66 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



Ent. Soc, Ontario ; Mem. Eastern Province Nat. 

 Soc, Cape Colony, etc. 



The literary remains left by Miss Ormerod are volu- 

 minous. They consist, however, chiefly of reports 

 and small works of advice to agriculturists and 

 horticulturists at home and abroad, the more im- 

 portant being " A Manual of Injurious Insects," 

 " A Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and 

 Bush Fruits," " Guide to Methods of Insect Life," 

 " Injurious Insects of South Africa," and a " Text- 

 book of Agricultural Entomology." We under- 

 stand Mr. John Murray will in due course publish her 

 reminiscences in autobiographic form. 



For some time Miss Ormerod was lecturer on 

 Agricultural Entomology at the Eoyal Agricultural 

 College, Cirencester, and latterly examiner in the 

 University of Edinburgh on the same subject, while 

 among the last honours bestowed upon her was 

 that of the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 

 that University. The portrait we have pleasure in 

 giving is by Messrs. Elliott & Fry, of Baker Street, 



London, .showing her capped and gowned in that 

 degree. This, we understand, was the first case in 

 which the University had admitted a woman to 

 that honour. 



In addition to her entomological studies, Miss 

 Ormerod devoted much attention to horticulture, 

 and was never more happy than when in her 

 garden. Meteorology also commanded her observa- 

 tion, and we recollect her pride when telling us she 

 had been elected a Fellow of the Eoyal Meteoro- 

 logical Society. 



Much as is the perseverance of this lady to be 

 admired, and useful as were her efforts to better 

 instruct her fellow-creatures with regard to the 

 causes of losses in agriculture and horticulture, 

 often little less than national, it has been hitherto 

 quite sad to find how little has been really done in 

 that direction by the Government of this country. 

 Something better is required, and a department of 

 trained economic entomologists should be founded 

 by the Department of Agriculture. — J. T. C. 



FOOD OF THE KING SNAKE. 



IBy Gerald Leighton, M.D. 



A S a good deal of correspondence lately has 

 ■*-*- taken place in different papers with refer- 

 ence to the diet of our harmless snake, Tropi- 

 donotus natrix, and also with regard to the adder, 

 it may be well to note a few points in this con- 

 nection so that field naturalists may look into the 

 matter for themselves during this snake season. 



In the first place, the habits of the ring snake 

 must be noted. As is well known, this snake is 

 mainly an inhabitant of well-watered districts. 

 With the exception of an area in Central Dorset I 

 have not found T. natrix numerous in dry localities. 

 Secondly, it is an expert climber, being frequently 

 found amongst the foliage of bushes and even in 

 trees. Compare these two characteristics with the 

 habit of the adder, and a striking difference is to 

 be observed. Although adders will climb into 

 bushes and trees it is, to say the least of it, doubt- 

 ful whether they will enter water as a voluntary 

 act. I have captured a very large number of them, 

 and I have never yet seen one in any situation 

 which would lead me to suppose the animal would 

 take to that element. In this connection the 

 Continental species T. viperinus is often mistaken 

 for Pelias berns. The only evidence I have been 

 able to obtain against this is the statement of some 

 of my Scottish correspondents, who say that adders 

 may be seen at times swimming from islet to islet 

 in some of the lakes. As a general rule, however, 

 it is correct to say that the adder is a dry-land 

 serpent, while the ring snake is equally at home in 

 water and on land. This being so, what is the 

 deduction to be drawn as regards the food of 

 the two reptiles 1 Naturally one would expect the 



adder to feed mainly on small mammals, and the 

 ring snake to take the creatures found in ponds 

 and streams. As a matter of fact, the main food of 

 adders is undoubtedly mice. The ring snake prefers 

 young frogs to anything else. The debatable point 

 is in reference to the other articles in the reptilian 

 dietary. Both species, as I have said, will climb 

 trees, and the adder undoubtedly eats young birds 

 from nests in trees, as well as those found on the 

 ground. Whether the ring snake also takes birds 

 is not quite so certain. It is hard to believe that this 

 species would be such an expert climber if it did not 

 use the power to obtain food, and personally I am 

 inclined to believe that the harmless snake feeds 

 on birds as well as does the adder. Some very 

 high authorities deny this, and assert that nothing- 

 higher in the vertebrate scale than amphibians is 

 devoured by T. natrix. ' I commend the point to 

 the investigation of field naturalists, and would 

 be glad to hear of definite evidence on the matter. 

 There is no occasion to kill the ring snake to 

 determine the point, as it will disgorge any recent 

 meal when captured. Many readers of Science- 

 Gossip doubtless keep snakes in vivaria, and it 

 would be of interest to hear the results of their 

 observation on the food chiefly taken by the 

 snakes in captivity, as well as in the case of those 

 captured wild. There are many such questions in 

 the life-history of British serpents which field 

 naturalists might well investigate, and contribute 

 the results of their work to the respective societies 

 to which they belong, and to the pages of this 

 magazine. 



Grosmont, near Hereford, 



