142 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Snakes ; Curiosities and Wonders of Serpent Life. By Catherine 

 C. Hopley. 8vo, pp. 592. With illustrations. Loudon : 

 Griffith & Farren. 1883. 



For a long time past there has been a gap — a something 

 wanting — in ophiological literature, taken as a whole ; and no one 

 has hitherto grappled with the task of supplying this one thing 

 needful so courageously as Miss Hopley has done in the hook 

 before us. Between the standard authorities — huge tomes, which 

 are often little more than statistical museum catalogues — and the 

 absurd stories about snakes which appear from time to time in 

 the columns of popular journals and magazines, a wide hiatus 

 exists ; and, though several books have been cast into the chasm, 

 it has never heretofore been bridged-over in the manner accom- 

 plished by ' Curiosities and Wonders of Serpent Life.' Although 

 the writer has much original observation upon which to draw, 

 founded upon a patient study of reptiles, both in this country and 

 in America, she does not by any means disregard the experience 

 of others. " Audi alteram partem" is obviously her motto where 

 a disputed point is involved ; and what point is there connected 

 with snakes which is not matter of dispute ? The industry herein 

 indicated is most commendable. It would be difficult to mention 

 any author or publication, general or special, having any bearing 

 on the subject, that has not been hunted up for quotation. 

 Turning to the index at the end of the volume, and selecting, for 

 example, the letter B at hap -hazard, we find the following names 

 among the references under that head: — Lord Bacon, Baird, 

 Owen Baker, Sir Samuel Baker, Balfour, Bancroft, Sir Joseph 

 Banks, the Bard of Avon, Bartlett, Barton, Bartram, Bates, 

 Beal, Duke of Beaufort, Beaumont, Beauvoir, Bell, Ben Jonson, 

 Berkeley, Beverley, Bibron, Bingley, Blake, Bond, Bonnat, 

 Buffon, Bowerbank, Braden, Brittain, Broderip, Browne, Brunton, 

 Buckland, and Bullen ; without including such as would come 

 within British India, British Museum, Bridgewater Treatise, 

 Brazil, Bulletins, &c. 



Not content with simply describing snakes, Miss Hopley 

 endeavours to find a use for everything ; to seek out the purposes 

 which the creatures themselves serve in creation, as well as to 

 discover the utility of the various component items in the 

 economy of each individual. Thus we find the tongue, the 



