Reptiles. 



8239 



Mr. Newton's essay 'On the Zoology of Ancient Europe,' in which he says the 

 remains of a fresh-water tortoise have been discovered in recent peat in Norfolk. 

 The following has been in print some months in a supplement prepared by myself to 

 a forthcoming work, by Sir Oswald Mosley, on the Zoology of this district : — 

 " Cistudo europaea, Cuv. (The Spotted Marsh Tortoise). This species is introduced, 

 owing to an example having been captured, in the early part of the summer of 1857, 

 on the banks of the canal near Burton. It is not a species that can be kept long in 

 captivity; but it is probable it may have lived for a long period in the canal, or even 

 have bred there, if accident had provided it with a mate. This animal is said not to 

 take food excepting in the water. The individual in question died very soon after 

 coming into my possession." When I penned the above remarks, I had no other idea 

 than that my specimen, improbable though the supposition was, had been kept in an 

 aquarium, and had escaped accidentally from captivity. With the evidence, however, 

 adduced by Mr. Newton, of the recent occupancy of this country by a fresh-water tor- 

 toise, it appears to me to be the less improbable supposition, to view my specimen as 

 a truly British-born and indigenous individual. The names Cistudo europasa and 

 Emys lutaria are treated as synonyms by some authors, but even should not that be 

 quite correct, it is very probable a mistake may have been committed in naming the 

 imperfect Norfolk remains Emys lutaria of Gray. The spotted fresh-water tortoise 

 lives in lakes and marshes, some of which are situated in the extreme South of 

 Europe, others as far North as Prussia ; and it is said to bury itself in the mud 

 during the greater part of the summer, and to hide in some hole on laud in winter. 

 A few remaining individuals of this hiding species may thus have hitherto escaped 

 the attention of British naturalists; whilst the very recent discovery of a new British , 

 snake renders the discovery of a new Cheloman less improbable than it would other- 

 wise be. — Edwin Brown ; Burton-on-Trenl, October 10, 1862. 



Capture of another Specimen of the Lizard Snake: Birth of Young Ones. — 

 Mr. Buckland has procured from the New Forest a fine female specimen of the 

 lizard snake (Coronetla austriaca), in addition to the one already mentioned as in the 

 possession of the Zoological Society. On Tuesday morning she produced six young 

 ones, two of which were drowned in the water provided for their mother, and of the 

 four survivors Mr. Buckland thus writes in the 'Field' newspaper: — "I really wish 

 my good friends who read the naturalist columns of 4 The Field' were by my side now, 

 and I would show them one of the prettiest sights they ever beheld ; the old mother 

 snake is coiled up in a graceful combination of circles ; her little family are nestled 

 together on her back ; they have twisted their tiny bodies together into a shape some- 

 what resembling a double figure of 8, and there they lay basking at their ease in the 

 mid-day sun. The old mother snake is vibrating her forked tongue at me, the little 

 ones are imitating their mother's actions, and are vibrating their tiny tongues also ; 

 the mamma's head is most beautifully iridescent in the sun, and her babies are in this 

 respect nearly as pretty as their mother. They are about five inches long, about as 

 thick as a small goose-quill, and smoother than the finest velvet. Their eyes are like 

 their mother's ; their tails are unlike their mother's ; she has lost the tip of her tail — 

 her young ones have not, they are tapered off to a point as sharp as a pin. Their 

 skins are of a brownish black colour, and marked like their mother, only that these 

 markings are not yet well developed. The scales on the under parts of their bodies 

 are a beautiful pale glittering blue ; altogether^ they are real little beauties." This 

 interesting occurrence proves that the lizard snake is viviparous, in this respect 



