— 73 
Voila done la reputation de la plante tombee de touto 
sa hauteur. 
Le Secretaire donne connaissancc d’unc lettre du Dr A. 
Gunther, du British Museum, accusant reception de deux 
serpents qui lui avaient ete envoyes pour etre identifies : l’un 
provenant de Bourbon, et l’autre pris au TIochet. Ils cons- 
tituent une scule ct meme espece — L;jcoclon Aulicus .- — Ce 
serpent, dit le Dr Gunther, est d’une grande utilite en ce 
qu’il sc nourrit de rats et de souris ; il est nocturne dans ses 
habitudes. II s’est repandu a la Reunion, oil il est devenu 
tres coramun et il aura etc probablcment introduit ici, de 
meme qu’il l’a ete de l’lnde a la Reunion. 
Yoici la lettre en question : 
British Museum, Zoological Department 
January 1st 1874. 
My dear Sir, 
“ The two snakes, one from Reunion, the other from Mau- 
ritius have safely arrived : they' are both hj codon aulicus ; and 
no doubt, an importation from India to which your climate 
is well suited. This snake is very useful to man, as it feeds 
on young mice. It is nocturnal in its habits. 
“ I have now finished the manuscript of my paper on your 
extinct tortoises. I distinguish four species alone from the 
Mauritius. 
“ Do you know the particulars of the discovery of the limb 
bones which you kindly sent to me. Their external appear- 
ance is different from that of the bones found with the Dodo 
and of the carapace. They look to me as if they had been 
found in a diferent stratum, or perhaps in water; and they 
belong also to a distinct species. Of course, 1 do not mean 
the bones from Rodrigues which are distinct altogether. 
