296 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
section (Scotland District), where the coral-capping has been 
removed by subaérial denudation. The elevation of Barbados 
from the ocean, though intermittent, as shown by the numerous 
lines of old sea margins, rising one above the other, appears to 
have been progressive since the time when the structure of the 
coral polypes first emerged, and which at its highest point now 
stand at an elevation of over 1000 feet above present sea-level. 
If this outline of the geological structure of the island of 
Barbados be correct, its fauna ought to bear out the conclusions 
arrived at. 
An examination of the Reptiles inhabiting the island of 
Barbados points to their recent introduction. They are by no 
means numerous, consisting, so far as I have discovered, of one 
species of Snake, four species of Lizards, a single species of Toad, 
and aTree-frog. The Snake, Liophis perfuscus, Cope (P. Ac. Phil. 
1862, p. 77), is the only puzzle, for, so far as we at present 
know, the species is restricted to Barbados, and the transport of 
a Snake by natural causes over a wide expanse of ocean offers 
considerable difficulties. The introduction and restriction of the 
venomous Fer-de-lance, Craspedocephalus lanceolatus, to the 
islands of Martinique and St. Lucia, its original habitat being, I 
understand, the South American continent, is equally remarkable. 
Two hundred and thirty years ago, when Ligon wrote his history 
of Barbados, Liophis perfuscus appears to have been extremely 
numerous, and though innocuous, very troublesome to the 
settlers; from its habit of crawling up through the windows of 
the dairies and drinking the milk, he mentions how they were 
obliged to build their milk-houses with projecting ridges to keep 
out these unwelcome intruders. At the present day, owing to 
the high state of cultivation, little harbour is left for Snakes, and 
in a space of twelve months I only succeeded in obtaining two 
adult specimens and two young. The introduction and great 
increase of the Mongoose must have assisted in the destruction 
of the Snake, and it may be predicted that before many years 
have elapsed, the species will be extirpated from the island. The 
young are almost black in colour, and very different to the 
adult, and hence has arisen the belief which I have heard in 
Barbados that two species of Snakes inhabited the island. 
Of the four species of Lizards found in Barbados, the Gecko, 
or “ Wood-slave,” Hemidactylus mabuia, Mor., has an almost 
