110 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



aperture could be discovered, that they were carried over the 

 wall by marauding cats and fowls. Finally, two large Black 

 Vipers having been added to the collection, a panic seized upon 

 the household, which communicated itself to the host at length ; 

 no one would venture within the circle any more ; and a couple 

 of pairs of Peacocks, the most determined of ophiophagists, were 

 permitted to wage a war of extermination upon the remaining 

 reptiles. 



This is rnther a digression from our subject; but I relate the 

 incident to show how unsuitable an arrangement which would 

 at first strike one as being admirable, on account of its fidelity to 

 Nature, may be for the work of observation. (I intend, however, 

 to turn a number of Common Adders into a large walled manure- 

 pit in a stable-yard, and see what I can make of them there, as 

 they yield less satisfactory results and are more difficult to keep 

 in confinement than almost any other serpent). Small glazed 

 ferneries are sometimes used as reptile-cases; but, as I remarked 

 in the last chapter, it is impossible to combine snakes and 

 botany, except it be in one or two peculiar instances, hardly 

 likely to come within the scope of amateurs ; while if the fernery 

 be utilised exclusively as a reptilium, it will combine the 

 maximum of expense with the minimum of convenience to be 

 expected in such an apparatus. The objection applies equally to 

 the dome-shaped structures which replace the lower sashes of 

 windows, and the oblong, pyramidal-topped articles adapted to 

 stand upon a table or decorate a green-house ; to purchase an 

 aquarium for the purpose is simply throwing away money. 

 Here is a model which I can strongly recommend for cheapness 

 and efficiency. 



Suppose an ordinary four-legged table to be turned upside 

 down. Let the top (or rather its under surface), now resting 

 upon the floor, represent the bottom of the cage — the only solid 

 part about it. Eidiculous as this method of illustration may 

 appear, you had better make use of it when giving your 

 instructions to a carpenter ; for no matter how skilful a 

 draughtsman you may be, you will find it very hard to combat 

 all his preconceived notions of architectural propriety, and to 

 impress his understanding with the kind of thing you want by 

 a plan ; but a cribbage-board with long pegs may be tried. To 

 revert to our inverted table— lay four bars of wood upon the 



