248 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



It may happen that an amateur will occasionally find himself 

 in a dilemma about a strange snake, being unwilling to purchase 

 it if it should be poisonous, and not having sufficient confidence 

 to determine its nature by looking in its mouth. In a doubt of 

 this sort he may be decidedly recommended to buy, supposing 

 the price to be suitable for such a specimen as he desires, and 

 to take it to the nearest zoological establishment or herpetological 

 authority and get it named. Should it be venomous, he will 

 certainly be able to get something good in exchange for it, living 

 venomous serpents being, as a body, more valuable than non- 

 venomous, for obvious reasons. As was pointed out in ' The 

 Zoologist ' for April, 188'2, there is no method of distinguishing 

 between a poisonous and an innocent snake from their external 

 characteristics, except those which lead to the recognition of the 

 actual species. The absurd distinction of a black or red tongue, 

 upon which I have heard a dealer insist, goes absolutely for 

 nothing. 



A few words on the two colubers which are found in this 

 island may not be out of place here, since they will most probably 

 be inmates of every student's vivarium, and will constitute the 

 entire collection of many whose opportunities of procuring foreign 

 specimens are limited. 



The Common Ringed or Grass-snake {Tropidonotua natrix, 

 Nat/rix torquata, &c.) has been too often described of late years 

 to require any recapitulation of its salient points. It may be 

 bought in the spring and summer for a shilling or eighteen- 

 pence at most shops where gold-fish, white mice, &c, are sold ; 

 very large ones — and it attains a length of over four feet some- 

 times, the female being the larger — will cost two shillings or a 

 half-a-crown. In its wild state it affects low-lying marshy 

 grounds ; is often observed swimming in a pond or stream, 

 where it sometimes catches fish ; and always drinks and bathes 

 much in captivity. This is the most common snake in Europe, 

 and is far more numerous in many parts of the Continent than 

 it is here, extending over a very wide area, from Norway and 

 Sweden to Sicily, and from Eussia to Spain and Portugal. It is 

 healthy and active in confinement ; is undeniably handsome ; 

 and, though it hisses violently when frightened, never attempts 

 to bite. Its best and favourite food is frogs, though it will also 

 eat slugs, newts, fish, maggots, and earthworms when very 



