438 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



in the New York Zoological Park, but also from many of the 

 creatures in their natural haunts. There is also very much 

 valuable advice as to the treatment of reptiles in captivity, a 

 subject of much difficulty, as most of us will bear witness who have 

 travelled and endeavoured to keep these creatures. A coloured 

 frontispiece and nearly two hundred illustrations from photo- 

 graphs taken by the author are not only a great assistance to the 

 student, but give us the individuality of each species as only 

 photography can disclose. 



Mr. Ditmars has some pertinent remarks on the phenomenon 

 of change of coloration in certain Lizards : — 



" It is a mistake to imagine the colour changes to be strictly in 

 line of protection to the lizard in immediately conforming to the 

 colours of surfaces on which the animal rests. A specimen capable 

 of exhibiting all phases of coloration between a dull brown to an 

 emerald-green may for some time rest upon a dead tree-trunk, and be 

 clad in a suit of conspicuous steel-grey ; from this hue it may trans- 

 form into a livid green ; a few minutes later it may jump among the 

 leaves and shrubbery, where it takes on an almost blackish hue . . . 

 Who can blame certain romantic authors for elaborating upon such 

 an admirable point as the ' power ' displayed by a dull brown lizard to 

 jump upon a leaf and transform into a leafy green, thence upon a tree- 

 trunk, where it immediately turns brown again, and from there, pos- 

 sibly, upon a gorgeous flower, where the reptile assumes a hue to 

 match the richly-coloured petals?" 



We notice that Mr. Ditmars, as regards the King Cobra, or 

 Snake-eating Cobra (Naja bungarus = Ophiophagus elaps), states 

 that it attains the great length, for a poisonous snake, of twelve 

 feet. The writer of this notice, however, more than forty years 

 ago, obtained and skinned a specimen in the Malay Peninsula 

 which was afterwards identified and measured by Dr. Gunther. 

 Its length was 13 ft. 2 in. (cf. Zool. 1875, p. 4625). 



A Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca. Part VIII. 

 (Supplementary). Figures by the late Joshua Alder and 

 Albany Hancock, and others. Text by Sir Charles Eliot, 

 M.A., D.C.L., &c. Ray Society. 



This Supplement to the ' Monograph on the British Nudi- 

 branchiata,' by Alder and Hancock, will be welcomed by all 

 naturalists, whilst the introductory sections give probably the 



