CORRESPONDENCE. 
85 
for the study of the painter and the naturalist. One other Elm-tree, forming the 
half circle, is five feet larger in circumference, is 17^ feet at the greatest diameter, 
higher and more majestic in appearance, from the bold projecting roots of which 
the sketch was taken. 
Should the above statement (upon the correctness of which you may rely) 
appear worthy of a corner in your Journal, pray curtail it as you please. It 
may possibly be the means of inducing some of your numerous readers to stop, 
admire, and obtain a more intimate knowledge of the venerable trees in their 
respective neighbourhoods. Jesse, in his admirable Gleanings , says, a the forest 
term for the Elm is 4 a weed/ ” If so, long may they flourish ! 
Notes on the Spring of 1838. 
The only indication of spring being earlier this year than the last, that I have 
noticed, is that I gathered full-blown White-thorn ( Crataegus oxyacantha ) or 
May, on the 23d of last month. In 1837 I could not anywhere procure apiece 
till the 31st. The trees generally are backward; the Elm not in full leaf; many 
of the Common Ash ( Fraxinus acelsior) are yet perfectly destitute of covering ; 
others just feathered, the tender leaflets of which are injured by the . late frosty 
nights. The Acacia and Walnut-trees are but just beginning to exhibit signs of 
returning life. The specimen of the latter kind alluded to in my last letter is 
apparently very unhealthy. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Yours most respectfully, 
Stoke Ferry , Norfolk , Richard Pigott. 
June 15, 1838. 
Supposed Variety of the Blindworm. 
To the Editor of the Naturalist. 
My dear Sir, —Having had the good fortune to capture, a short time since, on 
Woolston Moss, near here, a specimen of Anguis which agrees in almost every 
respect with Pennant’s description of A. eryx , I beg to send you its characters, 
in the hope of gaining further information on the subject from some of your 
readers. Length, 14f inches; belly of a bluish lead-colour, with a few scattered 
white spots, which become more continuous and regular under the tail; the 
remainder of the body is grayish-brown, with three longitudinal dark lines, one 
extending from the head along the back (becoming indistinct towards its termina¬ 
tion) to the points of the tail, the others broader, and extending the entire length 
of the sides; scales, &c., as in A.fragilis. 
The only variation in my specimen from Pennant’s is in size, and that very 
