Book IV.REPTILES.

THE ELECTRICAL EEL. (Gymnotus Electricus.)

Thisvery remarkable fish is about five or six feet in length, and twelve inches in circumference, in the thickest part of the body. The head is broad, flat, and large; the mouth wide and destitute of teeth; the rostrum obtuse and rounded; the eyes small and of a bluish colour; the back of a darkish brown, the sides grey, and the abdomen of a dingy white. Across the body there are several annular divisions, or rather ridges of the skin, which give the fish the power of contracting or dilating itself at pleasure. There is no dorsal fin, and the ventral fins are also wanting, as in all the Eels. It is able to swim backwards as well as forwards.

Mr. Bryant mentions an instance of the shock from one of these fish being felt through a considerable thickness of wood. One morning, while he was standing by, as a servant was emptying a tub, in which an Electrical Eel was contained, he had lifted it entirely from the ground, and was pouring off the water to renew it, when he received a shock so violent as occasioned him to let the tub fall. He then called another person to his assistance, and they lifted up the tub together, each laying hold only on the outside. When they were pouring off the remainder of the water, they received a shock so smart that they were compelled to desist.

Persons have been knocked down with a stroke. Oneof these fish having been taken from a net and laid upon the grass, an English sailor, notwithstanding all the persuasions that were used to prevent him, would insist on taking it up; but the moment he grasped it he dropped down in a fit; his eyes were fixed, his face became livid, and it was not without difficulty that his senses were restored. He said that the instant he touched it “the cold ran swiftly up his arm into his body, and pierced him to the heart.”

Humboldt tells us that when the Indians wish to catch these Eels they drive some wild horses through the pools which the fish inhabit; and that when the Eels have exhausted their electrical power upon the horses, the Indians take them without difficulty. He relates an instance in which he says that the horses, stunned with the shocks they received, sank under water, but most of them rose again, and gained the shore, where they lay stretched out on the ground, apparently quite exhausted and without the power of moving, so much were they stupefied and benumbed. In about a quarter of an hour, however, the Eels appeared to have exhausted themselves, and, instead of attacking fresh horses that were driven into the pond, fled before them. The Indians then entered the water and caught as many fish as they liked.[B]

[B]See a very animated account of the capture of this fish, in Humboldt’s “Views of Nature,” page 16 (Bohn’s Edition).

This most singular fish is peculiar to South America, where it is found only in stagnant pools, at a great distance from the sea.

THE EEL. (Anguilla vulgaris.)

The Eelresembles a serpent in its form, though no two animals can be more different in every other respect. Eels are fresh-water fish; but as they are very susceptible of cold, those which inhabit rivers go down every autumn towards the sea, which is always warmer than a river, and return in spring. They are said also to spawn in the sea, and great numbers of young Eels are seen in spring ascending tidal rivers. Mr. Edward Jesse, in his edition of “Walton’s Angler,” says: “A column of them has been traced in the Thames from Somerset House to Oxford, about the middle of May, and I have watched their progress with much interest. No impediment stops them. They keep as much as possible close alongshore, and as they pass watercourses, open ditches, and brooks, &c., some of them leave the column and enter these places, along which they eventually make their way to ponds, smaller rivers, &c. So strong is the migratory instinct in these little eels, that when I have taken some in a bucket and returned them to the river at some distance from the column, they have immediately rejoined it without any deviation to the right orleft. On the banks of the Thames the passage is calledEel-fare. Two observers, watching their progress at Kingston, calculated that from sixteen to eighteen hundred passed a given line per minute. Rennie saw (on the 13th of May) a column of young eels of uniform size, about as thick as a crow-quill, and three inches long, returning to the river Clyde, in almost military order, keeping within parallel lines of about six inches. He traced it for several hours without perceiving any diminution.” Those that live in ponds seek the deep water for their winter quarters, and sometimes bury themselves in the mud at the bottom. They are very tenacious of life, and will live for a long time out of water; they are even sometimes found on the grass, passing from one pond to another, in search, it is said, of food.

They are voracious feeders, eating frogs, snails, and other molluscous animals, worms, the fry of fishes, and the larvæ of various insects, as well as grass and aquatic weeds. Mr. Jesse states that he has known them to eat young ducks, and even water-rats.

The Eel is caught in many different ways. As it seldom stirs during the day, the best method is found to be by setting night-lines. The baits most commonly used are lob-worms, loach, minnows, small perch, with the fins cut off, or small pieces of any fish; but such is the voracity of this animal that it will take almost any bait.

Spearing for Eels is a method very commonly resorted to during the winter, when Eels imbed themselves in a state of torpidity in the muddy banks of streams and ponds. Eel-spears have usually six or seven prongs, with long handles. The process consists merely in plunging them into the mud in likely places, and pulling them out again.

There seems to be no reason for supposing, as is commonly done, that Eels are viviparous; parasitic worms have sometimes been mistaken for the young animals.

The common Eel often weighs upwards of twenty pounds. The flesh is tender, soft, and nourishing, but does not agree with all stomachs.

Isvery large and thick. Its body is dusky above, and silvery below; the dorsal and anal fins are edged with black; and the lateral line is dotted with white. Its flesh is firm, and was much esteemed by the ancients. It is still eaten by the poorer classes, especially in seaside towns, but would be considered coarse and tasteless by most people in the present day.

The voracity of the Conger Eel is very great, and it is one of the most powerful enemies with which the fishermen of the British islands have to contend. Being usually caught by a hook and line, it requires some care to land and kill the large ones without danger. We are informed that, on such occasions, they have been known to entwine themselves round the legs of a fisherman, and fight with the utmost fury. They are almost incredibly strong and tenacious of life. When pulled up by the line and landed in a boat, they make a loud, hoarse, grating sound, almost resembling the angry snarling of a dog, which often terrifies the amateur fisherman. Unless seized with great care, they bite most severely. It is even said that men have occasionally been permanently maimed by them. A Conger, six feet in length, was caught in the Wash, at Yarmouth, in April, 1808: but not without a severe contest with the man who had seized it. The animal is stated to have risen half erect, and to have actually knocked the fisherman down before he could secure it. This Conger weighed only about sixty pounds: but some of the largest exceed even a hundredweight.

SERPENTS.SERPENTS.

SERPENTS.

Serpentsare characterised by an elongated body, clothed in scales and destitute of limbs, but furnished with a tail. They move by lateral undulations of the body; and in this manner they glide with equal ease along the bare ground, through entangled thickets or water, and up the trunks of trees. They possess the power of fasting a great length of time, and when they feed always swallow their prey whole, which they are enabled to accomplish by their faculty of dilating their bodies to an enormous size. This power is carried to such an extent that a Boa Constrictor can swallow a bullock whole, suffering no other inconvenience than that of lying in a state of torpor while digestion is proceeding. Serpents generally roll themselves up when in a state of repose, with the head in the centre; and when disturbed raise the head before they uncoil the body. The Serpent is often made a subject of poetry; and as it was the form adopted by the arch fiend to seduce Eve, it is generally considered the emblem of insinuation and flattery:

“—— —— —— —— on his rear,Circular base of rising folds that tower’dFold above fold, surprising maze, his headCrested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes.With burnish’d neck of verdant gold, erectAmidst his circling spires that on the grassFloated redundant; pleasing was his shapeAnd lovely.... Oft he bow’dHis turret crest and sleek enamell’d neck,Fawning, and lick’d the ground whereon she trod.”Paradise Lost.

The ancients paid great honours to Serpents, and sometimes called them good genii: they frequented sepulchres and burying-places, and were addressed like the tutelary divinities of these places. We read, in the fifth book of the Æneid, that when the Trojan hero sacrificed to his father’s ghost, a Serpent of this kind made his appearance:

“—— —— and from the tomb begun to glideHis hugy bulk on seven high volumes roll’d;Blue was his breadth of back, and streak’d with scaly gold.Thus riding on his curls he seemed to passA rolling fire along, and singe the grass;More various colours through his body run,Than Iris when her bow imbibes the sun.Between the rising altars and around,The sacred monster shot along the ground;With harmless play among the bowls he pass’d,And with his lolling tongue assay’d the taste:Thus fed with holy food, the wondrous guestWithin the hollow tomb retired to rest.”Dryden.

This animal was exalted to the honour of being an emblem of prudence, and even of eternity; and is often represented as the latter in Egyptian hieroglyphics, biting his tail, so as to form a circle. Serpents are very numerous in Africa; and Lucan, in his “Pharsalia,” gives us a very extraordinary account of the different species, which he seems to have drawn partly from ancient Greek authors, partly from actual traditions. He says:

“Why plagues like these infect the Libyan air;Why deaths unknown in various shapes appear;Why, fruitful to destroy, the cursed landIs temper’d thus by Nature’s secret hand;Dark and obscure the hidden cause remains,And still deludes the vain inquirer’s pains.”Rowe’s “Lucan."

Serpents differ very much in size. We are told of Serpents in the Isle of Java measuring fifty feet in length; and in the British Museum there is a skin of one thirty-two feet long.

THE VIPER, OR ADDER, (Vipera berus,)

Isa venomous species of serpent that seldom exceeds the length of two or three feet, and is of a dull yellowish brown colour with black spots, the abdomen being entirely black; the head is nearly in the shape of a lozenge, and much thicker than the body. The Viper is viviparous; yet it is ascertained that the eggs are formed, though they are hatched in the body of the mother.

The Reverend Mr. White, of Selborne, in company with a friend, surprised a large female Viper, as she lay on the grass, basking in the sun, which seemed very heavy and bloated. As Vipers are so venomous that they should be destroyed, they killed her; and afterwards, being curious to know what made her so large, they opened her, and found in her abdomen fifteenyoung ones, about the size of full-grown earth-worms. This little fry issued into the world with the true Viper spirit about them, showing great alertness as soon as they were disengaged from the body of their parent. They twisted and wriggled about, set themselves up, and gaped very wide when touched with a stick; exhibiting manifest tokens of menace and defiance, though as yet no fangs could be discovered, even by the help of glasses.

Vipers attain their full growth in seven years; they feed on frogs, toads, lizards, and other animals of that kind, and it is even asserted that they catch mice and small birds, of which they seem very fond. They cast their skin every year. The two front teeth in the upper jaw of the Viper are furnished with a small bladder containing poison. There is no doubt but this poison, which appears to have been infused into the jaws of the Viper and other serpents by Providence, as a means of revenge upon their enemies, is so harmless to the animal itself, that when swallowed by it it only serves to accelerate its digestion. These venomous teeth or fangs stand, each by itself, upon a small movable bone; this arrangement enables the creature to fold down its fearful weapons in the mouth, and to erect them instantly when it has occasion to make use of them. The Viper is very patient of hunger, and may be kept more than six months without food. When in confinement, it refuses all sustenance, and the sharpness of its poison decreases in proportion: when at liberty, it remains torpid throughout the winter; yet, when confined, it has never been observed to take its annual repose.

The Viper is a native of many parts of this island, chiefly the dry and chalky counties. Its flesh was formerly used for broth, and much esteemed in medicine, particularly to restore debilitated constitutions. It was also used as a cosmetic, being supposed to render the complexion fair. It was probably from the use made by the ancients of this animal in medicine that Esculapius is represented with a serpent. The best remedy against the bite of the Viper is to suck the wound, which may be done without danger, and after this to rub it with sweet oil, and poultice it with bread and milk.

THE HORNED VIPER. (Cerastes Hasselquistii.)

Thisspecies of Viper is nearly allied to the asp, and has a pointed and solid horny substance on each eyelid, formed of two projecting scales: its body is of a pale yellowish or greyish colour, with distant sub-ovate transverse brown spots; and in length it is from one to two feet.

This species is often mentioned by the ancients. Pliny tells us that “the serpent Cerastes hath many times four small horns, standing out double; with moving whereof she amuseth the birds, and traineth them unto her for to catch them, hiding all the rest of her body.”

It is found in the sandy deserts of Egypt and the neighbouring countries, and is believed to be the Asp with which Cleopatra eluded the disgrace of becoming a prisoner to her Roman conqueror.

THE RATTLE-SNAKE, (Crotalus horridus,)

Isa native of the New World, and grows to five or six, and sometimes to eight feet in length, and is nearly as thick as a man’s leg. It is not unlike the viper, having a large head and small neck, and inflicting a very dangerous wound. Over each eye is a large pendulous scale, the use of which has not yet been ascertained; the body is scaly and hard, variegated with several different colours. The principal characteristic of this justly dreaded serpent is the rattle, a kind of instrument resembling the curb-chain of a bridle, at the extremity of the tail; it is formed of thin, hard, hollow bones, linked together, and rattling on the least motion. When disturbed, the creature shakes this rattle with considerable noise and rapidity, striking terror into all the smaller animals, which are afraid of the destructive venom that this serpent communicates to the wounded limb with his bite. The wound the Rattle-snake inflicts, through the uncommon sharpness and rapid fluency of the poison, generally terminates the torment and life of the unhappy victim in the course of six or seven hours.

A snake of this kind exhibited in London at a menagerie of foreign animals, in the year 1810, wounded a carpenter’s hand, who was repairing its cage, and seeking for his rule. The man suffered the most excruciating pain, and his life could not be saved, although medical assistance was immediately applied, and every effortmade to prevent the dire effect of the poison. The proprietor was condemned to pay a deodand for the injury done by the serpent.

THE HAJE, OR EGYPTIAN ASP. (Naja Haje.)

The Haje, or Egyptian Asp, is from three to six feet in length; it has two teeth longer than the rest, through which the venom flows. The body is covered with small round scales, and is of a greenish colour, bordered with brown; its neck is capable of inflation. The jugglers of Egypt, by pressing this Asp on the nape of the neck with the finger, throw the animal into a kind of catalepsy, which renders it stiff and immovable; when they say that they have changed it into a rod. The habit which this species has of raising itself up when approached, induced the ancient Egyptians to believe that it guarded the fields where it was found; and it is sculptured on the gates of their temples as an emblem of the protecting divinity of the world.

THE HOODED SERPENT, OR COBRA DI CAPELLO, (Naja tripudians,)

Calledby the Indians theNagao, is from three to eight feet long, with two long fangs in the upper jaw. It has a broad neck, and a mark of dark brown on the forehead; which, when viewed frontwise, looks like a pair of spectacles; but behind, like the head of a cat. The eyes are fierce and full of fire; the head is small, and the nose flat, though covered with very large scales, of a yellowish ash-colour: the skin is white, and the large tumour on the neck is flat and covered with oblong smooth scales. This serpent is extremely dreaded by the British residents in India, as its bite has hitherto been found to be incurable, and the sufferer generally dies in half an hour.

Of this kind are the dancing-snakes, which are carried in baskets throughout Hindoostan, and procure a maintenance for a set of people, who play a few simple notes on the flute, with which the snakes seem much delighted, and keep time by a graceful motion of the head; erecting about half their length from the ground, and following the music with gentle curves, like the undulating lines of a swan’s neck. It is a well-attested fact, that, when a house is infested with these snakes, and some other of the coluber genus, which destroy poultry and small domestic animals, as also by the larger serpents of the boa tribe, the musicians are sent for; who, by playing on a flageolet, find out their hiding places, and charm them to destruction: for no sooner do the snakes hear the music, than they come softly from their retreat, and are easily taken. I imagine these musical snakes were known in Palestine, from the Psalmist comparing the ungodly to the deaf adder, which stoppeth her ears, and refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely.

THE SNAKE, (Coluber natrix,)

Isthe largest of all English serpents, sometimes exceeding four feet in length. The colour of the body is variegated with yellow, green, white, and regular spots of brown and black. They seem to enjoy themselves when basking in the sun, at the foot of an old wall. This animal is perfectly innoxious, although many reports have been circulated and believed to the contrary; it feeds onfrogs, worms, mice, and various kinds of insects, and passes the greater part of the winter in a state of torpidity. In the spring they re-appear, and at this season uniformly cast their skins. This is a process that they also seem to undergo in autumn. Mr. White says: “About the middle of September we found in a field, near a hedge, the slough of a large snake, which seemed to have been newly cast. It appeared as if turned wrong side outward, and as if it had been drawn off backward, like a stocking or a woman’s glove. Not only the whole skin, but even the scales from the eyes were peeled off, and appeared in the slough like a pair of spectacles. The reptile, at the time of changing his coat, had entangled himself intricately in the grass and weeds, in order that the friction of the stalks and blades might promote this curious shifting of his exuvia.”

THE BOA CONSTRICTOR.

Thisimmense animal is often twenty feet in length, and sometimes even thirty-five; the ground colour of its skin is yellowish grey, on which is distributed, along the back, a series of large chain-like, reddish brown, and sometimes perfectly red, variegations, with other smaller and more irregular marks and spots. It is a native ofSouth America, where it chiefly resides in the most retired situations in woods and marshes.

The bite of this snake is not venomous, nor is the animal believed to bite at all, except to seize its prey. It kills its prey by twining round it and crushing its bones.

ThePythonand theAnaconda, which are at least as large as the Boa Constrictor, are found chiefly in the Indian Islands: they are very similar both in form and colouring to the Boa, and have exactly the same habits.

These monsters will attack and devour the largest animals, of which the following is an instance: A Boa had for some time been waiting near the brink of a pool in expectation of its prey, when a buffalo appeared. Having darted upon the affrighted beast, it instantly began to encircle him with its voluminous twistings, and at every twist the bones of the buffalo were heard to crack as loud as the report of a gun. It was in vain that the animal struggled and bellowed; its enormous enemy entwined it so closely that at length all its bones were crushed to pieces, like those of a malefactor on the wheel, and the whole body was reduced to one uniform mass: the serpent then untwined its folds in order to swallow its prey at leisure. To prepare for this, and also to make it slip down the throat more smoothly, it licked the whole body over, covering it with a mucilaginous substance. It then began to swallow it, at the end that afforded the least resistance, and in the act of swallowing, the throat suffered so great a dilation as to take in a substance that was thrice its own ordinary thickness.

THE AMPHISBÆNA. (Amphisbæna fuliginosa.)

Thisname is now applied only to a genus of SouthAmerican reptiles, which are of a harmless nature, being destitute of those fangs which prepare the venom in poisonous serpents. It is indeed doubtful whether the Amphisbænas are really snakes, and by many naturalists they are arranged amongst the lizards, although they have no limbs. The head is so small, and the tail so thick and short, that at first sight it is difficult to distinguish one from the other; and this circumstance, united to the animal’s habit of proceeding either backwards or forwards as occasion may require, gave rise to the supposition throughout the native regions of the Amphisbæna, that it had two heads, one at each extremity, and that it was impossible to destroy one by simple cutting, as the two heads would mutually seek one another and reunite! The colour of the commonest species is a deep brown varied with patches of white. The body is ornamented by more than two hundred rings, and the tail by about twenty-five. The eyes are almost concealed by a thick membrane, and this, together with their small size, has given rise to the idea that the Amphisbæna is blind. It grows to the length of eighteen inches or two feet. Its food consists of worms and insects, and especially ants, in the mounds of which it generally conceals itself. The ancients gave the name of Amphisbæna to what they considered a two-headed serpent; but it is not known with certainty which of the serpent tribe they meant, as their Amphisbæna is described by Lucan as venomous, though in his lines elegance of language, beauty of versification, and liveliness of fancy, have perhaps a greater claim than truth to the admiration of the reader:—

“With hissings fierce, dire Amphisbænas rearTheir double heads, and rouse the soldier’s fear.Eager he flies: more eager they pursue;On every side the onset quick renew!With equal swiftness face or shun the prey,And follow fast when thought to run away.Thus on the looms the busy shuttles glide,Alternate fly, and shoot at either side.”

THE FROG. (Rana temporaria.)

Whenthis reptile issues from the egg it is merely a black, oval mass, with a slender tail. This tadpole, as it is then called, is the embryo of the Frog, and when it has attained a certain size its body gradually acquires the form of that of the Frog, its legs sprout from its sides, and finally its tail is cast off. This metamorphosis is one of the most curious in nature, and deserves our observation. Like other reptiles, it is not necessary for it to breathe in order to put its blood into circulation, as it has a communication between the two ventricles of the heart. It lives during spring in ponds, brooks, muddy ditches, marshy grounds, and other watery places, in summer in corn-fields and pasture land. Its voice proceeds from two bladders, one on each side of the mouth, which it can fill with wind. When it croaks, it puts its head outof the water. The hinder legs of the Frog are much longer than the fore ones, to help it in its repeated and extensive leaps. The whole of the body bears a little resemblance to some of the warm-blooded animals, principally about the thighs and the toes. The Frog is extremely tenacious of life, and often survives the abscission of its head for several hours. It is supposed that Frogs spend the whole winter at the bottom of some stagnant water in a state of torpidity.

There are several species of the Frog; they are all oviparous, and the eggs are gelatinous. TheEdible Frogis the species used in France and Germany for food; it is considerably larger than the common kind, and though rare in England, is very plentiful in France, Germany, and Italy. Its colour is olive green, marked with black patches on the back, and on its limbs with transverse bars of the same. From the tip of the nose three distinct stripes of pale yellow extend to the extremity of the body, the middle one slightly depressed, and the lateral ones considerably elevated. The upper parts are of a pale whitish colour, tinged with green, and marked with irregular brown spots. These creatures are brought from the country, thirty or forty thousand at a time, to Vienna, and sold to the great dealers, who have froggeries for them, which are pits four or five feet deep, dug in the ground, the mouth covered with a board, and in severe weather with straw. In the year 1793, there were but three great dealers in Vienna, by whom those persons who brought them to the markets ready for the cook were supplied. Only the legs and thighs are eaten, and these are always skinned. They are rather dear, being considered a great delicacy. The Edible Frogs are caught in various ways, sometimes in the night, by means of nets, into which they are attracted by the light of torches that are carried out for the purpose, and sometimes by hooks, baited with worms, insects, flesh, or even a bit of red cloth. They are exceedingly voracious, and seize everything that moves before them.

THE TOAD, (Bufo vulgaris,)

Whosevery name seems to carry with it something of an opprobrious meaning, is not unworthy the attention of the observer of nature; for, though prejudice and false associations have affixed a stigma on certain species of animals, none of the works of our Creator are despicable, but all, the more minutely they are examined, the greater claim they are found to have to our admiration. Somewhat like the frog in the body, it also resembles that animal in its habits; but the frog leaps, while the Toad crawls. It is an error to suppose the Toad to be a noxious and venomous animal; it is as harmless as the frog, and, like some of the human kind, only labours under the stigma of undeserved calumny. Several stories have been related of its spitting poison, or knowing how to expel the venom it may have received from the spider or any other animals; but these fables have been long exploded. A curious and yet inexplicable phenomenon is that Toads have been said to be found alive in the centre of large blocks of stone, where they must have subsisted without food and respiration for a number of years. The following are recorded examples: In the year 1719, M. Hubert, professor of philosophy at Caen, was witness to a living Toad being taken from the solid trunk of an elm-tree. It was lodged exactly in the centre, and filled the whole of the space that contained it. The tree was in every other respect firm and sound. Dr. Bradley saw a Toad taken from the trunk of a large oak. In the year 1733, a live Toad was discovered by M. Grayburg in a hard and solid blockof stone which had been dug up in a quarry in Gothland. On being touched with a stick upon the head, he informs us, it contracted its eyes as if asleep, and when the stick was moved gradually opened them. Its mouth had no aperture, but was closed round with a yellowish skin. On being pressed with the stick on the back, a small quantity of clear water issued from it behind, and it immediately died. A living Toad was found in a block of marble at Chillingham Castle, belonging to Lord Tankerville, near Alnwick, in Northumberland.

Some of these cases are related in a manner which renders it difficult to doubt that the observers describedwhat they thought they saw; but the occurrence of the phenomena, as described, seems to be so utterly impossible that we are forced to suppose that those writers have been misled in some way. That there is some foundation for many of the stories in question we can have no doubt, but we must look forward to further observations for their explanation; as Mr. Bell says: “To believe that a Toad, inclosed within a mass of clay, or other similar substance, shall exist wholly without air or food, for hundreds of years, and at length be liberated alive, and capable of crawling, on the breaking up of the matrix, now become a solid rock, is certainly a demand upon our credulity which few would be ready to answer.”

With regard to the length of life of these animals, it is impossible to state anything decisive, but several facts prove that some of them have been gifted with astonishing longevity.

A correspondent of Mr. Pennant’s supplied him with some curious particulars respecting a domestic Toad, which continued in the same place forthirty-sixyears. It frequented the steps before the hall-door of a gentleman’s house in Devonshire. By being constantly fed, it was rendered so tame as always to come out of its hole in the evening when a candle was brought, and to look up as if expecting to be carried into the house, where it was frequently fed with insects. An animal of this description being so much noticed and befriended excited the curiosity of all who came to the house, and even femalesso far conquered the horrors instilled into them by their nurses as generally to request to see it fed. It appeared most partial to flesh-maggots, which were kept for it in bran. It would follow them on the table, and, when within a proper distance, would fix its eyes and remain motionless for a little while, apparently to prepare for the stroke which was to follow, and which was instantaneous. It threw out its tongue to a great distance, and the insect, stuck by the glutinous matter to its tip, was swallowed by a motion quicker than the eye could follow. After having been kept more than thirty-six years it was at length destroyed by a tame raven, which one day seeing it at the mouth of its hole pulled it out, and so wounded it that it died.

THE SURINAM TOAD, (Pipa Americana,)

Whichis one of the ugliest of all Toads, is remarkable for the mode in which the young are developed. The female, like that of the common Toad, deposits her eggs at the edge of the water, but instead of leaving them there, the male takes the mass of eggs and places them on the back of his partner, pressing them down into a number of curious pits, which are produced in that part at the breeding season. When each of the pits has received its egg, the orifice becomes closed by a sort of lid, and the young animal goes through all its changesfrom the tadpole to the perfect Toad in this rather confined space. This curious Toad is found in Guiana; it frequents the dark corners of the houses, and, notwithstanding its intense ugliness, is eaten by the natives.

THE COMMON NEWT. (Triton aquaticus.)

Besidesthe frogs and toads, which have no tails when arrived at their perfect form, there are several Batrachian Reptiles in which this appendage is permanent. The best known of these are the Newts, of which two kinds are very common in ponds during the spring. The common Newt is three or four inches in length, and is of a pale brown colour above, and orange with black spots below. It has four little webbed feet and a flattened tail. In swimming, the legs are turned backwards to lessen resistance, and the animal is propelled principally by the tail. Their progression at the bottom of the water and on land is performed creepingly with their small and weak feet. These animals live during the autumn and winter under stones and clods of earth, and come down to the water in February or March for the purpose of depositing their eggs there. The eggsare carefully inclosed by the parents in the leaves of aquatic plants. The young, when first hatched, are in the form of tadpoles; the legs afterwards sprout from the sides of the body, but the tail is not cast off, as in the frogs. The old Newts remain in the water until July or August.

This, the largest British species of the Newt, is by no means uncommon in our ponds and ditches. It is about six inches in length; its back is dark, and its under side is orange-coloured, sprinkled with small black spots; altogether it is darker and richer in colour than the common species. During the breeding season the males of both species, but especially those of the larger one, are adorned with membranous crests, and their colours become much more vivid. Their tenacity of life is very great; when mutilated, they will reproduce the lost parts, and they may be frozen into a solid lump of ice without losing their vitality. With regard to its habits, this animal is a most voracious creature, and devours unsparingly aquatic insects, and, in fact, any small animal which happens to come in its way. For tadpoles it seems to have a special predilection, and its greediness is such that it has not escaped the charge of cannibalism. These Newts have more than once been taken in the act of devouring individuals of the smaller species, but of such a size that there seems to have been considerable difficulty in swallowing them.

THE LIZARD. (Lacerta vivipara.)

Thisis a British species, and is one of the very few reptiles found in Ireland. Its movements are most graceful. It comes out of its hiding-place during the day to bask in the sun, and when it sees an insect it darts like lightning upon it, seizing it with its sharp little teeth, and soon swallowing it. The young are produced in eggs, which are generally hatched the moment they are laid, the skin of the egg being so thin that the young Lizard can be seen through it.

TheGreen Lizard(Lacerta viridis) is a beautiful creature. Its colours are more brilliant and beautiful than those of any other European species, and exhibita rich and varied mixture of darker and lighter green, interspersed with specks and marks of yellow, brown, black, and sometimes even red. The head is covered with large angular scales, and the rest of the upper parts with very small ones. The tail is generally much longer than the body. Beneath the throat there is a kind of collar, formed by scales of much darker colour than the rest of the animal.

The Lizard seems occasionally to lay aside its natural gentleness of disposition, but no further than for the purpose of obtaining food. Mr. Edwards once surprised a Lizard in the act of fighting with a small bird, as she sat on her nest in a vine against a wall, with newly-hatched young. He supposed that the Lizard would have made a prey of the latter, could it have driven the old bird from her nest. He watched the contest for some time; but, on his near approach, the Lizard dropped to the ground, and the bird flew off.

Whichis found commonly in the tropical parts of America, is a large kind of lizard, often measuring four or five feet in length. It has a crest of long teeth, looking like a comb, along its back; its tail is long, tapering, and slender; and beneath its throat it has a sort of pouch which it can dilate considerably. The colour of this lizard is greenish, with brown bands on the tail. The Iguana is found in trees, and feeds chiefly on fruits and other vegetable substances. It is usually caught when reposing upon a branch, and by a very simple process: the hunter approaches it whistling, and the animal is stupid enough to sit still, no doubt enjoying the music, until a noose, attached to the end of a stick, is passed over its head. It is captured for the sake of its flesh, which is regarded as very delicate.

An Iguana, which was kept for some time in a hothouse at Bristol, was fed on the leaves of kidney bean plants, which it devoured eagerly, after refusing every other kind of food that had been offered it. It seems certain that Iguanas in their natural state are not entirely herbivorous,but feed on insects, the eggs of birds, and other animal matter, as well as on plants. They will occasionally take to the water, and seem to swim with ease. Notwithstanding its repulsive and even frightful appearance, the Iguana is perfectly harmless and inoffensive.

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