OUR BRITISH REPTILES. 
19 
This worm emits an odour, which, on account of its sug¬ 
gestiveness of garlic, is anything but agreeable. I have 
referred to the value of the smell and mucus in aiding worms 
to mate, in a paper on “Hybridity among Worms,” published 
in the “ Field Club.” This worm is found in fields and 
gardens, under clods or stones, and is by no means rare. I 
have collected it in, or received it from several parts of the 
country. 
Since the foregoing was sent to press I have received from 
Dr. Rosa specimens of the Italian worm upon which his 
description is based, and find that our British species corres¬ 
pond in every essential with the type. I should like once 
more to appeal to naturalists for collections of worms, espe¬ 
cially from mountainous districts. They should be placed in 
tin boxes lightly filled with soft moss, and accompanied by 
any data likely to be of service. 
Idle , Bradford. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S., 
Author of “ Flowers and Flower Lore I' 
OUR BRITISH REPTILES. 
(Concluded from page 3.) 
Order Ophidia. 
This Order comprises the snakes, of which we possess 
three representatives, namely, the Viper (. Pella* bents), the 
Ringed Snake ( Tropidonotus natrix ), and the Smooth Snake 
(Covonella Icevis). 
The Viper can be easily distinguished from the two harm¬ 
less snakes by its having a zigzag black band down the back. 
It seldom exceeds two feet in length; the largest specimen 
that I have in my collection was captured by myself in 
Sutton Park, near Birmingham, on the 2nd April, 1883, and 
measures twenty-three inches in length. Although this species 
is poisonous, I have never heard of a human being dying 
from the effects of its bite. I have known, however, of 
several fatal cases in connection with dogs; a large retriever 
belonging to a friend of mine was killed by one of these 
venomous creatures in Sutton Park a few years ago. I have 
encountered this species in great numbers in the Forest of 
Dean, in Gloucestershire, Wyre Forest in Worcestershire, 
and elsewhere. 
The Ringed Snake is in most parts of this country less 
common than the Viper, but in the New Forest in Hamp¬ 
shire I have seen it in great abundance; it may be most 
frequently met with in open spaces, in woods particularly, 
