Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology. 
365 
ZOOLOGY. 
18. On the Serpents of Southern Africa . — “ I have made a 
great many experiments upon such serpents as I have been able 
to procure alive, and have thereby ascertained which of them 
are, or are not, poisonous. I always feel a great degree of sur- 
prise, when I consider how little this branch of Natural History 
has been attended to ; and how very vague and unsatisfactory 
our knowledge is, relative to the whole Linnsean class Amphi- 
bia. One would almost fancy, that next to the animals particu- 
larly useful to man, they would have been studied, in considera- 
tion of the consequence attached to them, from the peculiar 
powers which some of them possess. That, however, is far from 
being the case ; and the neglect with which these animals have 
been treated, is probably to be attributed to the dread and dis* 
gust with which the whole tribe are viewed ; feelings, however, 
which are both increased and diminished by experiments, inas- 
much as by them we discover beyond doubt the mortiferous 
power of some, and to an equal certainty the innocence of the 
majority. So little is yet known of the snakes of this colony, 
that, at the present moment, nearly all are considered as poison- 
ous ; while, by actual experiments, I have found, that not a 
greater proportion than one to six of the species found here are 
noxious. We have three species of the viper, the bites of all of 
which are bad, though not invariably fatal ; also three species of 
Naia, the bites of all of which produce almost certain death ; 
and two species of Elaps, which, from my observations, are also 
very dangerous.” — Letter to Professor Jameson from Mr Tho- 
mas Smith , Museum , Cape-Town. 
19. Mode followed by the Serpent-eater (Falco Serpen tarius) 
for destroying Serpents. — Before concluding (Mr Smith re- 
marks), I may mention a curious circumstance, of which I was in- 
formed a few days ago, by a gentleman, upon whose veracity I can 
place the utmost dependence, and which is a fact, in as far as I 
know, not generally known. It relates to the mode which the Fal- 
co Serpentarius of Linnaeus follows in destroying snakes. Some 
time ago, when the said gentleman was out riding, he observed a 
bird of the above mentioned species, while on the wing, make two 
or three circles, at a little distance from the spot on which he then 
VOL. XIV. NO. 28. 4pril 1826. 
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