SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



3°< 



all this, which applies to our own little sphere 

 of labour, is the consideration thai before the 



seas« I' practical work c es round, there are a 



number of books and papers on various [joints to 

 read or be referred to, so as to thoroughly digesl 

 the full significance of what has been seen while 

 observing the reptiles. 



Now that the serpents have disappeared for the 

 winter hibernation, it is interesting to think of the 

 strange physiological picture they present — alive, 

 yet continually unconscious, without food, but not 

 \\ asting away. The adaptation of the reptile to the 

 winter environment is one of the most marvellous 

 arrangements in Nature. In hot and tropical 

 climates "aestivation " takes the place of "hiber- 

 nation," and the reptiles retire in the heat and 

 reappear on the approach of the rainy season. In 

 our region it is a matter of food and temperature. 

 They cannot stand the rigour of our winter above 

 ground, and that same cold drives the animals on 

 which they depend for sustenance to a similar 

 retirement. It is ah error to suppose that snakes 

 can endure any amount of cold ; on the contrary, 

 they are most susceptible to its influence, and if 

 roused from their winter sleep usually die. When 

 in that torpid condition, respiration, always slow, 

 is almost stopped, and the heart beats very feebly 

 and at long and irregular intervals. Digestion is 

 absolutely at a standstill ; and of course the diges- 

 tive fluids must cease to be secreted, or they would 

 dissolve the tissues of the reptile itself, at that 

 time of extremely low vitality. 



The result of . observations by Dr. Guyon has 

 led him to the conclusion that the venom of the 

 adder is more to be feared after the season of 

 hibernation than at any other time, because it has 

 then hud a longer time to accumulate. I think 

 this could hardly be the ease in our country, as 

 one can scarcely believe the poison glands go on 

 secreting at a time when all chcinical activity in 

 the body is arrested. Indeed, some say an adder 

 bite sustained at this time is practically harmless, 

 and most English observers agree that the result- 

 to the person bitten are most grave at the hottest 

 time of the year. Of course, that effect is not so 

 serious if the adder has just previously emptied 

 its poison gland, as when the secretion has not 

 been discharged, say, for a week before the 

 accident. As a rule, our serpents show little sign 

 of life if roused in winter, and it requires a good 

 deal of very patient searching to find them in their 

 hibernating quarters. 



Our ring snakes and adders are apt to congregate 

 in large numbers in their winter retreats of holes 

 and crevices, presumably for the warmth they afford 

 each other by close proximity. I remember a 

 correspondent telling me of a case in Kent where 

 some workmen who were digging out a rabbit from 

 a hole came across a mass of adders coiled together 

 — he said, to the number of over a hundred. Simi- 

 larly in an old quarry near Llanelly some men who 

 were getting stone disturbed immense numbers of 

 ring snakes which had retired there for the winter. 

 Grosmont, Pontrilas, Hereford. 



LAND AND FRESH WATER MOLLUSCA OF HAMPSHIRE. 



By Lionel E. Adams, B.A., with kind assistance op B. B. Woodward, F.L.S., F.G.S. 



nnHE assemblage of land and fresh-water mol- 

 -*- lusca in the county of Hampshire is especially 

 interesting, as it contains exceptional forms. The 

 number of species so far recorded is 106 out of the 

 139 that have been hitherto found in Britain. Five 

 others have been obtained from alluvial deposits, 

 and it is probable that most of these may yet be 

 found in a living state when a more thorough 

 search has been made for them in the county. 



In looking through the following list it will be 

 noted that the county possesses at least two forms 

 of exceptional interest. They are Helicella barbara, 

 which originally reached this country from the 

 south-west, over regions now submerged; while 

 others, like the well-marked Helicodonta obvoliita, 

 came from the Continent to the south-east. 



The initials following localities are those of the 

 following workers in the county : Late Chas. 

 Ash ford (C. A.), A. Loydell (A. L ), Miss Fl. 

 Jewell (F. J.), Ch. E. Wright (C. E. W.). late Wm. 

 Jeffrey (W. J.), H. P. Fitzgerald (II. V. F.). Lionel 

 E. Adams (L. E. A.). 



The list of non-marine mollusca of Hampshire, 

 including the Isle of Wight, is as follows : — 



Tcstacella maxgei Fer. Porchester. 



Testacella scutitlum Sby. Newport, I. of Wight. 

 J. W. Taylor. Journ. Conch, v. 343. See Journ. 

 Malac. vi. p. 26. 



IAma.vtiiii.vhniialAww. Winchester(L. E. A.); Christ- 

 church (C. A.); Isle of Wight (A. L.). Var. 

 maculata Pic, Christchurch (C. A.). 



Lvmax flwus Linn. Ditcham Wood (C. E. W.) ; 

 Christchurch and Mudeford (C. A.): Isle o( 

 Wight (A. L.). 



L. wrborwm Bouch. Chant. Christ church (C. A.). 

 Var. nemorosa Baud. : var. oettonii Sord. One 

 specimen of each of these found under felled 

 timber in the New Forest, in Wootton en- 

 closure (C. A.). Hambledon. 



Agriolimax agnxHx Linn. Commonly distributed. 

 Var. sylvatica. Frequent (C. A.). 



Agriolimax Uevis Mull. Christchurch (C. A.)_ 

 Hambledon : Beckford Green. 



