Reptiles. 2655 



Interesting Fact on some Alligators in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's 

 Park. — The account of the lake of alligators in Scinde (Zool. 2611) brings to my 

 mind certain observations I made upon some young alligators, which, some years ago, 

 were in the collection of animals at the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park. As 

 nearly as I can recollect there were three or four of them, and they were from four to 

 five feet long. They were located in a place which bad been previously occupied by 

 some aquatic birds, and which had a pond of moderate size immediately before it. 

 The alligators were lazily basking in the sun, when one of the attendants, having a 

 large birch broom in his hand, entered their habitation. They instantly started up 

 and advanced towards him, opening their huge jaws, and then appeared to be ex- 

 ceedingly formidable opponents. The man, however, attacked them with his broom, 

 and drove them into the pond, where they instantly disappeared. As I considered 

 that they must ere long come up to the surface to breathe, I carefully watched the 

 spot where I had last seen one of them ; and after the lapse of perhaps five minutes, 

 I saw something gradually rising above the surface of the water which looked ex- 

 ceedingly like the end of a branch of a tree. This ascended to the height of four or 

 five inches, and then as gradually went down again, and wholly disappeared. Sup- 

 posing this might be the snout of one of the alligators, I examined the surface of 

 other parts of the pond, and quickly discovered another of these apparent branches of 

 trees, which in like manner rose a few inches above the surface, and then went down 

 again ; and, by watching attentively the places of disappearance, I saw this process 

 repeated a great number of times. As nearly as I can remember, the time the snout 

 was above the water did not exceed three minutes, and it might be from six to eight 

 minutes before it appeared again. The motion was so gradual that it was scarcely 

 possible, even by the closest attention, to perceive it ; and I was at the same time 

 struck with what appeared to me to be rather an extraordinary circumstance, which 

 was, that neither at the first appearance of the snout on the surface, nor on the final 

 disappearance, was there the slightest disturbance of the water, — no ripple, — no circle, 

 in short, nothing to prove that anything was either rising out of the water or going 

 down under it. I was so much interested by these appearances and disappearances 

 that I remained more than an hour watching them, and invariably saw the same re- 

 sults. — John Williams ; Royal Astronomical Society, Somerset House, December 6, 

 1849. 



Some Remarks on British Amphibia. By John Wolley, Esq. 



Triton Bibronii, Bell. Mr. Newman (Zool. 2576) hopes that his 

 readers will express their opinions upon Mr. Bell's newt, Triton 

 Bibronii. I find that I said (Zool. 2267), before the appearance of 

 the new edition of the ' British Reptiles,' " But it is not only the Lis- 

 sotriton palmipes of Mr. Bell that he has to re-establish in the new 

 edition of his ' Reptiles : ' it is to be hoped that he will give further 

 characters of his Triton Bibronii and of Rana Scotica." At the time 

 T wrote I had reason to suppose that Mr. Bell still believed in hi& 



