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Analyses of Books . [May, 
snake, Bellas bevus, which in some districts is known as “ adder ” 
and in others as “ viper.” Waterton, in a way remarkable for an 
out-door naturalist, speaks of the adder and the viper as two dis- 
tinct species. The viper he pronounces poisonous, whilst the 
adder is, with, him, a “ harmless little fellow, very useful in 
clearing the fields of mice.” Possibly he gives the name adder 
to the grass-snake ( Tropidonotus natvix ), which, however, is much 
more given to prey upon frogs than mice. 
Miss Hopley’s object is the very laudable one of giving in a 
popular form a correct account of serpents, drawn as far as pos- 
sible from adlual observation, supplemented by reference to such 
modern works as Dr. Fayrer’s “ Thanatophidia of India,” Dr. E. 
Nicholson’s “ Indian Snakes,” &c. 
Here it must not be forgotten that the study of living snakes 
may perhaps before long be practically proscribed in England. 
Serpents, it is well known, can only be fed on living prey. Hence 
our “ zoophilists,” who experience no qualms when eating an 
oyster alive, consider, e.g., the reptile-house at the Zoological 
Gardens an outrage on their sensibilities, and, for anything we 
know to the contrary, as a “ grievous national sin.” We believe 
the Zoological Society has made a concession to this clamour by 
causing the serpents to be fed only at night. 
Miss Hopley makes a passing reference to the “ benevolent 
organs,” and rationally enough defines “cruelty” as unnecessary 
torture. Among the questions here discussed we find “ Do 
snakes drink ? ” with an answer in the affirmative. We never 
had the good fortune to see a snake drink when in a state of 
freedom. We know, too, that many species haunt parched lo- 
calities, where moisture in other shape than that of dew and 
occasional rain-drops is not too plentiful. But the observations 
brought forward by Miss Hopley seem perfectly conclusive. 
Perhaps, however, all species of serpents may not be alike in 
their fondness for liquids. 
The relish for birds’ eggs displayed by some snakes is an in- 
disputable fact, greatly to the annoyance of farmers’ wives in 
warm climates, where the poultry yard is often plundered on the 
large scale. Milk is also very attractive to the cobra and other 
species. Perhaps these two propensities might be turned to 
account for reducing the number of certain snakes by leaving 
poisoned milk and eggs (the latter marked) where they might be 
swallowed by these marauders. 
The “ Snakes of Fiction and of Fact ” is the title of a very 
interesting chapter. Here mention is appropriately made of a 
lecture on “ Snakes ” given at the London Institution in March, 
1880, which, as our authoress tells us, was “ artistic, poetic, 
figurative, imaginative, but not zoological.” 
The hybernation of reptiles and the opposite stage of aestiva- 
tion observed in some very dry and hot countries are fully and 
correctly described, but, as there are here no erroneous notions 
