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8640 Reptiles. 



varieties of a much smaller species, Lacerta agilis, have heen mistaken for it. The 

 occurrence of this solitary specimen is not sufficient in itself to establish it as a Bri- 

 tish species; but on showing it, a few days since, to Mr. John E. Daniel, a well- 

 known naturalist, and who certainly would not have been likely to mistake this 

 beautiful species, he informed me that a few years since he had observed three or four 

 specimens of it on the heath about half a mile south of Wareham, in Dorsetshire, one 

 of which he captured, and is quite certain of its identity with Lacerta viridis, a species 

 which he is well acquainted with, having frequently seen it in Germany, and received 

 specimens from the Channel Islands. The proof therefore of its occurrence in Eng- 

 land is established; whether indigenous or as a naturalized species, remaining doubt- 

 ful ; but there can now be no reason why it should not be added to the British fauna. 

 Gilbert White, in his ' Natural History of Selborne,' has the following remark, which 

 probably applies to this species, " I remember well to have seen formerly several 

 beautiful green Lacerti on the sunny sand-banks near Farnham, in Surrey ; and Ray 

 admits there are such in Ireland." — J. A. Brewer ; Holmesdale House, Reiyale, April 

 24, 1863. 



[In connexion with this subject I take the liberty to cite the undermentioned pas- 

 sages on this subject, which have already appeared in the early volumes of the 

 ' Zoologist' : — 



" I airi told, on competent authority, that Lacerta viridis is quite frequent and 

 even abundant in the neighbourhood of Heine Bay. I may add there can be no 

 doubt about the species, and that it certainly is not the smaller green lizard of Poole, 

 but identical with the species long known to inhabit Guernsey, as my friend Professor 

 Bell has received a specimen from Heme Bay, but not in time to notice the discovery 

 for the second edition of his ' British Reptiles.' "—(Dr. Brom field, Zool. 2707). 



" Seven or eight years ago a schoolfellow of mine at Eton, a native of Guernsey, 

 assured me he had seen lizards in Devonshire precisely similar to the lizards of his 

 own island, which latter, if I recollect right, he had often kept in confinement." — 

 (John Wolley, Zool. 2707). " Nearly two years since a learned Professor of the Uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh mentioned that he had dissected a green lizard brought by a 

 botanical party from the Clova mountains." — (John Wolley, Zool. 2708). 



" On looking over the Reptilia of the Museum belonging to this city [Canterbury], 

 I happily discovered a male and female Lacerta viridis. The particulars I obtained 

 regarding the whereabouts the pair originally came from, the time, &c, are uncer- 

 tain and dubious." — (Rev. W. H. Cordeaux, Zool. 2855). 



On the other side, and as militating against the admission of this beautiful reptile 

 into the British fauna, I may remind the readers that it has been repeatedly imported 

 in large numbers from Guernsey, and turned out with a view to acclimation on our 

 heaths and wilds. — Edward Newman.'] 



The Palmated Smooth Newt (Lissotriton palmipes). — This reptile has formed the 

 subject of more than one communication to the ' Zoologist,' but the localities in which 

 it has been found are so few that additional information on that point may be accept- 

 able. I may mention, then, that five-and-twenty years ago, in company with other 

 small boys, I used to catch black-footed newts in a pond near Dartmouth, in Devon- 

 shire ; the means of capture being of the simplest kind, consisting of a bit of twine 

 fastened to a small bent pin, and a worm for bait. When ' Bell's Reptiles ' was pub- 

 lished I discovered that I had been unconsciously amusing myself with rarities. I 

 have since caught a great many of these newts, and three years ago they were abundant 



