694 REPORT— 1903. 



medullary folds either remained open, in front only or throughout, or else closed. 

 The yolk-plug was large. 



It appears, therefore, that other factors besides the increase in osmotic pres- 

 sure must be taken into account in explaining the phenomena. 



8. Some recent Observations on British Reptiles. 

 By Gerald Leighton, M.D., F.R.S.E. 



1. It has long been a matter of dispute and doubt whether the British adder 

 ( Vipera berus) ever took to the water as a matter of ordinary habit. Most 

 ophiologists denied this, or at any rate had not observed it. Years of observation 

 in English counties had failed to bring forward a single case, but the result of 

 some correspondence indicated that in Scotland the habit was not unusual. 

 Investigations and experiment with adders in the Scottish Highlands proved 

 that in that district adders were in tlie habit of swimmiug the streams and 

 rivers, a habit which has become incorporated in some of the folklore of the 

 Highlands. 



2. Fatal cases of adder-bite ai'e by no means so rare in Great Britain as most 

 people suppose. One was reported last year, and a few weeks ago there was 

 another in South AVales. Both were in young boys. 



3. In addition to tlie very restricted distribution of the smooth snake {Corcnella 

 nustriaca) in Surrey, Hants, and Dorset, it is known that Berkshire was also a 

 habitat twenty years ago. For years, however, no specimen has been seen in that 

 county, and it was supposed to have become locally extinct. During the present 

 summer it has reappeared, one specimen having been taken near Wellington 

 College. Probably this species is more widely distributed than we know of, its 

 close resemblance to the adder causing it to be destroyed without recognition at 

 the hands of those who encounter it. 



4. Associated with the smooth snake in its distribution is the aand lizard 

 {Lacerta ayilifi). This rare lizard is found in the same parts of the counties above 

 mentioned, and is the staple food of tlie smooth snake. But the sand lizard also 

 occurs in very considerable numbers in the neighbourhood of Southport, and 

 practically nowhere else than the places stated. Here, however, the smooth snake 

 has never been known to occur, and it is curious that this lizard should be so 

 common locally and absent from all other places north of the Thames. 



9. Notes on the Coloration of Malayan Reptiles} 

 By N. Annandale, B.A. 



10. Kote on the Walking Fixh of the Malay Peninsula} 

 By H. C. Robinson. 



11. Exhibition of Convergent Series of Malayan Butterflies. 

 By H. C. Robinson. 



' Will ai^pear in the Fcisciculi Malayenscs. 



