Reptiles. 



8289 



of Coluber laevis be restored to this lizard-eating ophidian. — Edward Newman, in 

 ''Field' Neivspaper, October 18, 1862. 



Coluber Icevis not rare in Sioeden. — I see by your paper of September 13th that a 

 snake {Coluber Icevis, Lacep., Coronella austriaca, Gmel.) has been lately added to 

 the British Fauna, and the only thing that surprises me is that it has never been 

 identified in Britain before, for it is common on most parts of the Continent, and by 

 no means rare in Sweden. It is met with as far north as Upsala, but nowhere more 

 common than around Gothenburg. I take it that its general resemblance to the 

 common snake often causes it to be overlooked by the casual observer. We call it in 

 Sweden the "slat snok," or smooth snake, and in this lies the principal distinguishing 

 mark between the C. laevis and the C. Natrix, or common ringed snake. In the 

 common snake the scales on the upper parts of the body are imbricated, those on the 

 back being lancet-shaped and distinctly keeled along the middle ; whereas in C. laevis 

 the scales are oval, altogether smooth, without the slightest indication of a keel. As 

 far as I can observe, with us the C. laevis appears to be partial to stony tracts ; they 

 are perfectly harmless, and their principal food appears to be mice; and one which 

 was kept a long time in confinement would not touch a frog. With us they rarely 

 exceed about two feet in length ; they appear to be of a much tamer and more com- 

 panionable nature than the common snake. A most singular thing is that, according 

 to Schlegel, the female brings forth living young. He says, " The eggs take three or 

 four months to hatch inside the mother, and in the end of August she brings forth 

 about twelve young, which are at first altogether white." If this is the case, is it not 

 the only non-venomous snake that does so? I ask for information. — Mr. Wheelwright, 

 in ' Field 1 Neivspaper, October 18, 1862. 



The Iguana not an Inhabitant of Tasmania. — I observe a correspondent writes 

 (Zool. 8006) of the iguana of Tasmania. This calling of creatures by erroneous 

 names leads to endless confusion. This monitor group is commonly designated 

 "iguana" also in India; and to the genus Hydrosaurus must be referred the Tas- 

 manian reptile, which is utterly different from the veritable iguanas of the New 

 World. As well write of the marsupial Thylacinus of Tasmania as the hyaeua or the 

 tiger, names which have been misappropriated to it in the colony.— Edward Blyth; 

 Calcutta, September 17, 1862. 



Capture of the Sword Fish (Xiphias Gladius) on the Essex Coast.— On the 23rd 

 of last month some dredging-men in the employ of Mr. Wiseman, oyster merchant, of 

 Pogleshorn, in this county, discovered a large fish in shallow water in a branch creek of 

 the river Crouch, near Potten Island, and on rowing to it they found it to be a sword fish : 

 it had plunged about, trying to get into deep water, and had driven its sword deep 

 into the mud. They captured it alive, and found the sword to measure 3 feet, the 

 length of the fish being 9 feet 1 inch, the weight about 2£ cwt., and the girth 46 inches. 

 The sword is flat, an inch wide at the point, and a piece of it appears to have been 

 broken off some time. — C. Parsons; North Shoebury Hall, Essex, November 4, 

 1862. 



VOL. XX. 



