228 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



birds ; it attains a length of 1420 mm. and a diameter of 60 mm. 

 Its bite is usually followed by fatal consequences ; cattle are 

 often bitten by these vipers and usually die, but the Tartars 

 sometimes succeed in averting fatal results by applying promptly 

 a wet cu|D above the wound. Owing to its heavy build, V. 

 lehetina is a sluggish creature ; if held firmly by the tail at arm's 

 length, it is unable to raise its heavy body, and so may be 

 picked up boldly and dropped into a bag or collecting-box. 



Several Lizards occur, as Oj^hiosaurus apus, Pall., Lacerta 

 viridis, L., var. strigata, Eichw., L. saxicola var. gi'acilis, Mich,, 

 Ophiops elegans, Menk. Tortoises are numerous ; the commonest 

 is the ordinary Land-tortoise of the Caucasus, Testudo ibera. 

 Pall. Clemmys caspica, Gm. is very common along the banks of 

 the canals, but Emys orbicidaris, L,, is rarer ; the young Tortoises 

 are attacked by Storks and Vultures. 



I saw few mammals ; a dead Weasel on the road and an 

 occasional Hare, Lepus cyre/nsis, Sat., on the steppe, complete 

 my list of wild mammals observed in the district, but several 

 interesting forms occur. The Striped Hyaena is a great rarity 

 in the Aresh district, and the Gazelle (Russian and Tartan, 

 ajeiran ; Gazella subgutturosa, Guld.) has retired further to the 

 east and south. Forms peculiar to the Kuro-Araksin valley, 

 according to Satunin, are as follows : Hemiechiniis calligoni var. 

 brachyotis, Sat., Cerbillus hurricanes, Jerd., Mus muiculus var. 

 tartaricus, Sat., Nesocricetiis brandti, Nanr., Alactaga ivilliamsi 

 var. Schmidti, Sat., and A. elater var. caucasiciia, Nanr. 



On June 16th-July 31st I very unwillingly left my genial 

 host for Baku, where I had no time for Natural History. There 

 I sweltered for two days. There is a magnificent municipal 

 bathing-place, but the sight of interference-colours on the surface 

 of the water, due to a film of oil and various objectionable 

 objects from the town, were very discouraging. So I took a boat 

 and rowed right out to sea, and had a glorious swim, comforting 

 myself with the thought that here at least was a sea in which 

 Navis suhmarina is not a member of the fauna. As the 

 temperature was over 100° P. in the shade it was a good place 

 to get away from, especially as there was a moist, hot wind 

 blowing up from the south ; it seems curious that though the 

 hills round Baku are bare and treeless, the climate is quite 



