UNNATURAL NATURAL HISTORY 45 
to pick it up. A ready means of distinguish¬ 
ing the creature from a snake is to look at 
its eyes which, unlike those of the latter, are 
furnished with eyelids. When a slow-worm 
dies the eyelids close, a fact that has probably 
given rise to the erroneous belief that the 
reptile is blind. 
Our common lizard is another creature 
that is supposed to be of a venomous nature, 
and not long since the farmers in Aberga¬ 
venny complained that they attacked their 
sheep, and suggested that the matter should 
be inquired into by the Ministry of Agri¬ 
culture. 
Snakes appear to be very popular subjects 
for misrepresentation, and it is quite a common¬ 
place to hear a person call the forked tongue 
of one of these reptiles its “ sting,” whereas 
that member does not possess any power of 
inflicting injury. Then, again, the manner 
in which a snake travels along the ground is 
often wrongly depicted in illustrated books. 
Frequently it is shown progressing with its 
body poised in vertical and wavy loops, but, 
in reality, the undulations are always in a 
lateral and horizontal plane, the under part 
of the creature’s body remaining in contact 
with the ground. Even the names of certain 
snakes are often associated with curious beliefs, 
