4704 THE ZooLocist—NovEMBER, 1875. 
A Snake in Ireland.—The enclosed letter to the editor of the Irish 
‘Daily Express’ may excite speculation as to how the snake got where it 
was found. he fact is worthy of record, at any rate, that a snake has been 
caught in Ireland. What would St. Patrick say ? 
“ Sir,—My gardener this morning killed a large snake in the garden 
here, measuring five feet long by three inches in circumference. Jt has 
a black back, with light yellow belly; I do not know what species it 
belongs to, but have preserved it in spirits. Is it not very rare to find 
such in Ireland ? 
“Your obedient servant, 
«“ FRANcIS WM. GREENE. 
“ Kilranalagh, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, 
September 11, 1875.” 
I have not seen it, but my correspondent, Lady M., has it in her pos- 
session, and remarks that its head is very small and its nose pointed ; it is 
quite five feet long, black, and the colour of ashes beneath. It appears by 
a letter from Mr. Greene, “ that a gentleman brought two Indian snakes to 
Ballinrodan, both of which escaped six or seven years ago; one of them was 
found half eaten by a pig shortly afterwards, and this might be the other, 
though how it lived through the winters I do not know.” It would be 
interesting to ascertain whence the snake came and how it found its way to 
the proscribed island—J. Fayrer; London, Sept. 28. (From ‘ Nature,’ 
October’ 9th, 1875.) 
[It would be very desirable to learn the generic and specific character of 
this snake. The loose way in which the information is given is not likely 
to induce the belief that any snakes are indigenous to Ireland.—Hdward 
Newman. 
Large Surmullet off Penzance.—I yesterday captured a surmullet which 
measured over all one foot four inches and three-quarters ; from eye to fork 
one foot and half an inch; in greatest girth ten inches and one-eighth; and 
which turned the scale at thirty-eight ounces and a half. This is, 1 believe, 
the largest surmullet on record, although it is lighter than the next to it by 
an ounce and a half. (See Couch’s ‘ British Fishes,’ vol. i. p. 216)— 
Thomas Cornish; Penzance, October 9, 1875. 
Fish from the Clouds—There is a very current, though erroneous, belief 
that showers of fish are to be met with at times in India. It rests on such 
statements as the following, viz., that fishes are often found in situations 
where their presence cannot be accounted for otherwise than on the sup- 
position that they have descended from the clouds. ‘To quote an average 
specimen, Emerson Tennent, in his book on Ceylon, says: “I was driving 
