REPTILES AS PETS. 
The Noel se | being a alg ase Guide to~| The Construction, 
sia ngement, | and Management of Vivaria, | containing | Pal Information | ae 
all Re sian | suitable as Pets, fae and where | to obtain them, and 
fous | Keep prema View | — | Ilustrated. | — | By | t bee GRE GORY. “4 
C. BaTeMAN, A.K.C., | Author of ‘‘The Fresh Wate 
r Aqu 
— | London: | L. es Gill, 170, pets W.C. ipyohacs dates ath July 
1897; book received 17th August; wn 8vo, cloth, 424 pages, besides 
title-sheet, adverti shania and 27 lates ; published price 7s. 6d. 
The title-page would have been better expressed had it read 
‘The Reptile Vivarium,’ for the book is exclusively confined to 
reptiles, including amphibians, and the author, an enthusiast 
in his subject, has something to say about a surprisingly large 
number of these animals, ranging in size from alligators and 
large pythons down to the smallest of snakes, lizards and 
newts. There is no attempt at scientific or technical descrip- 
tion, the author’s treatment of his subject being mainly didactic 
and anecdotal, notes on their habits in captivity, vernacular 
names and popular superstitions, often the price at which they 
are acquirable, and methods by which our British forms can 
be captured. At p. 3o1 is figured a trap by which flies can be | 
secured, and in another pines some pieces of pa gees to be 
used for catching snakes ne Pies who wish to run no 
rss to themselves. Som the nidiiudck given is 
ew to us. We were not ins aware that a eaail was a 
citi or that in the North of England the word ‘adder’ 
was applicable to Tropidonotus natrix. The author, however, 
i i né 
the ‘viper’ and the ‘adder’ as two distinct species. The con-_ 
struction of vivaria is dealt with in the 2nd chapter, and the 
meek one treats of plants suitable for stocking them, ferns 
ing particularly advised for use. The book is quite an 
staan A one to read, well bidewed, and SPN, got up. 
pie noe FeO GL ORT aE 
NOTE—BOTANY. 
Vitality of Bulb of Ornithogalum,—On the 22nd of April 1893 
nutans L., Pear i wild as ae ye pe at Coningsby, Di. 10, as in a fe 
her places in this c y- I placed it in th ng press the sa y> 
and kept it there u a four or eight-stone pressure till th d of June, 
changing papers every third day. Th imen w not dry at all. 
Cutting off the bulb, lanted it in the gar if its wonderful 
vitality were still unexhauste he leaves and flowers then dried perfectly 
ina ight. Ib has thrown up narr es every season since 
1893. On the 16th of April this year I found it in flower for the first time ; 
but my one bulb has multipli there are now t each with 
Ss) °. 
flower spikes and leaves. It has pected. ba five years to gre atte 4 
its two months’ drying in the AN WoopRUFFE-PEACOC 
epi — Line ee: 2oth Ap Apa 386 
i Naturalist, 
f 
