
Mole, an animal which is also unknown in Ireland. In the 12th 
century, when Bishop Absalom of Ronskilde was besieging Arcona, 
Wittow, “insula archonensis,” was separated from Riigen by an 
arm of the sea. Since that time they have been reunited by sand- 
hills, which contain terrible quicksands. Although Wittow is 
thus again connected with the mainland, centuries have not 
sufficed to induce the above-mentioned creatures to cross over 
from the latter; the desert region of the quicksands has cut them 
off as effectually as did the sea itself. A year ago “ The Schabe”’ 
was made a roadway planted with trees and underwood, which 
is eminently adapted to facilitate a crossing. It will be interesting | 
to ascertain whether or not the fauna of Wittow will gain in 
consequence. Nevertheless naturalisation is more difficult than 
appears at first sight. T'ropodinotus natrix, which is common on 
the west coast of Schleswig, has repeatedly been introduced at 
Keitum, in Sylt, only a few miles from the coast, but up to this 
time apparently without success. 
