OF SELBOllNE. 89 



have seen, formerly, several beautiful green 

 lacerti on the sunny sandbanks near Farn- 

 ham, in Surrey ; and Ray admits there are 

 such in Ireland, 



LETTER XVIII. 



TO THE SAME. 

 DEAR SIR; Selborne, July 27, 1768. 



I RECEIVED your obliging and communi- 

 cative letter of June the 28th, vs^hile I was 

 on a visit at a gentleman^s house, w^here I 

 had neither books to turn to, nor leisure to 

 sit down, to return you an answer to many 

 queries, which I wanted to resolve in the 

 best manner that I am able. 



A person, by my order, has searched our 

 brooks, but could find no such fish as the 

 gasterosteus pungitius : he found the gastero- 

 steus aculeatus in plenty. This morning, in 

 a basket, I packed a little earthen pot full 

 of wet moss, and in it some sticklebacks. 



