THE RING SNAKE, 7 
quite close. But, granting all these considerations, 
one would still expect to disturb ring snakes more 
often than one does. There must be something more 
than these reasons to account for it; most likely the 
secret is in the accidental destruction of eggs,— 
accidental, that is, from the snake point of view. 
Manure-heaps are apt to be scattered over the ground 
and ploughed or dug in, and rubbish-heaps are apt to 
be the chosen spot for burning the garden refuse ; 
neither of which processes would be conducive to 
the successful development of the embryo ring snakes. 
Other eggs are no doubt destroyed by different 
animals, possibly as food (why should not rats eat 
the eges ?), and others again may be trodden upon 
or destroyed by pressure in different ways. Some 
such accidents as these must be partly responsible ; 
and lastly; conditions of climate have to be taken 
into account. It frequently happens that the young 
are not hatched out in the autumn, but lie unde- 
veloped till the following spring. During a very 
severe winter many eges may quite conceivably be 
frozen beyond recovery, and so, in spite of the large 
number of eggs deposited, ring snakes are somewhat 
infrequently met with. 
Ring snakes are interesting pets to keep in cap- 
tivity, not savage, and even if they did bite, no harm 
would follow. 
The following complete classification may assist in 
referring to scientific works, and the list of synonyms 
