TREATMENT OF SNAKES IN CAPTIVITY. 107 



under circumstances which are as little as possible influenced by 

 artificial surroundings are far more trustworthy than any which 

 can be conducted in heated cages. I write here, keeping in mind 

 our English atmosphere and using our own snakes for illustra- 

 tion ; but the remarks will bear reference equally to the serpents 

 of any country, tropical, subtropical, or temperate, studied in 

 their native habitat. Furthermore, a big snake presents no 

 special characteristics which render it preferable to a small one 

 for most scientific purposes ; and no one will doubt that a 

 common grass-snake or adder will offer many opportunities in 

 its own territory for records more valuable to science than 

 anything which can be gleaned from the largest Boa Constrictor, 

 or other ophidian immigrant, whose existence is maintained in an 

 abnormal environment. 



The construction of a vivarium for this class of serpents 

 obviously admits of the greatest variation. One must aim at 

 obtaining the utmost facilities for gaining a constant insight 

 into the phases of their changeful life, consistent with altering 

 the immediate relations of that life in no way prejudicial to the 

 creatures themselves ; avoiding the rock of raree-show " prettiness " 

 on the one hand, nor plunging on the other into the whirlpool of 

 ultra-conformity to "Nature," which will engulf all chance of 

 ever making an observation at all. This latter evil is exemplified 

 to some extent in the terrarium established in the beautiful 

 gardens of the Zoologische Gesellschaft at Hamburg. It is a large 

 and handsome structure, situated in the open air ; the sides are 

 entirely of glass, and it contains a tasteful display of shrubs, 

 ferns, and mountainous rockeries with miniature cascades, &c. 

 All very natural and homelike for the snakes, but somewhat 

 disappointing to the visitor who comes to look at them, since 

 not a tithe part of the number it houses can ever be seen at one 

 time. A great many of the European species are said to be 

 represented in this terrarium ; having no heating appliance, it 

 is half-filled with dead leaves for their protection all through the 

 long and severe winter, owing to its exposed position. The 

 welfare of an animal in confinement does not demand for its 

 provision so close an adherence to its native Lares et penates 

 as this, which would indeed be exceedingly difficult to carry into 

 execution with brutes of larger growth. 



A friend of mine, living in the West of France, some time ago 



