THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
PRESENTED BY
PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID
PLATE. 6.
I-:. GO
T Way imp
'
EdibU Froa
BY
M.C.COOKE
LONDON.
ROBERT HARDWICKE, 132, PICCADILLY.
OUR REPTILES.
A PLAIN AND EAST ACCOUNT OF THE
LIZARDS, SNAKES, NEWTS, TOADS, FROGS,
AND TORTOISES
INDIGENOUS TO GREAT BRITAIN.
BY
M. C. COOKE,
AUTHOR OF "RUST, SMUT, MILDEW, AND MOULD," "A PLAIN AND EASY
ACCOUNT OF BRITISH FUNGI," "MANUAL OF STRUCTURAL BOTANY,"
"MANUAL OF BOTANIC TERMS," ETC. ETC.
WITH ORIGINAL FIGURES OF EVERY SPECIES,
AND NUMEROUS WOODCUTS.
LONDON :
ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY.
1865.
e v
COX AND WYilAK",
ORIENTAL, CLASSICAL, ASD GENEIIAL PRINTERS,
GREAT QUEEN STEEET, \V.C.
PREFACE,
TT may cause surprise to some who are not
amongst my most * intimate friends, that my
name should be attached to a volume on any
other branch of Natural History than one which
is in some way associated with the Vegetable
Kingdom. To these it may be necessary to
explain that I have only returned on this oc-
casion to an " old love," long deserted for the
fascinating charms o% " moulds and mildews."
In more youthful days I bird's -nested, caught
butterflies, and worried reptiles, with all the
pertinacity of youth, and amongst all these
pursuits acquired a taste for the study of our
native birds, reptiles, and insects, which led to
my first lessons in the classificatory sciences.
From these, it is true, I diverged in later years,
and almost confined myself to plants; but in a
VI PKEFACE.
foolish moment, perhaps, the old hankering to
have a word or two with one's "first love/' has
come over me, and resulted in this humble
account of " Our Reptiles/' I make no preten-
sions to the production of anything more than
a popular volume on a rather unpopular subject,
to the espousal of the cause of a much-abused
and scandalized class ; and if I only aid in
recovering their character from a little of the
obloquy which attaches to them, I shall not
regret the venture. The man of science, if he
seeks for that which is novel or abstruse, had
better close the book, and go no further. I do
not presume to have written anything for him ;
but for those who know little or nothing of the
subject, I hope that herein may be found a useful
introduction, and a trustworthy guide. The
order of the chapters is not precisely that of the
classification of the animals described, but in the
Appendix a Systematic Arrangement has been
pursued. In conclusion, I acknowledge with
pleasure the kind and courteous assistance
rendered to me by Dr. Albert Glinther and Dr.
J. E. Gray, of the British Museum, in procuring
PREFACE. Vll
figures to illustrate the work,, as well as for
hints and suggestions in its prosecution. To
those who honour it with a perusal, I now
commend it with " all its imperfections on its
head,"
M. C. C.
UPPER HOLLOWAY.
INDIAN SNAKE-CHARMER.
(From a Sketch by a Native Artist.)
BEPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES.
REPTILES, in zoology, constitute a Class of
vertebrate animals (that is, animals with
a backbone) intermediate between birds and
fishes, having a greater affinity with the latter
than the former. They are generally described
in scientific works as having cold blood, being
the possessors of a heart with sometimes one
and sometimes two auricles, but with only one
ventricle ; so that, at most, there are but three
chambers in their hearts instead of four. They
are still further characterized as oviparous,
breathing by lungs, or partly by lungs and partly
by means of gills; thus combining one of the
elements of fish-life with those of higher organ-
2 OUR EEPTILES.
isms. Finally, their scientific portrait is com-
pleted by the announcement that the body is
either covered with shelly plates (as in the Tor-
toises, &c.), or with scales (as in the Snakes), or
with a soft naked skin (as in the Toads and
Progs) .
This is the orthodox definition of what con-
stitutes a Reptile, but not the best definition,
nevertheless, as Mr. Edward Newman has shown
in some important remarks on the classification
of these animals.
" The epidermis," he writes, " or outer skin
of quadrupeds, is clothed with hair, of birds
with feathers, of fishes with scales, but in
reptiles it is uncovered, perfectly naked. The
processes, whether described as squamce (in
Latin), or ecailles (in French), are projections,
folds, or rugosities of the under-skin ; and are
not deciduous like hairs, feathers, and scales,
but are as permanent and durable as the bones
themselves. This may be seen when the slough
of a snake is found. This slough is continuous,
and contains a faithful mould of each of these
processes : it is a very beautiful and very instruc-
tive object. The tortoise exhibits the pecu-
liarity of an articulated skin, the articulation
being clearly discernible in the living animal, but
becoming more conspicuous after death, when
dehiscence takes place and the plates fall off, per-
REPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES. 3
fectly detached from each, other."* Let any one
examine the cast-off skin, as it is called, of a
viper or snake, and he will find it to be a thin
delicate cuticle which had covered all the pro-
jections and inequalities of the true skin, con-
taining a little pouch for each of the ' scales '
(falsely so called) into each of which a projection
had extended. True scales are easily rubbed off
from the skin in fish, but there is no rubbing
them from that of a snake ; they are permanent
projections with a scale-like form. If there is
any value in words, then ' scale ' cannot be
applied at the same time to the deciduous, flat,
horny plates of fish, and the flat, depressed, but
persistent irregularities of the skin in reptiles.
However, with this reservation, we shall pro-
ceed to call them ' scales ' in deference to
custom, and the collective wisdom of those more
learned in reptiles than ourselves.
Having endeavoured to satisfy our scientific
friends, by taking off our cap to ( authority/
and furnishing a ( red-tape ' description of the
class REPTILIA, we may be allowed to digress
a little by way of commentary upon the text.
We will not suppose it necessary to state that
' Reptile' is derived from the Latin word rej)to.,
' I crawl/ nor justify its application to such as
* The Zoologist, p. 8450,
B 2
4 OUE KEPTILES.
do not crawl. Nor shall we deem it advisable
to plunge into the controversy concerning the
mode of progression with the serpent before it
fell a victim to the curse, " upon thy belly shalt
thou go, and dust shalt thou eat, all the days of
thy life." It would, notwithstanding, be an in-
teresting occupation to trace the intimate con-
nection between the reptile race and some of
the most important religions of the world,
therein to seek the hidden and mysterious
meaning of which serpents, especially, were but
the symbol. This would lead us far, both from
our subject and our object, and we will rest con-
tent with hinting at a wide field of inquiry.
The heart and blood are two important
points of difference between reptiles and the
higher vertebrate animals. All reptiles are cold-
blooded. They possess a heart, it is true ; but,
as compared with higher organisms, an imper-
fect one, inasmuch as it has but one ventricle :
the result of this is that respiration is imper-
fect, and as respiration gives heat to the blood,
which in turn sustains the heat of the body, it
follows necessarily from their organization that
the temperature in reptiles should be very low.
Let a frog leap upon your hand, or take a newt
between your fingers, and the chilly, smooth,
apparently slimy appeal to the sense of touch
will carry conviction far swifter than argument.
EEPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES. 5
In being oviparous, or producing their young
from an egg, these creatures agree with birds as
well as fishes ; but in some instances the outer
covering of the egg, then only a thin membrane,
and not a hard shell, is broken at the moment it
issues into the world, and the lively young
escape, in all respects miniature representatives
of their parents. In the latter case the term
' ovo-viviparous ' is generally applied, and in
this sense we may, perhaps, have occasion to
use it. The features of a double life, wherein
one portion is spent in water, breathing by
means of gills, and the other on land, respiring
with lungs, will be illustrated when treating of
toads and frogs and other amphibians, so that it
will be unnecessary to enter upon the subject
here.
The multiform variations in reptile life may
well surprise the uninitiated, even perhaps
amounting to a doubt whether such things as
Tortoises, Alligators, Snakes, Toads, Newts,
Lizards, &c., differing so greatly in external ap-
pearance, can be regarded by scientific men as
members of the same class. Indeed, the last-
named gentlemen are not agreed that they shall
constitute one class, but a portion are separated,
such as toads, frogs, and newts, to constitute
another class, to which the name of Amphibia is
given. Our readers will not thank us for enter-
t> OUR REPTILES.
ing upon a long dissertation on the merits of
the case, or appreciate any fine-drawn distinc-
tions which it might please us to make. Suffice
it to say that, although perhaps the majority of
Erpetologists (' learned in reptiles ') admit the
Amphibians as a distinct order, we shall, in the
present instance, adhere to the old method, and
regard them all as ' Reptiles/
For the purposes, not only of classification, but
of orderly description, these animals are naturally
divisible into four groups, we may call them
orders, of which the first are the Chelo-
nians or Tortoises and Turtles, the second
the Saurians or Lizards, the third the Ophi-
dians or Snakes, and the fourth the Amphibians
or Toads, Frogs, and Newts. The first, or Che-
lonians, are scarcely represented in Great Britain
at all. The few turtles, which have been borne
in times past upon the waves that wash our
shores, and cast relentlessly upon our coast, had
really no business there, and only came as occa-
sional, distinguished, and probably involuntary
visitors. Under these circumstances we have
given them a place at the end of the volume,
although, according to rigid science, they should
have been at the beginning.
The Saurians or Lizards are represented in
Britain by four species, three having visible legs,
and the fourth snake-like in form. That the
REPTILES AND SNAKE- STONES. /
Sand Lizard and the Viviparous Lizard, as well
as the Slow -worm, are true natives no one will
doubt ; but whether the Green Lizard deserves a
place in our Fauna is a more open question, and
is again referred to hereafter. The great Gavial
of the Ganges, sometimes nearly eighteen feet
long, the Crocodile of the Nile, the Alligator of
North America, and the Caymans of the South,
are the giants of this order ; but of these we have,
happily, no representative. In neither of the two
orders named do any of its members possess
poison-bags or venomous fangs, though we hap-
pen to know that it is a firmly-rooted opinion in
India that there is one or more species of lizard
capable of causing death by a wound, rendered
mortal either by a virulent saliva, or some other
means. Such a lizard, however, is entirely un-
known to scientific men, and by them the Bis-
cobra is believed to be only a phantom of ' the
heat-oppressed brain/ A surgeon, for many
years on service in India, tells us that he knew
of an instance of a man descending a well being
bitten by such a lizard, that he was drawn up
and indicated the position of the reptile ; that a
second man descended and killed the bis-cobra >
which was afterwards preserved in spirits at the
barrack -hospital for many years, and, finally,
that the man who was bitten died in consequence
in a few hours.
O OUR REPTILES.
The third order includes all the snakes, from
the monstrous Boa constrictor and the dreadful
Rattlesnake and Cobra to the Ringed Snake and
Viper of our own islands. Of these we possess
but three, two of which belong to the harmless
snakes and the third to the venomous snakes.
There are many others known on the Continent
of Europe which do not occur on this side the
Channel, and in Ireland those of Britain are also
unknown.
The last group or order contains the Amphi-
bians, or those reptiles which at some period of
their lives inhabit the water and are truly aquatic,
and at another are either wholly or chiefly ter-
restrial. There are some very singular creatures
in this group, such as the Salamander, to which
such romantic stories of its incombustibility be-
longed, and of whom it was said, "If a salamander
bites you, put on your shroud." As late as 1789
a French consul at Rhodes, hearing a loud cry
in his kitchen, rushed to learn the cause, when
his cook, in a horrible fright, informed him that
he had seen a certain personage, who shall be
nameless, in the fire. The consul affirms that he
thereupon looked into the bright fire and saw a
little animal with open mouth and palpitating
throat. He took up the tongs to secure it, but
at first it scampered into a corner of the chimney,
lost a bit of its tail, then hid amongst some hot
REPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES. 9
ashes. It was ultimately secured, found to be a
little lizard, was put into spirits, and sent to
Buffon. Thus runs the story, of which we must
permit our readers to believe in proportion to
their credulity.
We have now indicated the primary groups
which include the seventeen species found either
as true natives, or naturalized, or as occasional
visitors to the British Isles. Of these, two belong
to the Chelonians or Tortoises, four to the Saurians
or Lizards, three to the Ophidians or Snakes, and
eight to the Amphibians, of which latter, half
belong to -the section in which the individuals,
when mature, are not possessed of a tail, and
half to the section of Amphibians having tails
in all the stages of their existence. Only one of
the seventeen is capable of inflicting serious
injury by means of its venomous fangs, although
the toad secretes an acrid fluid beneath its skin,
to which allusion will hereafter be made.
" Frogs and toads are found on the Shetlands,
whilst Viper a berus, the most northern snake, is
already scarce in the north of Scotland. Rana
temporaries is met with in the Alps, round lakes,
near the region of eternal snow, which are nine
months covered with ice; whilst Vipera berus
reaches only to the height of 5,000 feet in the
Alps, and of 7,000 in the Pyrenees. A triton
or a frog, being frozen in water, will awake to its
10 OUR REPTILES.
former life if the water is gradually thawed; I
found myself that even the eggs of Eana tem-
poraria, frozen in ice during seven hours,
suffered no harm by it, and afterwards were
developed. A snake can only endure a much
less degree of cold : even in the cold nights of
summer it falls into the state of lethargy ; it
awakes late in the spring, when some frogs and
tritons have already finished their propagation ;
it retires early into its recess in harvest, whilst
still the evenings resound with the vigorous
croaking of the tree-frogs and the bell-like
clamour of Alytes obstetricans. Our European
snakes die generally in captivity during the
winter, partly from want of food, partly by the
cold nights. The eggs of our oviparous species
are deposited during the hottest part of the year,
requiring a high temperature for development.
Further, though some accounts of Batrachians
enclosed in cavities of the earth or trees may be
exaggerated, the fact is stated by men whose
knowledge and truth are beyond all doubt, that
such animals live many years apparently without
the supply of food necessary for preserving the
energies of the vital functions."*
In this country, all Reptiles pass the winter
* Dr. A. Giinther on the Geographical Distribution of
Reptiles. Proceedings of Zoological Society.
EEPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES. 11
in a state of repose, retiring to holes, clefts, or
other available places, apparently secure from
disturbance, either in company or singly, for a
quiet six months' ' nap/ During this period
no food is taken, growth is impeded, the circu-
lation is tardy, respiration is low, and the
semblance of death is almost complete. In the
spring the warm sun quickens their blood,
awakens them from their dreams, and again
they crawl or leap into active existence, to the
terror of ' unprotected females ' and the insect
life on which they prey.
The curious habit they have of changing their
habits, or casting off the outer cuticle of their
skins periodically and then devouring them,
offers an economical suggestion to those who
advocate ' the utilization of waste substances/
in respect to cast-off clothes. Indeed, we are
not altogether innocent of devouring our old
clothing, but with this difference between our-
selves and the reptiles, they appropriate them
immediately and in their unchanged condition,
ours suffer mutilation, and manifold intermediate
changes, before they enter our mouths.
Although Reptiles are neither sufficiently nu-
merous nor venomous in our temperate climes
to give 'the traveller serious alarm, such is far
from being the case in tropical countries. There
we consequently hear of snake remedies, snake
12 OUR REPTILES.
charms, and snake charmers, to an almost un-
limited extent. Any one who has paid attention
to the Materia Medica of hot climates knows how
common ' snake-roots ' and antidotes to snake
poison are in all such countries. In many in-
stances these substances are in themselves per-
fectly useless, and derived their reputation in a
great measure from their external resemblance
in form to the sinuous or coiled reptile. In
many others they are only stimulant or tonic.
The most notable of remedies is the snake-
stone, not only because of the wonderful powers
ascribed to it, but also on account of the belief
still entertained, even by many Europeans, of
its marvellous curative properties. There is
some confusion with regard to it, on account of
its numerous imitations. The true snake-stone
of the East is undoubtedly a kind of Bezoar or
biliary concretion found in the stomach of various
animals. Factitious Bezoars are generally
either of calcined bone, gypsum, or other ab-
sorbent material. The Zuhr Mohra or Zelwr
Morah, as it is called in India, is a kind of
Bezoar celebrated in Eastern works as a remedy
for snake-bites, hydrophobia, &c., and Dr.
Ainslie says it is supposed by the Hindoos to
possess sovereign virtues as an external appli-
cation in cases of snake-bites or stings of
scorpions ; and its various Oriental names imply
KEPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES. 13
that it destroys poisons. Dr. Davy, on examin-
ing what are called snake-stones in India, found
them to be Bezoars. The same kind of sub-
stance is known in the island of Ceylon under
the name of Pamboo Kaloo. Berthollet mentions
eight kinds of Bezoar, which are chiefly phos-
phates. These were deemed efficacious not only
when taken as medicine, but even when merely
carried about the person, so that credulous
people would hire them on particular occasions
for a ducat per day. A single Oriental Bezoar
has been known to sell for six thousand livres.
The goat Bezoar was found in the fourth stomach
of the Capra agagrus of Persia, and was said to
be oblong, of the size of a kidney-bean, shining,
and of a dark green colour. This was doubtless
the most esteemed as a snake-stone.
An account, recently published, of one of these
snake-stones, which has great reputation in the
island of Corfu, thus describes the manner in
which it is employed :*
When a person is bitten by a poisonous snake, the bite
must be opened by a cut of a lancet or razor longways, and
the stone applied within twenty-four hours. The stone then
attaches itself firmly on the wound, and when it has done its
office falls off ; the cure is then complete. The stone must
then be thrown into milk ; whereupon it vomits the poison
it has absorbed, which remains green upon the top of the
P. M. Colquhoun, in All the Year Round, No. 139.
14 OUR REPTILES.
milk, and the stone is then again fit for use. This stone
has been from time immemorial in the family of Ventura,
of Corfu, a house of Italian origin, and is notorious, so that
peasants immediately apply for its aid. In a case where
two were stung at the same time by serpents, the stone was
applied to one, who recovered, but the other, for whom it
could not be used, died. It never failed but once, and then
it was applied after the twenty-four hours. Its colour is so
dark as not to be distinguished from black.
In confirmation of the above, another writer
adds :*
While in Corfu, where I resided some years, I became
slightly acquainted with the gentleman in question, Signor
Ventura, of the Strada Keale, Corfu. His family is, as
stated, of great antiquity in the island. He does not know
exactly when the stone first came into their possession, but
conjectures it was brought from India by one of his ances-
tors. I have myself never seen this remarkable stone, but
am fully satisfied as to its efficacy, as I have constantly
heard of people being cured by it ; in fact, the first thing
the Greeks do when bitten by a venomous snake, of which
there are several species in Greece, is to apply to Signor
Ventura. The stone is then applied, exactly in the manner
described above, and the patient in due time is cured.
The instance alluded to where one died while it was being
used for another, is of a countryman who was bitten by the
viper while cutting myrtle or bay for church decoration.
He as soon as bitten ran to the town, distant some miles,
and arrived when the stone was in use. When it was pro-
cured for him, it would not adhere ; for it seems this singular
stone requires to rest in milk for some time, to vomit, as it
were, the poison absorbed. Before it was fit for use again
A. M. Browne, in Science Gossip, Vol. i. p. 38.
REPTILES AND SNAKE- STONES. 15
he man died. The stone was broken by a very clever but
unscrupulous native physician, who procured it to look at
it, as he said, but who broke it in halves, and subjected
one half to the most severe tests, totally failing, however, to
discover its component parts. The fracture of the stone has
slightly impaired its curative power, and in consequence I
have heard the physician, Dottore , railed at in no very
measured language by the Greeks.
Sir Emerson Tennent gives an account of the
Pamboo Kaloo of Ceylon, which is employed for
the same purposes as the above, and the know-
ledge of such a use he thinks was probably
communicated to the Singhalese by the itinerant
snake-charmers of the Coromandel coast. " On
one occasion/' he writes, " in March, 1854, a
friend of mine was riding with some other civil
officers of the Government along a jungle path
in the vicinity of Bintenne, when they saw one
of two Tamils, who were approaching them, sud-
denly dart into the forest and return, holding in
both hands a cobra de capello, which he had
seized by the head and tail. He called to his
companion for assistance to place it in their
covered basket ; but in doing this he handled it
so inexpertly that it seized him by the finger
and retained its hold for a few seconds, as if
unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed,
and intense pain appeared to follow almost im-
mediately ; but with all expedition the friend of
the sufferer undid his waistcloth, and took from
16 OUR EEPTILES.
it two snake- stones, each of the size of a small
almond, intensely black and highly polished,
though of an extremely light substance. Then he
applied one to each wound inflicted by the teeth
of the serpent, to which the stones attached them-
selves closely, the blood that oozed from the
bites being rapidly imbibed by the porous tex-
ture of the article applied. The stones adhered
tenaciously for three or four minutes, the wounded
man's companion in the mean time rubbing his
arm downwards from the shoulder towards the
fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped
off of their own accord ; the suffering appeared
to have subsided; he twisted his fingers till
the joints cracked, and went on his way without
concern/' It would appear that Sir Emerson
submitted one of these snake-stones to Professor
Faraday for chemical examination, which re-
sulted in the professor giving his opinion that it
was a piece of charred bone which had been
filled with blood, perhaps several times, and
then carefully charred again. The ash was
almost entirely composed of phosphate of lime.
Captain Napier mentions an instance of the
efficacy of the stone. One of the soldiers having
been bitten by a scorpion, he says, " I applied
the stone to the puncture; it adhered imme-
diately, and during the eight minutes that it
remained on, the patient by degrees became
EEPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES. 17
easier, the pain diminishing gradually from the
shoulder downwards until it appeared entirely
confined to the immediate vicinity of the wound.
I then removed the stone : on putting it into a
cup of water, numbers of small air-bubbles rose
to the surface. In a short time the man
ceased to suffer any inconvenience from the
accident/'*
Who will deny the evidence of such facts,
simply because they cannot understand them ?
Mr. E. Newman remarks very pertinently on
this same question : cc I have often been asto-
nished at the ridicule thrown over facts that we
cannot understand. Men of learning who laugh
at a phenomenon they have not seen, always
remind me of giggling girls who titter when
they hear two persons speak any language but
their own ; the cause of cachinnation is the same,
simple ignorance. "f
Whether ' snake- stones ' be the true Bezoar
or the factitious animal charcoal, the principle of
action is much the same ; both are absorbents,
and both chiefly consist of phosphate of lime.
The first object appears to be inducing the blood
to flow freely to the wound, and then the remedy
is applied. It is very much like sucking out
* Gosse's " Romance of Natural History."
t The Zoologist, p. 6983.
C
18 OUR REPTILES.
the poison ; and of course the sooner this is done
after the wound is inflicted the better. After
the virus becomes disseminated through the
blood, it is useless to suck at the portal by which
it entered. In cases of poisoning by the bite of
a viper, cupping, and the application of leeches
have been effectual ; such remedies, however,
would be insufficient against the poison of the
more noxious tropical reptiles.
We are not aware that the ' stones ' alluded
to are worn as charms, amulets, or preservatives
against the bites of venomous serpents, but such
things are not uncommon in Eastern countries.
As the teeth of a tiger are sometimes worn as a
charm against attack from that animal, so perhaps
the fangs of a serpent may be regarded as a pre-
servative against the venom of serpents them-
selves. It is a current belief amongst the
natives in some countries where serpents abound,
that any one swallowing the contents of the
poison apparatus of venomous snakes is thereby
preserved from any ill effects accruing from the
bite of a serpent of that particular species.
Another kind of ' snake-stones/ adder-gems,
ovum anguinum or snake eggs, enter into the
ancient superstitions of our own country. Bor-
Jase tells us * that " in most parts of Wales, and
* " Antiquities of Cornwall," p. 137.
EEPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES. 19
throughout all Scotland, and in Cornwall, we
find it a common opinion of the vulgar that
about Midsummer-eve (though in the time they
do not all agree) it is usual for snakes to meet in
companies, and that by joining heads together
and hissing, a kind of bubble is formed, which
the rest, by continual hissing, blow on till it
passes quite through the body, and then it im-
mediately hardens, and resembles a glass ring,
which whoever finds shall prosper in all his
undertakings. The rings thus generated are
called Gleinau Nadroeth; in English, snake-
stones.-" In winter the viper may often be found
in its hybernaculum^ several individuals together,
intertwined and in an almost torpid state. From
this circumstance probably some of the notions
connected with the stones alluded to may have
been derived. Mason, in his " Caractacus," puts
into the mouth of a Druid the following pas-
The potent adder-stone
Gender'd 'fore th' autumnal moon :
When in undulating twine
The foaming snakes prolific join ;
When they hiss, and when they bear
Their wondrous egg aloof in air ;
Thence, before to earth it fall,
The Druid, in his hallow'd pall,
Eeceives the prize,
And instant flies,
Follow'd by th' envenom'd brood
Till he cross the crystal flood.
c 2
20 OUR REPTILES.
The glass beads, in more recent times em-
ployed as charms, were used as a substitute
for the rare ' snake-stones/ These " beads are
not unfrequently found in barrows,* or occa-
sionally with skeletons whose nation and age are
not ascertained. Bishop Gibson engraved three :
one, of earth enamelled with blue, found near
Dolgelly, in Merionethshire ; a second of green
glass, found at Aberfraw; and a third, found
near Maes y Pandy, Merionethshire. "f Some
have affirmed that in Cornwall, where they
retain a respect for such amulets, they have a
charm for the snake to make the ' milprev/ as
it is termed, when they have found one asleep,
and stuck a hazel wand in the centre of her
spiral. " The country people," says Dr. Borlase,
" have a persuasion that the snakes here breathing
upon a hazel wand produce a stone ring of blue
colour, in which there appears the yellow figure
of a snake, and that beasts bit and envenomed,
being given some water to drink wherein this
stone has been infused, will perfectly recover of
the poison."
We will leave Pliny alone J with his ovum
anguinum, and the various other authors who have
* Stukeley's " Abury," p. 44.
t Brande's " Popular Antiquities," iil p. 371.
J Nat. Hist., lib. xxix. c. 12.
REPTILES AND SNAKE-STONES.
21
referred to these amulets, and proceed to matters
of fact rather than of poetry and romance, con-
cluding this chapter with a copy of the figures
of c snake-stones ' given by Pennant in his
" British Zoology," and who says of them : "Our
modern Druidesses seem not to have so exalted
an opinion of their powers, using them only to
assist children in cutting their teeth, or to cure
the chincough or to drive away an ague."
ADDEK- STONES.
22
THE COMMON LIZARD.
(Zootoca vivipara.)
Enlarged view of the upper surface of the head, showing the form and
arrangement of the plates.*
THE Scaly or viviparous Lizard is a common
inhabitant of heaths and banks in elevated dis-
tricts in England and Scotland, whilst it appears
to have been one of the few reptiles which St.
Patrick permitted to remain within the limits
of the Emerald Isle. To what circumstance such
forbearance in this instance is due chroniclers
seem to have been unable to tell. In some
seasons, as for instance in I860, this lizard is
* Milne-Edwards in "Ann. des Sc. Nat.," ser. i. vol.
xvi. t. 5, f. 5.
COMMON LIZAED. 23
found in vast numbers everywhere in the county
of Down. The observer who records its appear-
ance in such plenty on the above occasion
remarks, as a singular circumstance, that they
never occurred there before, except a single
individual at a time, and those at long intervals.*
Lord Clermont observes that it is never found in
low countries, but frequents mountain districts
in the greater part of North and Central Europe,
and is common in Switzerland, Germany, Poland,
and France, as well as in Scotland, England,
and Ireland. In Italy it is only found in the
Alpine regions of the north, and it also inhabits
the hilly parts of Belgium and Eussia.f
This lizard differs in a most important point
from the other species to be mentioned, and on
this account has been placed by naturalists in a
new genus called Zootoca, from the Greek word
zooS) ' life/ and tokos, ' offspring/ on account
of its young bursting through the very thin
membrane-like covering of the egg at the time
of birth, and are, therefore, ovo- viviparous ;
in which feature this lizard resembles the Viper.
The young, as soon as they are born, have the
free use of their limbs, and run about in com-
pany with their parent, soon commencing the
* The Zoologist, p. 7172.
t Clerinont's " Quad, and Kept. Eur.," p. 184..
24 OUK REPTILES.
collection of insects on their own account, im-
pelled by the feelings of hunger. The specific
name of vivipara has a Latin origin, with a like
meaning to the generic. This lively little reptile
will often be found sunning itself between spring
and autumn. All its movements are exceedingly
graceful and vivacious. In an instant it darts
upon an insect coming within its range, which as
speedily disappears down its throat. Like the
slow-worm and sand lizard, it is often the object
of persecution, though itself perfectly harmless ;
but, on account of its reptile form, does not escape
calumny. During summer the pregnant female
may be discovered basking in the direct rays of
the sun, and is then far less willing to be dis-
turbed than at other seasons. Tradesmen who
supply materials for aquaria, fern- cases, and
domestic vivaria, tell us that while they find a
ready sale for the newts, there is such small
demand for lizards, because " people are afraid
of them;" that they seldom keep any on hand,
but collect and supply them to order. This is a
foolish prejudice, because they would make an
agreeable addition to the attractions of a fernery,
and assist in keeping it free from insects. Their
movements are more graceful and rapid than
those of the newts, and certainly would not require
any larger amount of attention.
This species is smaller than the Sand Lizard,
COMMON LIZARD. 25
not exceeding from five and a half to six inches
in length. The tail is longer in proportion, and
of a different shape, retaining the same thickness
for the first half of its length, and then diminishing
gradually to its extremity ; the palate is without
teeth, the temple is covered with small polygonal
plates, with a large angular one in the centre.
The scales on the back are long, narrow, and
hexagonal, and less distinctly keeled than in the
next species. The head is more depressed and
the nose sharper. The plates of the belly are in
six rows, with two small marginal series ; the pre-
anal plate is bordered by two rows of scales.
The fore legs reach to the eye, the hind legs
extend along two -thirds of the sides ; pores
from nine to twelve on each thigh. The back is
brown, olive, or reddish, with a black band on
each side from the head to the tail ; a second
dark band runs along the side, and is edged with
white. The under parts are spotted with black
upon a whitish ground, generally with a bluish
or greenish tinge.*
The relative size and viviparous character are
the best features whereby to distinguish this
species from the next.
* Lord Glenn ont's " Keptiles of Europe," p. 184.
26 OUR REPTILES.
THE SAND LIZARD.
(Lacerta agilis.)
Enlarged view of the upper surface of the head, showing the form and
arrangement of the plates.*
THIS and the latter species were long con-
founded together. It appears to vary consider-
ably, both in colour and size, is generally larger,
but not so common as the Scaly Lizard. It seems
to be pretty widely distributed over Europe,
being found almost everywhere except in the
extreme North; confined more especially to
lowland districts. It is said to abound in Ger-
* Milne-Edwards in " Ann. des Sc. Nat.," ser. i. vol. xvi
t. 5, f. 4.
THE SAND LIZARD. 27
many, Switzerland, Poland, Northern Russia,
in Siberia, 'and generally through central Europe.
It appears to occur freely in the neighbourhood
of Poole, but we do not remember to have met
with records of its occurrence in the North of
England, or in Scotland, although it may have
been confounded with the foregoing, especially
as it is evidently a Northern rather than a
Southern species.
Unlike the Scaly Lizard, which is in reality
the common lizard with us, it is oviparous, the
female laying twelve or more eggs in the sand,
and leaving them to be hatched by the heat of
the sun. She hollows out a cavity, or rude nest,
for the purpose, and covers her eggs with the
sand. It possesses a ' snappish ' temper, is
not readily domesticated, and refuses food under
confinement. Like other reptiles, it passes its
winters in a state of repose.
The liver, bile, excrements, and eggs of the
Lizard were in former times employed as remedies
in certain diseases, and the entire animal has
been proposed as a substitute for the Scink, a
reptile allied to the Lizards, which had a great
reputation in olden times, the use of which has
very recently been attempted to be revived.
Dr. Gosse, of Geneva, has maintained that the
ancients were justified in employing the Scink in
medicine, inasmuch as it possesses powerful
28 OUR EEPTILES.
stimulant and sudorific properties, which might
be usefully employed in various diseases.*
In Mr. P. L. Simmonds's interesting and
amusing " Curiosities of Food/' several species
of reptiles are enumerated as affording food to
the natives in the various countries in which
they are found. Of these, the Iguana holds one
of the chief places in public esteem. This is a
gigantic lizard found in many tropical countries,
where it attains a length of three feet, and has
flesh " which is reckoned as delicate as chicken,
and but little inferior to turtle in flavour."
Humboldt remarks that in inter- tropical South
America, all lizards which inhabit dry regions
are esteemed delicacies for the table. The gi-
gantic crocodile, alligator, gavial, and cayman,
are also served at repasts. This, however, is some-
what foreign to our subject, and all who are
interested in reptilian delicacies we must refer
to the book in question.
The fossil Saurians of bygone ages were the
giants of those days. Dr. Mantell thought it
probable that the largest iguanodons may have
attained a length of from sixty to seventy feet.
The Labyrinthodons were also of considerable
size. Eemains and traces of numerous reptiles
have been found in the strata of our own islands.
* See Moquin Tandon's " Medical Zoology," p. 69.
THE SAND LIZARD. 29
fc Impressions of the feet of a Labyrinthodon
were found by the late Mr. Hugh Strickland
in the lower Keuper sandstone of Shrewly
Common, Worcestershire ; and bones and teeth
have been discovered near Kenilworth, in the
Permian sandstones of the geological surveyors,
as well as in the upper Keuper beds. Five
species of Labyrinthodont reptiles have been
found in Great Britain, all of which must have
been very unpleasant -looking animals, with
fearful jaws, adapted especially for biting. And
yet such animals lived on the shores of a sea-
bed which now constitutes much of the pleasant
vales of Worcestershire and Cheshire, the shores
of the New Eed Sandstone sea.*
Returning from c stewed Iguana' and extinct
reptiles to the little Lizard of the present dege-
nerate days, we may observe, that though
neither formidable in size, repulsive in appear-
ance, nor in any sense aggressive or noxious, it
has many enemies, some amongst bipeds with
feathers, and some amongst bipeds without. It
has personal interest in the ' smooth snake '
and its proximity to its own locality ; for that
reptile has a great predilection . for a lizard at
luncheon, whilst the common snake prefers a
frog or a newt. But the most relentless perse-
* " Old Bones," by the Rev. W. S. Symonds, p. 81.
30 OUR EEPTILES.
cution is carried on by schoolboys, and even
adults, with more zeal than discretion, who fancy
that they are doing 'the state some service/
in efforts to accomplish .its extermination. That
it is not only inoffensive, but useful in keeping
up the balance of nature, by its reduction of
insect life, its legitimate prey, is a truth, like
the ( small bird question/ which may be ac-
knowledged when it is all but too late.
There are two varieties of this lizard, indi-
cated by their relative colour. In one the
general tint is brown; in the other it is green.
The most common variety has the back of a
sandy-brown colour, sometimes spotted with
black, with the sides greenish in the male, but
brownish in the female : the belly is white and
often spotted. In length it is from seven to
nine inches, of which the tail occupies more than
half, or nearly two-thirds. The scales of the
upper part of the body are roundish or angular,
and distinctly keeled ; the plates of the belly are
arranged in six rows, of which the two central
rows are the narrowest. The tail is covered
with from fifty to eighty distinct whorls or rings
of scales, which are longer and narrower than
those of the back. It is thicker and rather more
clumsy than the last species, and the limbs are
stouter and stronger, and is less graceful and
vivacious in its movements. There are other
THE SAND LIZARD. 31
and more minute points of difference, but these
are of interest rather to the zoologist than to the
general reader. It may be observed, however,
that in this species there are to be found, in
addition to the ordinary teeth at the margin of
the upper and lower jaws, also a few very small
ones seated on the back part of the palate, and
which are wanting in the common lizard.
Professor Bell states on the faith of a gentle-
man of his acquaintance, that the brown varieties
are confined to sandy heaths, the colours of which
are closely imitated by the surface of the body,
and that the green variety frequents the more
verdant localities. This, he adds, he had not
been in a position either to refute or confirm,
and could only vouch for the existence of two
such varieties, at a comparatively short distance
from each other.
32
THE GREEN LIZARD.
(Lacerta viridis.)
Enlarged view of the side of the head, showing the form and arrangement
of the plates.*
Is the Green Lizard really a native of Britain ?
That is the very knotty question which we
desire to settle, both for our own satisfaction
and that of our readers, but cannot divest our
minds of a lingering doubt whether it may not
have descended to us in a similar manner to the
shower of edible frogs which Mr. Penney rained
down upon Foulmire. That this species has
been found in Great Britain, in an apparently
* Milne-Edwards in " Ann. des Sc. Nat.," ser. i. vol. xvi.
t. 7, f. 2.
THE GREEN LIZAED. 33
wild state, is without a doubt, but how it came
there is past finding out.
If we turn over the pages of the earlier
volumes of the Zoologist we here and there
encounter little facts of a very stubborn nature,
relative to the Green Lizard, in every instance
guaranteed by some name well known in the
annals of science. One of the earliest of these
notes is by Dr. Bromfield,* in which he states
<r l am told, on competent authority, th&t Lacerta
viridis is quite frequent and even abundant in
the neighbourhood of Herne Bay. I may add,
there can be no doubt about the species, and
that it certainly is not the smaller green lizard of
Poole, but identical with the species long known
to inhabit Guernsey, as my friend Professor Bell
has received a specimen from Herne Bay, but
not in time to notice the discovery for the
second edition of his "British Eep tiles. " Corro-
borative of this, and on the same page of that
journal, occurs the following communication
from the late Mr. John Wolley : " Seven or
eight years ago, a schoolfellow of mine at Eton,
a native of Guernsey, assured me he had seen
lizards in Devonshire precisely similar to the
lizards of his own island;" and again, "Nearly
two years since a learned Professor of the TJni-
* Zoologist, p. 2707.
D
34 OUB REPTILES.
versity of Edinburgh mentioned that he had
dissected a Green Lizard brought by a botanical
party from the Clova mountains." Still later
another credible witness, the Rev. W. H. Cor-
deaux, gives evidence to the effect that he
had examined the Reptilia of the Canterbury
Museum, and had there found a male and female
of this species, but that no trustworthy informa-
tion could be obtained of the locality and date of
their capture.* In 1863 a paper was read and
a specimen exhibited before the Holmesdale
Natural History Club, at Reigate, by Mr. J. A.
Brewer. The specimen was caught by a labourer
on a bank by the side of the road, a little way
from Dorking, on the road to Reigate, and pur-
chased of him the same evening. In the course
of this paper Mr. Brewer remarks :f " The occur-
rence of this solitary specimen is not sufficient in
itself to establish it as a British species ; but on
showing it, a few days since, to Mr. John E.
Daniel, a well-known naturalist, and who cer-
tainly would not have been likely to mistake
this beautiful species, he informed me that a few
years since he had observed three or four speci-
mens of it on the heath, about half a mile south
of Wareham, in Dorsetshire, one of which he
captured, and is quite certain of its identity with
* Zoologist, p. 2S55. f Ibid. p. 8639.
THE GREEN LIZARD. 35
the Green Lizard (Lacerta viridis), a species
which, he is well acquainted with, having fre-
quently seen it in Germany, and received speci-
mens from the Channel Islands. Gilbert White,
in his " Natural History of Selborne," has the
following remark, which probably applies to this
species : " I remember well to have seen for-
merly several beautiful green Lacerti on the
sunny sand-banks near Farnham, in Surrey, and
Ray admits there are such in Ireland." All we
can say to such evidence is, that the facts are
too strong and well attested to deny that the
Green Lizard has been several times found in
this country ; and though it is quite possible,
nay, certain, that many a time and oft they have
been brought from Guernsey, and turned adrift
here, they are at least naturalized and deserve a
notice in any history of " Our Reptiles." Some
of the more recent captures may have been indi-
viduals from the ' imports/ but it is equally
probable that the Green Lizards mentioned by
White were really indigenous, and the same
species. Who shall determine satisfactorily that
they were not ?
The large Lizard quoted by Pennant can
scarcely be the same as the present, unless the
length was much exaggerated. He thus records
it:
The most uncommon species we ever met with any account
D 2
36 OUR REPTILES.
of, is that which was killed near Woscot, in the parish of
Swinford, Worcestershire, in 1741, which was two feet six
inches long and four inches in girth. The fore legs were
placed eight inches from the head, the hind legs five inches
beyond those : the legs two inches long, the feet divided
into four toes, each furnished with a sharp claw. Another
was killed at Penbury, in the same county. Whether these
are not of exotic descent, and whether the breed continues,
we are at present uninformed.
This reptile is found inhabiting the greater part
of Central and Southern Europe, including
France as far north as Paris. It is very com-
mon in the south of that country, all over Italy
and the south of Switzerland ; is found in Sicily,
Greece, Poland, Austria, the Crimea, and Bar-
bary.*
This is a really fine lizard, large, beautiful,
and attractive, at least as much so as a reptile
can be. Its entire length seldom exceeds fifteen
inches, though sometimes attaining eighteen
inches in the Morea. Although the colouring is
very variable, green is a prevailing tint. The
upper surface is sometimes of a uniform green,
at others green with yellow spots, and occa-
sionally brown with green or white markings,
rarely brown with white streaks edged with
black. The lower surface is usually yellow. It
occurs on hedge-banks and grassy places.
* Lord Clermont's " Quadrupeds and Keptiles of Europe,"
p. 1
THE GEEEN LIZAED. 37
It is of a rather tractable nature, submits to
confinement, and ultimately becomes familiar,
for which reason it is not an uncommon pet in
the warmer countries of Europe, where it is
chiefly found ; and is occasionally imported into
this 'country for a like purpose. If it really
cannot be proved to be truly indigenous to
Great Britain, all we can say is, ' the morels the
pity/ because it would be a handsome addition
to the reptile fauna of any country, and being
inoffensive and tractable, could be welcomed
without regret.
Enlarged view of the upper surface of the head of the Green Lizard
(Lacerta viridis) showing the form and arrangement of the plates.
Milne-Edwards, t. 5, f. 3.
38
THE BLINDWORM.
(Anguis fragilis.)
IN external form, the Slow-worm so much re-
sembles a little snake that those of our readers
who have not delved deeply in the mines of
Reptilian knowledge will, at first, evince sur-
prise at finding it amongst the Lizards, in com-
pany with whom it is placed by scientific men.
But as much as first appearances are opposed to
this union, a closer examination will prove that
it is ' the right thing in the right place/ The
most convincing proof of this is to be found in
the fact that, although not possessed of external
legs, the rudiments of these organs are concealed
beneath the skin. The eyes, again, are furnished
with moveable eyelids a phenomenon not oc-
THE BLINDWOKM. 39
curring amongst the Snakes, but found in the
Lizards. Then, again, the jaws of serpents are
so constructed as to expand sufficiently to admit
as large a body as will pass down into the
stomach, whilst in the Blindworm this is not
the case. The tongue, also, is notched at the
point, but not cleft or forked, as in the Ophi-
dians. Finally, the back, belly, sides, and tail
are all covered with small rounded scales, which,
as we shall see shortly, is by no means the case
with serpents. For these reasons, and some
others too technical to deserve a place here,
the Blindworm, or Slow-worm, is classed with
Lizards, and is, in fact, a Lizard without visible
legs.
This anomalous reptile is found all over Europe,
except the most northern countries, and, again,
we must except Ireland ; but in England and
Scotland it is very common. Being less sus-
ceptible of cold, it is found further north, and
comes out from its hybernaculum earlier than
most other reptiles. Like the snakes, it casts
its slough, which it leaves behind, and does not
attempt to devour. This is generally turned
1 inside out/ as in the snake and viper ; but the
tail portion is sometimes excepted : out of this
the tail is sometimes drawn without the skin
being reversed. When in confinement the slough
usually comes off in fragments.
40 OUK REPTILES.
Like the viper and the scaly Lizard, the Blind-
worm is ovo-viviparous i. e., its young are
brought forth alive, from 7 or 8 to 10 or 12 at a
birth.
There is one peculiarity in this reptile, which
is met with in no other British species ; whence
its specific name of fragilis is derived. When
attacked, alarmed, or taken hold of, it becomes
rigid ; and in this condition any effort to bend
it results in breaking off a portion of the tail ;
a slight blow will sever it in the same manner ;
and when taken hold of by the tail it will some-
times make its escape, leaving that extremity
in the hand. Within certain limits it has also
the power of replacing the broken part ; for a
short conical tip at length occupies the place of
the severed tail. It is very inoffensive, quiet,
timid, and retiring in its habits ; and is, in fact,
a model of reptile virtues, without possessing
any taint of reptile vices. Like some friends,
it ' improves upon a closer acquaintance/
Mr. George Daniel has given us some of the
most complete observations on the habits of this
reptile : " A Blindworm that I kept alive for
nine weeks would, when touched, turn and bite,
although not very sharply ; its bite was not
sufficient to draw blood, but it always retained
its hold until released. It drank sparingly of
milk, raising the head when drinking. It fed
THE BLINDWORM. 41
upon the little white slug, so common in fields
and gardens, eating six or seven of them, one
after the other ; but it did not eat every day.
It invariably took them in one position. Ele-
vating its head slowly above its victim, it would
suddenly seize the slug by the middle, in the
same way that a ferret or dog will generally
take a rat by the loins ; it would then hold it
thus sometimes for more than a minute, when
it would pass its prey through its jaws, and
swallow the slug head foremost. It refused the
larger slugs, and would not touch either young
frogs or mice. Snakes kept in the same cage
took both frogs and mice. The Blindworm
avoided the water; the snakes, on the contrary,
coiled themselves in the pan containing the
water which was put into the cage, and ap-
peared to delight in it. The Blindworm was
a remarkably fine one, measuring fifteen inches
in length. It cast its slough whilst in my keep-
ing. The skin came off in separate pieces, the
largest of which was two inches in length,
splitting first beneath, and the peeling from
the head being completed the last."*
As will be seen on comparing this extract
with some of our own observations, it does not
entirely accord in all its minor details. For
* Note to White's "Selborne," Bennett's edition.
42 OUR REPTILES.
instance, in its food ; for, although it is not at
first disposed to eat in confinement, it becomes
at length more sociable, and will then eat
earthworms as freely as slugs.
Of all the guiltless beings which are met
with, we have none less chargeable with crimi-
nality than the poor Slow-worm; yet none are
more frequently destroyed than it, included, as
it is, in the general and deep-rooted prejudice
attached to the serpent race. The viper and
snake, though they experience no mercy, escape
often by activity of action; but this creature,
from the slowness of its movements, falls a more
ready victim. We call it a ' blindworm/ pos-
sibly from the supposition that, as it makes little
effort to escape, it sees badly ; but its eyes^
though rather small, are clear and lively, with
no apparent defect of vision. The natural
habits of the Slow- worm are obscure; and
living in the deepest foliage and the roughest
banks, he is generally secreted from observa-
tion; but loving warmth, like all his race, he
creeps, half torpid, from his hole, to bask in
spring-time in the rays of the sun, and is, if
seen, inevitably destroyed. Exquisitely formed
as all these gliding creatures are, for rapid and
uninterrupted transit through herbage and such
impediments, it is yet impossible to examine a
Slow- worm without admiration at the peculiar
THE BLINDWORM. 43
neatness and fineness of the scales with which it
is covered. All separate as they are, they lap
over and close upon each other with such ex-
quisite exactitude, as to appear only as faint
markings upon the skin, requiring a magnifier
to ascertain their separations ; and to give him
additional facility of proceeding through rough
places, these are all highly polished, appearing
lustrous in the sun, the animal looking like a
thick piece of tarnished copper wire. When
surprised in his transit from the hedge, contrary
to the custom of snake or viper, which writhe
themselves away into the grass in the ditch, he
stops, as if fearful of proceeding, or to escape
observation by remaining motionless ; but if
touched, he makes some effort to escape. This
habit of the poor Slow-worm becomes frequently
the cause of his destruction.*
This species is generally about ten inches in
length, and rarely exceeds fourteen inches. Its
general colour on the upper surface is of a
brownish grey, with a silvery or bright steel-
like appearance. There are commonly several
parallel rows of minute darker spots along the
sides, and one down the middle of the back.
Underneath it is of a bluish black, with a whitish
network. The young at first are whitish, then
* Knapp's " Journal of a Naturalist," p. 309.
44 OUR EEPTILES.
of a light yellowish grey above, with a black
line running down the back, and with black
bellies. The mature reptile is cylindrical, or
slightly squared, in form, gradually decreasing
towards the tail, which ends abruptly. The
latter often equals the body in length, and is
covered above and below, as well as the body,
with small, rounded, closely-fitting scales. The
eyes are small, and provided with moveable eye-
lids. The tongue is broad, but not very long,
and notched at the tip ; and the teeth are minute,
and slightly hooked.
45
THE COMMON SNAKE.
(Tropidonotus natrix. Dum. & Bibr.)
A mass of Snake's eggs from a dunghill.
EVERYBODY involuntarily shudders at the name
of a snake. Very few possess courage enough
to attempt staring one out of countenance, or
staying to count the number of scales on its
head. Fancy oneself deeply intent, with nose
unusually low, seeking the ruddy wild straw-
berry on a 'sunny hedge -bank, and even whilst
smacking the lips with the relish of the tart
46 OUR EEPTILES.
little fruit but lately conveyed there, about to
pluck another yet larger and redder, when lo !
beneath our very fingers glides the sleek, at-
tenuated form of the reptile ay, within ten
inches of our depressed nose. Under such
circumstances, should we be surprised at finding
ourselves starting back ; at feeling a slight and
momentary sensation, as of a drop of water
trickling down our back ; or at forgetting to
observe whether the intruder was really a viper
or a snake ?
What is called the Common or Ringed Snake
with us, is really the most common snake in
Europe. It is found in almost every country
from Sweden in the north, to Sicily in the south,
excepting Ireland, whence it is said to have been
banished by the good Saint Patrick, and in the
extreme north of Russia, whence it is probably
excluded by the temperature, independent of
saintly proscription. In Britain it is far more
common in the South than in the North ; some
have even had the temerity to deny its occurrence
in Scotland, but apparently without good found-
ation. Attempts have been made to introduce
it into Ireland, an account of one such being
narrated in Bell's " British Reptiles." But the
hand of every true Irishman was armed against
the innovation, and the imports soon suffered
extermination.
THE COMMON SNAKE. 47
However one may shudder at the sight of a
snake, this species is perfectly harmless, indeed
rather tractable under confinement, and certainly,
in common with the rest of its tribe, exceedingly
graceful in its undulations, and possessed of
a truly fascinating eye. As we write this para-
graph, a lively individual about two feet in
length is gazing intently at the movements of
our fingers, as if to divine therefrom whether
any malignant libel is being penned, or whether
the movements are those of flattery.
This species is truly oviparous. Its eggs,
from sixteen to twenty in number, attached
together by a glutinous secretion, are deposited
in some favourable locality, as a dunghill, and
are hatched by the heat developed, or that de-
rived from direct exposure to the sun. In this
circumstance it will be seen to differ from the
viper. Knapp gives a good account of a nest of
snake's eggs :
My labourer, this July the 18th, in turning over some
manure, laid open a mass of snake's eggs, fifteen only ; and
they must have been recently deposited, the manure having
very lately been placed where they were found. They were
larger than the eggs of a sparrow, obtuse at each end, of a
very pale yellow colour, feeling tough and soft, like little
bags of some gelatinous substance. The inner part con-
sisted of a glareous matter like that of the hen, enveloping
the young snake, imperfect, yet the eyes and form sufficiently
denned. Snakes must protrude their eggs singly, but pro-
48 OUE REPTILES,
bably all at one time, as they preserve no regular disposition
of them, but place them in a promiscuous heap. At the
time of protrusion they appear to be surrounded with a
clammy substance, which, drying in the air, leaves the mass
of eggs united wherever they touch each other. I have heard
of forty eggs being found in these deposits ; yet, notwith-
standing such provision for multitudes, the snake, generally
speaking, is not a very common animal.*
Having deposited her eggs, the female appears
to have no further care or thought of her progeny.
She neither watches over them to preserve them
from injury, nor, when hatched, does she take
them under tuition in the tortuous policy of a
snake's existence. The incubation of snakes was
a knotty point widely discussed when the Python
of the Zoological Gardens laid eggs, which were
never hatched.
This snake, in common with others, changes
its skin at intervals, but not, as has been stated,
at regular periods, or once a year ; but some-
times four or five times during the year, and
often less, according to circumstances. In this
' sloughing * process the reptile bursts the
cuticle about its neck, draws out its head, the
old skin is thrust back, and the snake crawls
out. In this process the skin is turned inside
out, and left on the grass to scare unwary
females into the belief that they have seen a
* Knapp's u Journal of a Naturalist," p. 306.
THE COMMON SNAKE. 49
snake, little dreaming that they have only been
shuddering at its old clothes.
What does the snake eat ? Undoubtedly it
delights in frogs, young birds, birds 7 eggs, and
even mice. Imagine the little shudder and
start in which we indulged in boyhood, on
putting our hand, with felonious intent, into
a bird's nest (we couldn't see into it), and find-
ing our fingers come in contact with the smooth
cold folds of a coiled-up snake ! It was the last
time we felt for eggs before seeing them. That
was an experiment too satisfactory in its results
to require repetition. The author already quoted
gives an interesting account of a snake's meal :
"If it be a frog, it generally seizes it by the
hinder leg, because it is usually taken in pursuit.
As soon as this takes place, the frog ceases to
make any struggle or attempt to escape. The
whole body and legs are stretched out, as it were,
convulsively, and the snake gradually draws in
first the leg he has seized and afterwards the
rest of the animal, portion after portion, by
means of the peculiar mechanism of the jaws, so
admirably adapted for this purpose. When a
frog is in the process of being swallowed in this
manner, as soon as the snake's jaws have reached
the body, the other hind leg becomes turned
forwards ; and as the body gradually disappears,
the three legs and the head are seen standing
50 OUR REPTILES.
forwards out of the snake's mouth, in a very
singular manner. Should the snake, however,
have taken the frog by the middle of the body,
it invariably turns it, until the head is directed
towards the throat of the snake, and it is then
swallowed, head foremost." The frog is not
only alive during the above process, but often
after it has reached the stomach. Mr. Bell says,
" I once saw a very small one, which had been
swallowed by a large snake in my possession,
leap again out of the mouth of the latter, which
happened to gape, as they frequently do imme-
diately after taking food."
During the present summer a gentleman of
our acquaintance saw a lad kill a snake in a
wood. It was a very large one, and the boy cut
it open along the under surface with his pocket-
knife. By this means a full-sized frog was
liberated from the stomach of the snake. It was
very lively and soon hopped away. Why may
not young vipers remain as long with equal ease
in the stomach of their parent ?
The snake is very .fond of the water, and may
often be surprised coiled up in sunny weather
with its head out enjoying the luxury of a bath.
It will dive after the water-newts, especially
when rather hungry, bringing them to the shore
in its month and devouring them upon dry land.
Some kinds of snake have been detected catch-
THE COMMON SNAKE. 51
ing fish. ; but whether this was merely an idiosyn-
crasy on the part of one or two individuals, or
whether it is a confirmed habit, we are not in
possession of sufficient evidence to determine.
Such a predilection on the part of the common
snake we have not yet heard of. This reptile
is generally found in wet situations, or not
far from water, whilst the viper evidently
prefers a drier locality. We have heard of vipers
being found on marshes, but are doubtful
whether the creatures so called were not
common snakes.
The entire ]ength of this species is generally
over two feet, sometimes exceeding three feet,
and rare instances have been recorded, of which
several occur in the pages of the Zoologist,
of its reaching, and even exceeding, four feet.
The female is usually the largest. The colour
of reptiles is very prone to variation, but the tint
of the upper surface in this species is generally
of a brownish-grey with a greenish tinge, some-
times nearly that of an ash stick. Along the
back are two parallel rows of small black spots,
with a series of larger blotches of black of vari-
able sizes along each side. The under surface is
of a dull lead-colour, sometimes mottled. The
scales and their arrangement, especially on the
head, differ from those of the viper. In the
common snake the head is covered by large
E 2
52
OUR EEPTILES.
plates, of which, there are three between the eyes,
and those above and below are arranged in pairs.
The scales along the back are oval and distinctly
keeled, with those of the sides broader, and less
keeled. On the belly the plates are single,
extending from side to side, and about one
hundred and seventy in number; but in this
there is also variation. The under plates of
the tail are in pairs. Behind the head is a
broad collar or a pair of spots of a bright
yellow colour, behind which are black spots.
The teeth are in two rows in both upper and
lower jaws, and the tongue is forked to one-
third of its length.
53
THE SMOOTH SNAKE.
(Coronella Icevis. Boie.)
THERE can be little doubt that this reptile has
been occasionally found in this country for many
years, although it is only recently that it has
received the name to which it appears to be
entitled, and therewith its true place in our
reptile fauna. It is somewhere about half a
century since Mr. Simmons caught a curious
little snake near Dumfries, which appeared to
differ so much from the common ringed snake
that Sowerby figured it in his " British Miscel-
lany/'* and called it the Dumfries snake (Coluber
Dumfrisiensis) . After this, the account and a
eopy of the figure appeared in London's " Maga-
zine of Natural History." f When Professor
Bell published his account of the British Reptiles,
he gave these particulars, but at the same time
* Sowerby's " Miscellanies," iii. t. 3. f Vol. ii. p. 438.
54 OUR REPTILES.
expressed a doubt whether the specimen was not
an immature one of the common species.* As the
specimen is not in existence, it cannot be positively
affirmed what it was ; but, from the description,
there is reason to believe it was really the first
recorded capture of the snake whose name stands
at the head of this chapter. <f It was about
three or four inches in length, of a pale-brown
colour, with pairs of reddish-brown stripes from
side to side, over the back, somewhat zigzag,
with intervening spots on the sides. The abdo-
minal plates were 162, those under the tail about
eighty. The most remarkable peculiarity men-
tioned, however, is, that the scales are extremely
simple, not carinated."
Towards the close of 1859 the Hon. Arthur
Russell sent to the British Museum a female speci-
men of the Smooth Snake, which was taken by a
resident near the flagstaff at Bournemouth, Hamp-
shire, and Dr. Gray communicated a notice of the
fact to the Zoologist (p. 6731). Supplementary
to this notice, the editor added a description of
the reptile from Lord Clermont's work. In the
next number a communication appeared from
Mr. Frederick Bond, in which he stated, " I
captured a specimen of the new British snake
five or six years ago, in June, near Ringwood,
* Bell's " Keptiles," 2nd ed. p. 60.
THE SMOOTH SNAKE. 55
Hants. I thought at the time I had something
new, but, not taking much interest in the rep-
tiles, it was put into spirits and forgotten until I
saw Dr. Gray's notice. I have sent this speci-
men to the British Museum, so that any one
may see it."*
Nothing more was heard of the Smooth Snake
in Britain till the year 1862, when, between
October and December, several communica-
tions appeared in the Field, and Mr. Buckland
seemed to claim its discovery as an addition
to the British Fauna. Mr. Bartlett, of the Zoo-
logical Gardens, Regent 's Park, ultimately pub-
lished an account, in which he stated, f " It was
on the morning of the 24th August, 1862, I saw
for the first time one of these animals, Mr.
Fenton having stopped me as I was driving
along the road in the Kegentfs Park, and taking
from his pocket what I then thought was a viper,
asked me if I would accept it for the Zoological
Gardens." From the Proceedings of the Zoo-
logical Society we learn that, on one occasion,
Mr. F. Buckland exhibited this specimen, and
ultimately f several others, which had been found
in this country. So deficient, however, in all
the necessary details of date, place, and circuxn-
* Zoologist, p. 6787. t Intellectual Observer, iii. p. 149.
j November llth, 1862.
56 OUR REPTILES.
stances of capture were these recent accounts,
that, had there not been prior and more satis-
factory records in existence, it would have been
doubtful whether, on such incomplete details, it
had been prudent to recognize the Smooth Snake
as a British native. All who have devoted them-
selves to the study of the natural history sciences
know how very essential it is that the evidence
of the occurrence of any new, or supposed new
species, should be complete and authentic. Defi-
ciencies in these respects have heretofore caused
infinite trouble, and too great prudence cannot
be exercised in the endeavour to prevent their
occurrence again. In this case we think the
evidence sufficient, as above detailed, for the
recognition of the present species as a true
native.
The Smooth Snake inhabits central and
southern Europe, is found in various parts of
France, but is not very common in the south of
that country : it occurs in Sicily and in the whole
of Italy and its islands, but is more frequent in
the north than in the south of that peninsula;
it is included in the fauna of Galicia and the
Bukovina, Silesia, and Carniola ; it is common in
Switzerland, near Zurich, but rare in Belgium,
where it has been met with near Louvain, and
on the right bank of the Moselle. Schinz states
THE SMOOTH SNAKE. . 57
that it has been found in Sweden, but it is every-
where less abundant than the common snake.*
In reference to the occurrence of this snake in
Sweden, Mr. Wheelwright, in a communication
to the Field newspaper, f says, " It is common on
most parts of the Continent, and by no means
rare in Sweden. It is met with as far north as
Upsala, but nowhere more common than around
Gothenburg. We call it in Sweden the c Slat
Snok ' or smooth snake ; and in this lies the
principal distinguishing mark between it and the
common ringed snake. In the common snake
the scales on the upper parts of the body are im-
bricated, those on the back being lancet-shaped,
and distinctly keeled along the middle, whereas
in the Smooth Snake the scales are oval, altogether
smooth, without the slightest indication of a
keel." As far as I can observe, with us the
Smooth Snake appears to be partial to stony
tracts; it is perfectly harmless, and its prin-
cipal food appears to be mice ; and one which
was kept a long time in confinement would not
touch a frog. With us it rarely exceeds about
two feet in length ; it appears to be of a much
tamer and more companionable nature than the
common snake. A most singular thing is that,
* Lord Clermont's " Quadrupeds and Reptiles of Europe."
t The Field, October 18, 1862.
58 . OUR REPTILES.
according to Schlegel, the female brings forth
living young. He says, " The eggs take three
or four months to hatch inside the mother, and
in the end of August she brings forth about
twelve young, which are at first altogether
white. " This latter point was definitely set at
rest by the fact of a snake of this species, caught
in the New Forest, giving birth to six young ones
whilst in confinement. Mr. Buckland gave a
full account, at the time, of the circumstances
connected with the history of this reptile progeny/
" The old mother snake is coiled up in a graceful
combination of circles, her little family are nestled
together on her back ; they have twisted their
tiny bodies together into a shape somewhat re-
sembling a double figure of 8, and there they
lie basking at their ease in the mid-day sun.
The old mother is vibrating her forked tongue at
me ; the little ones are imitating their mother's
actions, and are vibrating their tiny tongues
also; the mamma's head is most beautifully
iridescent in the sun, and her babies are in this
respect nearly as pretty as their mother. They
are about five inches long, about as thick as a
small goose- quill, and smoother than the finest
velvet. Their eyes are like their mother's, their
tails are unlike their mother's ; she has lost the
tip of her tail her young ones have not, they
are tapered off to a point as sharp as a pin.
THE SMOOTH SNAKE. 59
Their skins are of a brownish-black colour, and
marked like their mother's, only that these mark-
ings are not yet well developed. The scales on
the under parts of their bodies are of a beautiful
pale glittering blue; altogether they are real
little beauties." * Evidently the writer of these
lines looked upon his pets with the eyes of a con-
noisseur, and had they been anything else but
snakes no doubt the ladies would have made a
rush at him to have secured pets to ornament
their boudoirs. Amongst the interesting com-
munications which appeared at the time relative
to the Smooth Snake, was one from Dr. Giinther,
our best authority in serpent lore. " A large
male specimen of this snake," he says, ec which I
kept for a long time on account of its tameness,
fed exclusively on lizards, never on mice or frogs.
After having fed it for some time with ordinary-
sized lizards, proportionate to the size of the
snake, I brought a very large specimen of Lacerta
acfilis to its cage, in order to try the strength of
the snake. The lizard was immediately seized ;
but after a long fight, during which the lizard
several times appeared to be entangled in the
writhings of the snake, always managing, how-
ever, to free its head which had been seized by
the snake, the latter changed the point of attack,
* The Field, October, 1862.
60 OUE EEPTILES.
and got hold of the tail of the lizard. This, of
course, broke off, and was devoured by the snake.
From this time the snake always seized the tails
of the lizards given him for food, without further
attacking them ; nor, if tailless lizards were put
to him, would he attempt to devour them."*
Still more recently Dr. Opel has contributed
to our knowledge of the habits of this snake,
especially when under confinement, f From his
observations it would appear that the ground
colour for the six or seven days succeeding
' sloughing Ms of a beautiful steel-blue, which
from that time gradually fades, until at last it
settles into a dirty brownish-yellow. One of the
specimens on which Dr. OpeFs observations were
made was captured by him in the Fiirstensteiner
Grund, near Salzbrunn, in Silesia, and carried
to Dresden closely packed in a tin case. After a
journey of eight days in this manner, it was in
good health, and gave no signs of exhaustion.
Minute particulars are given of three separate
' sloughings/ which took place during one year
in the months of June, July, and August ; but
he adds there can be no doubt that, in the wild
state, the first sloughing commences in April.
" Immediately upon losing its skin follows a
* The Field, September 13, 1862.
f The Zoologist, p. 9505.
THE SMOOTH SNAKE. 61
desire for food; at the same time the prisoner
makes numerous attempts to escape, and is alto-
gether restless and excited, though at other
times it lies quietly in a corner of its cage/' After
alluding to the fact that it is of rare occurrence
for any one to observe the Coronella taking its
food, Dr. Opel gives an interesting account of a
contest between one of his snakes and a Slow-
worm (Anguis fragilis) .
In the year 1857 I was in possession of such a number
of snakes of various species that I was obliged to place my
Coronella in the same cage with a Blindworm, which had
been there for some time already. The two appeared to be
good friends, and took no particular notice of each other.
Both passed into their winter sleep as the cold came on ;
and, with the return of spring, again woke up and shared
the cage in peace, coiled up together on the side where the
sun's rays struck warmest. The Blindworm ate freely of
the earthworms offered to it, though all attempts failed to
induce the Coronella to take any food. Small lizards placed
near it were allowed to crawl away without notice, and even
young mice were disregarded. One morning (May 9) I ob-
served a great commotion in the cage. At this time the
Coronella had not cast its skin, nor had it eaten anything
for nearly nine months. The Blindworm was striving to
escape the fixed gaze of its companion, which was following
it all over their prison. I placed some fresh water in the
cage, and just at that instant the snake threw itself with
irresistible force upon the Blindworm, fixed its teeth into
its head, and flinging fold after fold of its body round its
victim, held it in a vice-like grip, exactly after the manner
of the giant serpents of the tropics. So tightly, indeed,
did it embrace the unhappy Blindworm, that the contents
62 OUR EEPTILES.
of the latter's intestinal canal were violently forced out, and
scattered over the glass sides. Each desperate struggle of
the Blindworm was followed by a closer grasp on the part
of the Coronella, which looked exactly like a roll of tobacco,
through which the extreme end of the Blindworm's tail
protruded.
Of course this contest ended in favour of the
snake ; and the Blindworm was slowly devoured.
This latter act occupied more than three hours ;
for the Blindworm was a large one, measuring
eleven inches in length. After its meal, the
Coronella refreshed himself with a bath, and
seemed to take great pleasure in the water,
which doubtless served to mitigate the great
heat of its very rapid digestion. So active is
that, that Dr. Opel remarks : " I have known
the portion of the prey enclosed in the stomach
to be in a state of decomposition while the other
portion was still outside the jaws." When
bathing, the Coronella generally takes great care
not to immerse its head, except during very
warm weather, and then it will keep its head
beneath the surface for a quarter of an hour at
a time.
In reference to its hybernation, Dr. Opel ob-
served that this was neither so long nor deep as
in many other reptiles. Nor did the Coronella
bury itself in the sand, but always stretched
itself, and slept on the surface. The vitality of
this species appears, however, to be one of its
THE SMOOTH SNAKE. 63
leading characteristics, as may be gathered from
the following circumstance : In the autumn of
1858 Dr. Opel was obliged to be absent from
home for five weeks. Having no one with whom
to intrust his pets, he packed them into a vas-
culum which was attached to his knapsack, and
used by him for botanical specimens. In this
they travelled the whole time he was from. home.
They did not appear to be in the least affected
by the close confinement to which they were
subjected, but returned to Dresden in safety and
good health. For its home, he says that it chooses
in preference rocky ground, overgrown with
wood, secreting itself among stones and thick
moss. Though nowhere so common as the
Ringed Snake, several localities are named in
Saxony in which this species is found.
This reptile belongs not only to a different
genus, but also to a different tribe of Colubrines,
to the Ringed Snake. Dr. Giinther's brief de-
scription of the species is : " Scales in twenty-
one rows, and scales bifid ; upper labials seven.
Brown. Back with two (sometimes confluent)
series of irregularly rounded dark spots. Hinder
maxillary tooth smooth/-'* In size and appear-
ance it approximates more to the viper than the
snake, but, like the latter, is perfectly harmless.
* Dr. Giinther's " Catalogue of Keptiles in British
Museum."
64 OUE EEPTILES.
It never attains a great length, the maximum
being scarcely two feet. " The head is but
slightly distinct from the body; the tail short
and strong at the base ; the eyes small ; the
rostral plate presses much upon the muzzle, and
is of a triangular form, with its top pointed;
there are seven labial plates on the upper lip on
each side, the third and fourth of which touch
upon the eye ; the scales of the body are smooth,
rhomboid, in nineteen longitudinal rows. The
plates on the belly number from 160 to 164;
those on the under surface of the tail from sixty
to sixty-four pairs. The upper maxillary teeth
are on the same line with the others, and longer.
The upper parts are greenish-brown, with two
parallel rows of black markings along the back,
more distinct towards the head than in the hinder
portion; sometimes the spots on the back are
small and few in number. The lower parts have
a lighter ground-colour, but are often much
darkened by black markings."* We have been
more prolix in this description than otherwise
we should have been ; but it is desirable that a
minute detail of the chief features of this snake
should be disseminated in order that it may be
recognized and recorded, so as more fully to
establish it as a truly indigenous species.
* The Zoologist, p. 6731.
'""
THE SMOOTH SNAKE. 65
Of its disposition we at present know but
little from experience. Mr. Bartlett says, "I
could not help observing that it is much more
fierce than the common snake ; it bit me several
times, but without any injury to the skin, in
consequence of the shortness of its teeth."
And this is confirmed by Dr. Opel, who says
that, as a rule, it is irascible and ever ready to
bite. In this, however, individuals vary. While
the two he procured from Silesia never attempted
to use their teeth, were particularly gentle, and
suffered themselves to be taken up without
making any effort to escape, others would bite
at the finger on the slightest provocation, and
hang on by their teeth, so that it took some
little violence to remove them. He makes, how-
ever, one very consolatory observation upon this
portion of his experience, to the effect that he
never found the slightest inflammation or other
ill consequence follow from the bite ; and from
numerous experiments he fully bears out opinions
elsewhere expressed, that neither mammals nor
birds are in the least degree affected by the bite
of the Coronella l&vis, or ' Smooth Snake/
66 OUR REPTILES.
THE VIPER, OR ADDER.
(Pelias Berus.)
FORTUNATELY for us, the present is the only
venomous species which inhabits our island, and
this is by no means equal to the venomous little
reptiles of tropical countries in poisonous power.
In Scotland, the Adder is common, whilst the
Ringed Snake is but little known, and in England
and Wales it is as abundant as any could wish.
Of course it is unknown in Ireland. Whether
Saint Patrick did or did not banish them,
matters little; it is, however, certain that in
these latter times no snake-like reptile is to be
found there. The Viper, or Adder, for in some
districts it is known by one name and in some
THE VIPER, OR ADDER. 67
by the other, is not such a lover of water as the
Snake, and may generally be found in dry woods
and heaths, in sandy banks, and similar local-
ities. It has been said that they are more than
usually common in the dry woods on the chalky
soil of Kent, and they certainly come nearly
within the sound of Bow bells, for they have
been met with in the little woods around Hamp-
stead, Highgate, and Hornsey.
It is a common belief that the venom of the
Viper, and other serpents, is almost innocuous
in winter, that its virulence is proportionate
to the heat of the weather, whether at home or
abroad ; and that the snakes of tropical climes
are more deadly venomous than those of tem-
perate countries, on account of the greater heat.
Recently Dr. Guyon has set himself to inves-
tigate this subject, especially whether the poison
is innocuous in winter, with the following
results :
Regarding its violence, he says there is a
general belief abroad that it is much more
powerful in summer than in winter ; but this he
does not consider well authenticated, and quotes
against it the case of one Drake, an exhibitor of
snakes, who, having in the summer of 1827, at
Rouen, handled a rattlesnake which he took to
be dead, while it was only benumbed by the
cold, was bitten by it and died in the course of
F 2
68 OUR REPTILES.
nine hours. From a considerable number of
observations, Dr. Guyon concludes that the in-
tensity or power of the venom is less owing to
difference of season than to the length of time
it has been accumulating in the reservoir of the
reptile ; and the greatest accumulation neces-
sarily occurs during winter, because the animal
is in a torpid state and does not take any food
during that season. So it was in the case of
Drake, and so Dr. Guyon found it in that of a
horned viper which had been given to him at
the caravanserai of Sidi-Makhlouf, Algeria. This
reptile had been put into a bottle, which had
since remained hermetically closed. It had been
in there for six weeks, without food and without
air, and looked quite dead, since it could not stir
in the bottle, which it filled entirely. And yet,
on opening the bottle, the doctor found the
reptile perfectly sound, and saw it kill a large
fowl instantaneously with its sting. Our author
quotes another case, that of a scorpion, that had
been kept in a bottle for a long time, and on
being released killed two sparrows in less than
a minute, and a pigeon in three hours.
A circumstance has come to our knowledge
which occurred in Warwickshire, of a boy that
was bitten by a viper during the winter :
The 19th of January, 1864, was an unusually warm and
sunny day for the time of year. A boy, aged 11 years,
THE VIPER, OR ADDER. 69
started for a walk to Kenilworth, about two miles from the
village where he lived. Under one part of the road flows
a small brook. The boy had his dog with him, and he
wished to see whether he would follow him across, as the
stream was shallow, and there were some large stones to
step upon. The opposite bank is rather steep, and there
were several large pieces of wood and roots projecting from
it. One of his leggings was caught in the roots and became
unfastened, whereupon he sat down on one of the stumps to
refasten it and watch his dog in the water, but not for more
than two or three minutes. They then started off again, and
had not gone more than a quarter of a mile before the boy
felt a sharp pain in his wrist. On looking at his wrist he
saw plainly, and to his great horror, three little punctures
and places, as though a nettle had stung him. His first
impression was that he had been bitten by an adder, and
he immediately tried to bite out the piece of flesh. The first
time he could not manage it, and after two unsuccessful
attempts, the third time he bit out the flesh sucked the
wounded part, and at intervals spitting out the poisoned
blood.
Being fond of natural history, he remembered reading
some of the particulars about the bite of an adder, and was
frequently Ln the habit of expressing his fear of going where
the grass was long, lest he should meet with one. He went
on a little farther, but feeling faint and weak, and getting
frightened about the bite, he returned home. On arriving
there he could hardly speak, from excitement and the haste
he had made ; but his first words were : " Mother, I think
I have been bitten by an adder : though I did not see one,
I feel and see on my wrist the hard white swelling which
always comes after a bite."
His mother immediately put his arm into very hot water,
and then applied a bread and oil poultice. When the doctor
arrived, he said all was done right, and the boy had saved
his own life by the courage and presence of mind he had
70 OUR REPTILES.
shown in at once biting out the piece of flesh. The poison,
however, had swelled up his arm through his veins as high
as his shoulder ; but by the next day this black streak of
poison apparent in the veins of his arm had completely dis-
appeared, and in the course of a few weeks the boy was
perfectly restored to health.*
The poison apparatus of the viper (see wood-
cut at the head of this chapter) consists of the
gland in which it is secreted, the duct or canal
along which it travels, and the fang by means
of which it is injected. The gland is placed at
the side of the head (a], and consists of an
assemblage of lobes. The substance is soft and
yellow, with a spongy appearance. The duct or
canal through which the poison is conveyed to the
fang is a narrow cylindrical tube (b) swelling in
the centre of its course into a kind of reservoir,
and terminating at the base of the fang (c) . This
latter is a tooth in the form of a tube, much
longer than the other teeth, and curved (d). It is
placed in the upper jaw, one on each side of
the mouth. Behind these are the similarly
shaped, but smaller, fangs of replacement.
On the outer surface of the fang, near the
apex, is an elongated opening or slit (e} } from
which a canal passes through the hollow in the
interior of the tooth and is united to the duct
which communicates with the poison-gland.
* Hardwicke's Science Gossip, vol. i. p. 131.
THE VIPER, OR ADDER. 71
These fangs fall backwards,, and lie concealed in
a groove of the gum when not in use.
The following elaborate description of the
mode by which the Viper wounds and envenoms
its prey scarcely leaves anything to be desired :
"When a viper is struck, it first coils itself
up, leaving its head in the centre or at the sum-
mit of the coil, and drawn a little back, as if for
the purpose of reconnoitering. Speedily the
animal uncoils itself like a spring. Its body is
then launched out with such rapidity, that, for a
moment, the eye cannot follow it. In this move-
ment the viper clears a space nearly equal to its
own length; but it never leaves the ground,
where it remains supported on its tail or pos-
terior portion of the body, ready to coil itself
up again and aim afresh a second blow, if the
first should fail. To do this the Viper distends
its mouth, draws back its fangs, arranges them
in the right direction, and then plunges them
into its enemy by a blow of the head or upper
jaw : this done the fangs are withdrawn. The
lower jaw, which is closed at the same moment,
serves as a point of resistance and favours the
entrance of the poison-fangs ; but this assistance
is very slight, and the reptile acts by striking
rather than biting. There are times, however,
when the Viper bites without coiling itself up
and then darting forth. This occurs, for instance,
72 OUE REPTILES.
when it meets with some small animal, which it
destroys at leisure and without anger, or when
it is seized by the tail or middle of the body, in
which case it turns round and plunges in its
fangs. As the teeth are buried in the tissues
of the body struck, the poison is driven down
the canals which pass through them by the
action of the muscles which close the mouth, and
the injection takes place with a force propor-
tionate to the vigour and rage of the reptile,
and the supply of poison with which it is fur-
nished.^* In the bite there are two punctures
corresponding to the poison-fangs.
It has been taken for granted that the bite of
the Viper proves fatal in this country, without
perhaps a knowledge of instances in which it so
terminated. Professor Bell declares that he had
never seen a case which terminated in death,
nor had he been able to trace to an authentic
source any of the numerous reports of such a
termination which have at various times beei}
confidently promulgated. f Nevertheless, so
recently as the present summer (1865), a case
was reported in the papers, in which a woman
was bitten in Epping Forest, and shortly
afterwards died ; and we know that in France
and other continental countries many in-
* M. Moquin-Tandon's " Zoologie Me"dicale."
f Bell's " British Reptiles," p. 59.
THE VIPER, OR ADDER. 73
stances are recorded. Bedard, in his lectures,
relates a case of a young man in the neighbour-
hood of Angers, who, falling down in a meadow,
was bitten by a viper in several places, and died
in consequence in a few hours. Matthiole re-
cords an instance in which a countryman falling
down in a meadow happened to divide one of
these reptiles in the middle ; he seized the por-
tion of the trunk to which the head was attached,
in an awkward manner, and was in consequence
bitten in the finger, and died from the effects
of the wound. It should be remembered in
connection with these instances, that the reptile
which is regarded as the common viper in France
is the Asp, and not the same species as that
which occurs in Britain, whilst our Viper, not
uncommon also, is called the Little Viper. The
former of these is doubtless more venomous
than the latter.
It may be of interest to record here the expe-
riences of a sufferer from the bite of a viper,
and the mode of treatment resorted to :
The viper was very sluggish ; but on touching it, and en-
deavouring to take it by the neck, as I had done before, it
struck at me, and bit my left forefinger. I immediately
threw it down and stamped upon it, and sucked the place,
cutting it with a knife, and putting ammonia to it. Mean-
while, my brother went for the doctor, and before he came
I began x to feel very faint, and inclined to vomit. When he
came, he cut two incisions in the finger, and tied it up at
74 OUE EEPTILES.
the root, putting it into as hot water as I could bear. He
also made me drink a quantity of ammonia and water, and
then go to bed. The finger was very painful, and bled
for a long time, and I was very feverish. The next day I
got up, but was very weak, and there was a green mark all
up from my finger, which was very large, to my left side, and
all up my arm. The mark as far as the side was in a
narrow line, but at the side it was in a large blotch. My
finger was poulticed, and I had a cushion, dipped in water in
which broken poppy-heads had been boiled, placed between
my arm and side. The arm was much swelled, and I soon
went to bed again. The next day I got up again, and from
thence began rapidly to get well, and in a week had my arm
out of a sling and my finger almost well. I was perfectly
well by the day fortnight on which the bite occurred. These
facts are, I need hardly say, perfectly true, and the more
remarkable because olive oil was not used at all.*
The Viper is ovo-viviparous, that is, the young
escape from the egg just before, or at the time
of parturition, the membrane being very thin
and easily ruptured. From ten to twenty young
are produced at a birth, and these are as vigor-
ous and pugnacious as their parents immediately
on their entrance into the world. Before the
event takes place which ushers so many little
reptiles into society, the parent female, then in a
more sluggish and inactive condition than at
other times, may often be observed lying in the
full blaze of sunshine, to acquire from that source
* Science Gossip, vol. i. p. 160.
I
THE VIPER_, OR ADDER. 75
the heat which is essential, and which her own
cold blood fails to supply.
Gilbert White says: "On August 4th, 1775,
we surprised a large viper, which seemed very
heavy and bloated, as it lay in the grass basking
in the sun. When we came to cut it up, we
found that the abdomen was crowded with young,
fifteen in number, the shortest of which measured
full seven inches, and were 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 disengaged.
They twisted and wriggled about, and set them-
selves up, and gaped very wide when touched
with a stick, showing manifest tokens of menace
and defiance, though as yet they had no manner
of fangs that we could find, even with the help
of our glasses." * Again adverting to this, lest
it should be considered that he favoured the
popular notion that the Viper swallows its young
on the advent of danger, he adds, " There was
little room to suppose that this brood had ever
been in the open air before, and that they were
taken in for refuge at the mouth of the dam,
when she perceived that danger was approaching ;
because then probably we should have found
" Natural History of Selborne," Lett. xxxi.
76 OUR EEPTILES.
them somewhere in the neck, and not in the
abdomen."
During the winter, vipers, snakes, and other
reptiles retire to some snug spot to hibernate.
At this period a company of vipers may some-
times be found locked in each others' coils, in a
hole at the foot of a tree, or in some other out-
of-the-way place. Here they remain without
food till the spring, when they come out with the
sunshine to enjoy themselves. During the sum-
mer, the " sloughing " process takes place, once
or oftener, according to circumstances ; the skin
becomes loosened, turned back, and as the reptile
glides amongst the grass its old coat is slipped
off and left behind. It is much brighter in colour
after this change than before.
Does the Viper swallow its young ? The belief
has a firm hold in the minds of many, that, on
the approach of danger, the young of the viper
glide to their parent for protection, and that she
opens her mouth, and, one by one, they pass
down her throat, where they rest in security till
the danger is past. To prove a negative is always
a difficult task, but the effort to remove a pre-
judice must be even greater to be successful.
Clergymen, naturalists, men of science and
repute, in common with those who make no pro-
fession of learning, have combined in this belief,
and to them we are indebted for many such
THE VIPER, OR ADDER. 77
accounts as the following : " Walking in an
orchard near Tyneham House, in Dorsetshire, I
came upon an old adder basking in the sun, with
her young around her ; she was lying on some
grass that had been long cut, and had become
smooth and bleached by exposure to the weather.
Alarmed by my approach, I distinctly saw the
young ones run down their mother' s throat. At
that time I had never heard of the controversy
respecting the fact, otherwise I should have been
more anxious to have killed the adder, to further
prove the case." * Nothing can well be more
positive, clear, definite, and many would think
decisive, than the foregoing ; yet, so sceptical are
some men on this subject, that they still dare to
doubt whether there may not be some error in
the observation. Let us advert to other wit-
nesses, and evidence still more complete, and
we do so with as earnest a desire for truth as
the witnesses themselves, and to know that the
debate is closed for ever.
J. H. Grurney, Esq., of Catton Hall, near Nor-
wich, well known as an ornithologist, and espe-
cially for the splendid collection of Raptorial
Birds in the Norwich Museum, which has been
obtained chiefly through his instrumentality, in
'"* Rev. H. Bond, South Petherton, Somerset, in Zoologist,
p. 7278.
78 OUE EEPTILES.
the year 1863 communicated to the Zoologist the
following instance, told to him by a person in
whose accuracy he had the fullest reliance.
" John Galley saw a viper at Swannington, in
Norfolk, surrounded by several young ones ; the
parent reptile perceiving itself to be observed,
opened its mouth, and one of the young ones im-
mediately crept down its throat; a second fol-
lowed, but.after entering for about half its length,
wriggled out again, as though unable to accom-
plish an entrance. Upon this Galley killed and
opened the viper, and found in the gullet, imme-
diately behind the jaws, the young one which he
had seen enter, and close behind that a recently
swallowed mouse. Galley was of opinion that
the first young viper which entered was unable
to pass the mouse, and that consequently there
was not sufficient room for the second young one,
which endeavoured unsuccessfully to follow in the
wake of the first. " *
To this we may add another instance corrobo-
rative, and yet more conclusive, on the faith of a
clergyman with whose name and address we are
furnished, and in whose testimony we have the
greatest confidence. " Now, ' seeing is be-
lieving/ and I well remember having seen in my
The Zoologist, p. 8856.
THE VIPEE, OR ADDER. 79
boyhood some thirty years ago an instance of
the fact, the truth of which is doubted because
resting merely on the testimony of unscientific
country people. Now, I have no pretensions to
science, but I vouch for the truth above referred
to of having, in my boyhood when out on a
birds'-nesting expedition, in a southern county,
with some three or four companions come sud-
denly upon a viper sunning her young brood on
an open grassy spot in a broad hedge-row :
hedge-rows were common in those days. Im-
mediately she saw us, she began to hiss, and
away went the young, previously some feet from
her, 'helter-skelter' towards their mother; rushed
into her mouth expanded to an immense width
for so small a creature and down her throat,
one over the other, while you could say ( Jack
Robinson/ The space where she was recreating
was some twenty feet square, so that before she
could beat to cover, we, boylike, being armed
with sticks, had beaten her to death. This done,
one of the party with his knife opened the body,
and out came again the little ones, all of which
we killed. I do not remember the exact number,
but my impression is that it was not more than
six or eight." * Another gentleman recently
communicated to Science Gossip the following
occurrence :
* Science Gossip, p. 108.
80 OUE REPTILES.
Some years since I was shooting in a wood, and came
suddenly on a viper lying on a sunny bank. As soon as the
viper caught sight of me, it began to hiss, and I distinctly
saw several young ones, about three or four inches long, run
up to the parent and vanish down its throat ; and from the
way in which the parent kept its mouth open, and the young
ones glided into it, I should say they were accustomed to
that sort of thing.*
We must not forget that some time since the
following occurrences were narrated in the
Zoologist, by the editor himself, and whilst they
strengthen the evidence of the Viper swallowing
its young, further serve to establish the fact of
viviparous reptiles being addicted to that habit.
Both these illustrations refer to the " Scaly
Lizard/' which, like the Viper, brings forth its
young alive. " My late lamented friend William
Christy, jun., found a fine specimen of the
common Scaly Lizard with two young ones;
taking an interest in everything relating to
Natural History, he put them into a small pocket
vasculum to bring home, but when he next
opened the vasculum the young ones had dis-
appeared, and the belly of the parent was greatly
distended ; he concluded she had devoured her
own offspring. At night the vasculum was laid
on a table, and the lizard was therefore at rest ;
* Science Gossip, p. 160.
THE VIPER, OR ADDER. 81
in the morning the young ones had re-appeared,
and the mother was as lean as at first.
" Mr. Henry Doubleday, of Epping, supplies the
following information : ' A person whose name
is English, a good observer, and one, as it were
brought up in natural history under Mr. Double-
day's tuition, once happened to set his foot on
a lizard in the forest, and while the lizard was
thus held down by his foot, he distinctly saw
three young ones run out of her mouth ; struck
by such a phenomenon, he killed and opened the
old one, and found two other young ones which
had been injured when he trod on her/ In both
these instances," Mr. Newman adds, " the
narrators are of that class who do know what to
observe, and how to observe it ; and the facts,
whatever explanation they may admit, are not to
be dismissed as the result of imagination or mis-
taken observation."*
We must confess that our own incredulity has
been so staggered of late by these and similar
instances, that we are by no means disposed to
deny, because we cannot fully comprehend, the
mystery of the process. It is admitted by some
physiologists, if not by all, that there is no sound
physiological reason against such an occurrence ;
and, until we are convinced by better arguments<
* The Zoologist, p. 2269.
G
82 OUR EEPTILES.
than have hitherto been advanced, we are bound
to admit that in ' ' our inmost hearts " there lurks
a belief that the maternal viper has a knack of
swallowing its young. Whether our scientific
friends consider us renegade froni the true faith
or not, we will at least be true to ourselves.
Vipers were formerly held in some estimation
as a medicine ; Pliny, Galen, and others extolled
their flesh for the cure of ulcers. Very recently,
in the French tariff, they were subject to a duty
of four shillings per pound. In Italy, a stew or
jelly of vipers is said to be regarded as a luxury.
The poison of vipers still appears to have some
reputation amongst medical men practising in
the East. Dr. Honinberger, late physician to
the Court at Lahore, seems to have had faith in
it for " rumbling in the bowels." He thus
details the manner in which he procured the
virus, which on one occasion was obtained from
the Aspis Naja :
The man who brought the serpents to me, having wrapped
his hand in a cloth, took them by the back of the neck, and,
with a small stick, forced open the mouth, when, by means
of a pair of forceps, I held a small lump of sugar under the
tooth, above which is the bladder containing the poison ;
and, on his pressing the bladder with the stick, a drop of
limpid fluid fell through the tubular tooth on the sugar,
which I instantly deposited in a porcelain mortar, moistening
it with a few drops of spirit, and commenced trituration ; I
then put the powder into a small phial containing one drachm
THE VIPER, OR ADDER. 83
of proof spirit, shaking them together when it was fit for
use. I kept it in a box, secluded from light, and before
administering it, shook it well up ; one drop constituted a
dose. *
In concluding our account of this reptile, it
may not be out of place to indicate the chief
features by which the Viper may be distinguished
from the Snake.
It is the Snake that is harmless, and the Viper
that is venomous ; the latter being probably less
so in winter, and most dangerous in the hottest
weather, because then the secretion is more
rapid, induced by the greater activity of the
reptile. The Snake is commonly the largest of
the two, and is found in the dampest situations,
generally in near proximity to water, in which it
delights to bask. The Snake has large plates,
or scales, upon its head, few in number ; in the
Viper they are numerous and small. The Snake
has no continuous line of a darker colour running
along its body, but is spotted all over ; the Viper
has a continuous line, zigzag and blotched,
running down its entire length. The head in
the Snake is more depressed and acutely pointed
in front than in the Viper, which latter has a
characteristic blotch something like the " death's
* Dr. Honinberger's " Thirty-five Years in the East,"
vol. ii. p. 230.
G 2
84 OUR REPTILES.
head and thigh-bones " of the ''death's-head
moth/' on the top of its cranium. Whether or
not its venom is fatal, we would strongly advise
our readers not to permit the Viper to make an
experimental dart at their shins. It is better to
indulge in a shudder when only a harmless snake
crosses our path, than make the mistake of
hugging a viper to our bosom.
Snakes or vipers are not perhaps the easiest
of all animals to be determined by a novice ; at
any rate they will require some little observation
at first, until the eye is accustomed to see and
recognize the differences whereby one species
may be distinguished from another. There are
nevertheless some points of difference more than
usually distinct between the Viper and the Snake,
which will be apparent on comparing the de-
scriptions and figures. It may be premised that
in depth and tone of colour there is considerable
variation in some reptiles, and this is especially
the case with the Viper, so that no reliance should
be placed on that as a feature. In general colour
it is often brownish or olive, but this may be-
come nearly black, or it may be pallid grey,
nearly white, or of a warm red-brown. The
markings, however, are more permanent, a dark
mark between the eyes, a spot on each side the
hind part of the head, an obscure V, as though
it bore the initial of its name on its crown, and a
THE VIPER, OE ADDER. 85
broad zigzag line down the whole length of its
body and tail, apparently formed by the conflu-
ence of a series of dark lozenge -shaped spots,
with irregular triangular spots on each side, are
the chief features in the markings of this species.
The scales, less visible without a closer examina-
tion, are also distinctive. Those on the top of
the head are not large plates as in the innocuous
snakes, but a greater number of smaller scales,
three being larger than the rest. The scales of
the back and sides are distinctly keeled, aftd dis-
posed in eighteen series. Those of the under
parts vary in their number, but are generally
from one hundred and forty to one hundred and
fifty, with about thirty-five pairs to the tail. It
is seldom so large as the common snake, and
the female, as amongst rapacious birds, is the
largest.
Winged Scarabseus and Asps, from an Egyptian ornament.
86
THE COMMON FKOG.
(Eancb temporaria).
THIS reptile is common enough everywhere
in Great Britain for us to dispense with
any very lengthened description. It occurs all
over Europe, from the south to the extreme
north, it being abundant at North Cape and not
uncommon in Italy. In Ireland also the Frog
has become naturalized, it having been intro-
duced about the beginning of the 18th century.
As the Batrachians or Amphibians, to which
the toads, frogs, and newts belong, differ from
the reptiles already described in their being at
one portion of their existence entirely aquatic,
and at other periods entirely, or in part, dwellers
on the land, some account will be necessary of
the transformations which they undergo. Pro-
THE COMMON FROG. 87
fessor Quatrefages has well described these
changes :
In this group we meet with both complete and incomplete
metamorphoses ; but here we find them marked by quite
different features from those among insects. The changes
do not appear to take place suddenly, nor is there anything
like the apparently torpid condition of the pupa. All the
transformations take place gradually, and as far as the ex-
ternal organs are concerned, the development may be closely
watched by the observer.
The development of frogs presents another curious pheno-
menon. It is this : the young animal, after it has left the
egg, and before it has become a larva, is still in a semi-
embryonic condition. At this period the digestive tube and
its appendages are exceedingly rudimentary. The greater
portion of the body is filled by a large mass of yolk or
vitellus, inclosed by the skin, which has been formed for
some time ; and it is at the expense of this alimentary matter
that the development proceeds.
The external characters are in keeping with the imperfect
condition of the animal at this period. The head is large,
and appears to be divided in two on the under surface, each
half being prolonged as a sort of process by which the animal
attaches itself to surrounding objects ; as yet there are no
traces of either eyes, nostrils, respiratory or auditory organs ;
and the belly, of an oblong form, is continued posteriorly as
a short tail bordered with a riband-like membrane. This
primitive condition, however, does not last long. About
the fourth day after birth, the head, which is now as long as
the body, has somewhat the appearance of a thimble ; the
mouth is provided with a pair of soft lips ; the nostrils, eyes,
and auditory apparatus have made their appearance ; the
head is separated by a deep groove from the belly, which has
assumed a spherical form, and from which spring a pair of
opercula, clothed with little branching gills ; and the tail
88 OUE REPTILES.
has grown so much that it is now quite as large as the body.
The mouth is very soon armed with a horny beak, capable of
dividing the vegetable food ; the intestine, which is now very
long, becomes more fully formed, and assumes a spiral ar-
rangement ; the tail is elongated and widened, and the little
creature is then called a tadpole.
At this period, one of those alterations occurs which are
so intimately associated with the ideas we are endeavouring
to convey, that we must not pass them by in silence. Our
larva first breathed by its skin alone, and afterwards by a
pair of little branching gills attached to the opercula. About
the seventh or eighth day, however, the opercula are gra-
dually soldered to the abdomen, and the gills fade away and
disappear. At the same time a set of new and more com-
plex branchia are developed, in chambers situate on either
side of the neck. The new gills are arranged hi tufts at-
tached to a solid framework of four cartilaginous arches, and
are about a hundred and twelve in number for each side of
the body. Here we see a rapid substitution of one organ for
another, though both discharge their functions in the same
manner, inasmuch as the respiration is just as aquatic in
character after the alteration as it was before it.
But the modifications of the respiratory apparatus do not
cease here. Before the tadpole can become a frog, it must
do away with these second gills and replace them by lungs ;
and at the necessary time, a set of changes takes place
analogous to those we have already described. The vascular
tufts are atrophied, and the lungs, which till now were solid
and rudimentary, open up and increase in size. The circu-
latory organs are correspondingly modified. The calibre of the
large branchial vessels is diminished, and the pulmonary trunks
increase in number and diameter. Later on, the solid parts
of the branchial apparatus disappear also, the bones and
cartilages being gradually reabsorbed. Eventually the
alteration is fully accomplished, and there remains not the
slightest trace of the former branchial apparatus. In this
THE COMMON FROG. 89
instance, not only has there been transformation and substi-
tution, but an actual metamorphosis has occurred ; for the
respiration, which was aquatic before, has become atmo-
spheric, and, strictly speaking, the animal from having been
a fish has been converted into a batrachian.
If we examine any particular apparatus, we shall find it
also presenting many curious phenomena in the course of
its development. We shall find that as the herbivorous
habits give place to carnivorous ones, the digestive apparatus
undergoes a change adapting it to the new form of diet.
The mouth increases in size and gape ; the little beak-
organs, or more correctly, the horny lips, are replaced by
teeth, which are attached to the palatine arch, and not to
the jaw ; the intestine, which before was long and almost
cylindrical, becomes shorter, and is inflated in certain por-
tions of its length ; and the abdomen, which had been
almost spherical, becomes thin and slender. The meta-
morphoses may now be seen in its entire extent, and more
distinctly as regards the locomotive system than any other.
The tadpole at first exhibits no trace of either internal or
external limbs. It swims about like a fish by the action of
its tail, which is an extensive organ, longer and wider than
the body, supported by a prolongation of the vertebral
column, moved by powerful muscles, and supplied with
large blood-vessels and numerous nervous branches. Be-
neath the skin and muscles of the anterior and posterior
regions of the body, two little projections appear at a certain
period. These are the limbs, and are at first attached to
the adjacent structures by the nerves and blood-vessels
which are supplied to them. These projections increase in
size, their appendages appear in due course, and eventually
the hip and shoulder bones are developed. As soon as these
locomotive organs enter upon the discharge of their functions,
the tail begins to disappear. Its skin, muscles, nerves,
bones, and blood-vessels atrophy, and vanish from our
sight. They have not faded away, they have not simply
90 OUR REPTILES.
fallen off, they have not been cast off by a species of moult-
ing, as in the case of insect larvae. They have been got rid
of by none of these methods ; their substance has been re-
absorbed, atom by atom ; and hence, although it has ceased
to exist, it is not the less alive on that account.
We see, then, that frogs undergo complete metamorphoses
not only in regard to their entire organism, but as to each
set of apparatus, with the exception of the nervous system.
The salamanders are not similarly situated. These maintain
their external gills throughout the entire larval period, and
never acquire internal branchiae. When reaching the air-
breathing condition, they skip, as it were, one of the trans-
formations which frogs undergo. The salamanders have
also four legs in the perfect state ; but then, in addition to
these, they preserve the tail*
Frogs spawn most commonly about the middle
of March. A large number of small round
opaque bodies, enclosed in a glairy mass, are
deposited at the bottom of pools and ditches.
Speedily, by the absorption of water, the enve-
lope swells, and each ovum, like a little black
dot, is enclosed within its sphere of gelatine.
These masses of ova soon rise and float on the
surface of the water, in which state they are
known to all country people as " frog spawn/'
At first the embryo is a small globular body,
rather darker on one side than the other. In
about four-and-twenty hours the sphere elon-
gates, and in eight-and-forty hours the presence
* " Metamorphoses of Man and the Lower Animals."
Translated by Dr. Lawson. London : Hardwicke.
THE COMMON FROG. 91
of a head and tail may be distinguished.
Gradually the fin appears around the tail, and
the rudiments of the branchice, in the form of
tubercles, project from each side of the neck.
Within about four days from the deposit of the
ova, in a warm climate, such as Italy, the mem-
brane is ruptured and the tadpoles become free ;
but in our own clime a much longer period is
required, and the eggs are not usually hatched
for a month after their deposition.
Soon after the emergence of the tadpoles from
the egg the branchice or extended gills attain
their full development, when they gradually
diminish in size, until at length they become with-
drawn into the cavity prepared for their recep-
tion, and are closed by a fold of the skin. For
some time the tadpoles continue to grow day by
day, and increase in bulk without any material
change in form. If carefully watched, however,
little tubercles or buds will be observed in the
course of time to make their appearance both
towards the upper and lower portions, or rather
forwards and backwards on the body ; these are
the rudimentary legs.
As the latter grow and manifest themselves,
the tail, which is in danger of becoming a useless
appendage, is gradually absorbed, until the little
"froggies," with their stumps of tails, cease to
be " tadpoles," and merge into veritable little
92 OUR EEPTILES.
" frogs." It is very usual for persons living in
towns to patronize tadpoles in their aquaria ; but
so many are their misfortunes that a colony of
town-bred frogs seldom gladdens the eyes of a
Cockney. The tadpoles have a cannibal pro-
pensity to kill and eat each other, as their limbs
begin to bud. " I placed in a large glass globe
of water several tadpoles/' says Mr. Bell, "more
or less nearly approaching their final change, and
I observed that almost as soon as one had ac-
quired limbs it was found dead at the bottom of
the water, and the remaining tadpoles feeding
upon it. This took place with all of them suc-
cessively excepting the last; which lived on to
complete its change, and for a considerable time
afterwards." Whilst in the earlier stages, at
least, of their existence, the green confervoid vege-
table deposit of the tank appears to be the legiti-
mate food of the tadpole, seasoned perhaps with a
small quantity of minute animal life. The Frog is
almost entirely insectivorous. Its favourite food
consists of all kinds of minute insects, such as
the little green plant-lice, which are the pest of
gardeners, other larger insects, small slugs, and
such forms of animal life. This habit ought to
procure for frogs, not only the protection, but
the fostering care of gardeners and all cultivators
of the soil. How much less cause would they
have to complain of insect enemies, if they would
THE COMMON FKOG. 93
but exercise more care in the preservation and
increase of toads and frogs, and establish on
their own domains a kind of " local game law,"
instead of winking at the persecution, if not
really encouraging the extirpation, of their best
friends. It is strange that Nature should so well
provide for the "balance of power," and that
man should so pertinaciously endeavour to over-
turn her work, by the wholesale destruction of
insectivorous birds, or the persecution of harm-
less and beneficent reptiles. Yet in the primeval
forests, where sparrow clubs are unknown, and
insectivorous animals dwell unmolested, no evi-
dence can be traced of any great mistake which
Nature has made in the preponderance of any
given forms, nor can we trace any manifest
" bungle " which requires the wisdom of " the
lord of the creation " to put right.
Of all reptiles submitted to incarceration none
behave better in captivity than this, as the fol-
lowing testimony will prove :
In a fern-case, about 3 feet by 1 foot in area, I kept two toads,
a small frog, and a number of newts. The frog did not
appear fond of the water ; the newts would not go in, and
if thrown in, immediately crawled out again. The toads, on
the contrary, appeared to enjoy an occasional bath, remaining
in the water, with the mouth and eyes above the surface, for
several hours together. They lived, the one for about a year,
the other for nearly two. The newts dropped off one by one,
the last surviving for, I think, upwards of eighteen months.
94 OUR EEPTILES.
The frog lived for several months, and was a very interesting
creature. When on the upper part of the fern-fronds, where
he delighted to bask, he appeared of a distinctly greenish
tint ; but when on the soil, at the bottom, the hue changed
to so decided a brown that it was difficult to find him.
During the time that these creatures were among the ferns,
I ain not aware of having seen an aphis, whereas, since their
decease, the young fronds (especially those of the Polypods)
are, during the summer months, infested with them. *
The voice of the frog is not generally regarded
as particularly charming, and its vocal efforts are
commonly called " croaking ;" but there is
another kind of ' c croaking/' uttered by animals
of a much higher order in creation, which we
regard as far less musical. A concert of frogs,
heard remote from towns and railways, on a
quiet evening, is not so inharmonious as " croak-
ing" might lead us to suppose. There may be
something in association, being ourselves of East
Anglian birth, but we certainly like to hear an
occasional " frog concert."
Mr. C. Darwin mentions a similar feeling which
took possession of him at Rio de Janeiro :
After the hot days, it was delicious to sit quietly in the
garden, and watch the evening pass into night. Nature in
these climes chooses her vocalists from more humble per-
formers than in Europe. A small frog, of the genus Hyla,
sits on a blade of grass, about an inch above the surface of
* Hardwicke's Science Gossip, vol. i. p. 86.
THE COMMON FEOG. 95
the water, and sends forth a pleasing chirp : when several
are together they sing in harmony on different notes. *
Probably the American frogs are really more
musical than ours, as they have to compensate
much for the loss of singing-birds, or at least
melodious ones. The "Old Bushman" says that
in Sweden a little frog emits during the pairing
season a note like the ringing of bells, and as
this sound proceeds from the depth of the water,
it appears to come from a long distance, although
the frog may be within a few fathoms.
During the winter these reptiles, in common
with others of their race, proceed to winter quar-
ters, hiding themselves in holes of the ground,
but more commonly buried in mud congregated
together in considerable companies. With the
early spring they awake from their torpidity,
break up their association, commence their career
of love, and seek fitting localities for the deposi-
tion of ova and development of their young. In
and about ditches and swamps, bog and fen,
treacherous to human feet,
By night or by day, were you there about,
You might see them creep in or see them creep out.
Dr. Hermann Masius says of the Frog, he may
be looked upon as a character : in popular
stories, fairy tales, and poesy he plays no unim-
* Darwin's " Journal of Eesearches," p. 29.
96 OUR REPTILES.
portant part. Full of meaning is the myth of
the Frogs of Latona ; also the fable of their
election of a king. ^Esop related it to the
Athenians,, when Pisistratus had usurped the
government; and very lately its influence was
put to the test by working it up into a political
drama. Aristophanes had already brought the
Frog people on the stage, just as two thousand
years later it appears to have furnished one of
the greatest German satirists with a welcome
subject. Unfortunately, of Fischart's "Frosch-
gosch " the name alone is preserved ; another
poem, however, which, in the heroic style of the
Homerian epic, sings the battle between the
Frogs and Mice, affords us a compensation. I
mean the " Batrachomyomachia," and the new
version of it by Rollenhagen. Appearing as it
did towards the end of the sixteenth century,
" Froschmausler " was long, and very justly, a
favourite book of Protestant Germany. In 1787,
when Prussian troops marched into insurrec-
tionary Holland, a third frog epic appeared, as
if to show how inexhaustible the subject was.
Thus has this race of animals won for itself an
inalienable place in poesy ; and, beginning with
fable and with riddles, runs through the whole
of song.
The Koran relates of Mohammed that he
knew how to appreciate these despised animals,
THE COMMON FKOG. 97
for that he caused them to be respected for
having saved Abraham from a fiery death.
When the Chaldeans had thrown the patriarch
into the flames, in order to kill him, frogs came
compassionately to the rescue, spat water into
the fire, and extinguished it.
We have not adverted to two very extraordinary
phenomena attributed to these reptiles. If the
frequency with which accounts of these phe-
nomena illustrate the columns of our newspaper
press may be accepted as proof of their verity,
then there are no mysteries of Batrachian life so
true as " showers of frogs," and live frogs or
toads found embedded in coal, limestone, granite,
&c., immured for ages, or since times cotempo-
raneous with the patriarch Noah. We know it
is not philosophic to deny, because we cannot
explain, any of the marvellous things recorded
of sea-serpents, buried toads, or frog-showers ;
nevertheless, we will venture to doubt, whilst
believing that future generations will, one day,
set these matters at rest, beyond the possibility
of doubt. It would be folly to deny that there are
still very many estimable people in existence who
believe in showers of frogs ; perhaps a still larger
number with faith in imprisoned reptiles, such as
the toad in the coal of the Great Exhibition, or
the frog celebrated in the Gainsborough News in
the following paragraph :
98 OUR REPTILES,
A few days ago a very fine live frog was discovered im-
bedded in a large block of stone, at the Lady Lee stone-
quarries, near Worksop, Nottinghamshire, now occupied by
Mr. J. Ellis. The block was eleven feet below the surface,
and the frog on being liberated, jumped about quite cheer-
fully, and on being placed in a pond of water, swam with
great dexterity. It is supposed the prisoner must have been
confined from one to two thousand years. The block of
stone had the impression of the frog very distinctly marked
where it had lain for such a long period.*
We liad well-nigh forgotten to associate with
these the " true and particular account " of
Sir Froggy who would a wooing go,
Whether his mother would let him or no.
The climbing powers of frogs attracted the
attention of the Rev. C. A. Johns, of Win-
chester, and in a letter recently published, he
gives the following instances :
Three several instances, proving that they can and do
climb, have fallen under my own notice. These are already
recorded in print. A fourth came under my notice on the
27th of October last (1863). I was digging for pupse at
the base of a large willow-tree in the valley of the Itchen,
near Winchester, with some young friends, when one of the
party exclaimed, i Look at this frog climbing up the tree !'
I quickly ran round to the other side of the tree, and saw,
not one only, but five or six young frogs, from one to two
feet from the ground, climbing up the rugged bark, and
using their front and hind feet just as a sailor employs his
hands and feet when ascending the rigging of a ship. .One
* Retford and Gainsborough News, March llth, 1865.
THE COMMON FKOG. 99
which I did not myself see was discovered at a height of five
feet from the ground in the act of descending. It had been
alarmed probably at our intrusion, and had fallen to the
ground before I reached the spot ; but I had no reason to
doubt the accuracy of the statement, for two or three mem-
bers of my party pointed to the exact spot from which it had
fallen ; and if a frog can climb two feet, there is no reason
why it should not climb twenty, or more.*
Mr. Henry Eeeks afterwards affirmed that he
had found frogs frequently in apparently inac-
cessible places, such as the tops of pollard willows,
in the vicinity of streams, to which they could
not have attained save by climbing. The same
gentleman also alludes to the toad as an adept in
climbing, having often found them in the nests
of small birds, in hedges. f Other observers have
borne out the above testimony that frogs do
climb.
The common frog has its head nearly tri-
angular ; the teeth are minute and arranged in a
single row in the upper jaw, with an irregular
row across the palate but none in the lower jaw.
The tongue is lobed at the tip, and folds back
upon itself when not in use. The fore feet have
the third toe the longest, and the second the
shortest. The hind legs are more than hah as
long again as the body, the toes webbed, the
* Eev. C. A. Johns, in the Zoologist, p. 8861.
t Zoologist, p. 8927.
H 2
100 OUR EEPTILES.
fourth, being one -third longer than the third and
fifth. The skin is a little wrinkled on the thighs,
but is elsewhere smooth. The upper parts are
brownish, or yellowish-brown, sometimes very
dark, and spotted with black, and the legs as-
suming the form of bands. There is also an
elongated patch of brown or black on the
temples, with an indistinct paler line down each
side of the back. Length about three inches.
Tadpole, natural size, and enlarged, in its early stage.
THE EDIBLE FROG. 101
THE EDIBLE FEOG.
(Eana esculenta.)
IN naming the geographical distribution of
the Edible Frog, the author of " The Quadrupeds
and Eeptiles of Europe " says, " This frog is
found all over Europe, except in the British
isles ; throughout the north of Asia to Japan,
and in Egypt " We venture to take exception
to this verdict, and affirm that the edible frog is
found in the British isles, as well as the rest of
Europe ; but whether it be truly a native, is
another question, the affirmation of which we do
not mean to be so positive in giving. There
exists amongst some naturalists too great a de-
sire, or perhaps rather a habit, to regard the
British Flora and Fauna as distinct from those of
Europe, instead of looking upon them as forming
portions, isolated though they may be by geo-
graphical position, of the great continental whole.
102 OUR REPTILES.
As an island, we possess,, not only idiosyncrasies
but also animals, insects, or plants which are
somewhat peculiar; yet because we are sur-
rounded by the sea now, that is no reason why
we should regard our " tight little island " as
a world of our own, and forget our relationships
with the old continent from which we "seceded"
many long years ago.
The following is Mr. Berney's account of his
introduction of the edible frog into this country.
I went to Paris in 1837, and brought home two hundred
edible frogs and a great quantity of spawn. These were de-
posited in the ditches and in the meadows at Morton, in
some ponds at Hockering, and some were placed in the fens
at Foulden, near Stoke Ferry. They did not like the
meadows, and left them for ponds. In 1841, I imported
another lot from Brussels. In 1842, 1 brought over from St.
Omer thirteen hundred, in large hampers, made like slave
ships, with plenty of tiers ; these were rnoveable, and were
covered with water-lily leaves, stitched on to them, that the
frogs might be comfortable and feel at home. These were
dispersed about in the above-mentioned places, and many
hundreds were put into the fens at Foulden and in the neigh-
bourhood.*
In 1853 Mr. A. Newton and his brother were
driving along the road between Thetford and
Scoulton, in Norfolk, and hearing an unusual
noise, stopped to ascertain the cause. His brother
alighted and entered the meadow whence the
* The Zoologist, p. 6539.
THE EDIBLE FKOG. 103
sound proceeded, but soon returned and informed
Mr. Newton that the sound proceeded from a
pond, and that the musicians were edible frogs.
Of course (writes the latter gentleman) I went immediately
to satisfy myself, and there, sure enough, were the frogs
some swimming to and fro in the water some sitting on the
aquatic plants, with which the pond was choked, and these
last were exceedingly noisy, puffing out their faucial sacs,
like so many dwellers in the cave of ^Eolus. After observing
them for a little while, we tried to obtain some specimens,
but herein fortune favoured the frogs. We had no aggressive
weapons beyond a walking-stick and an umbrella, and they
were wary to a degree, and exceedingly active. However, by
persevering we became possessed of four individuals, three,
I regret to say, dead, and one, an indiscreet youth, whom
we found rambling about the grass alive. We retired with
our spoils, the deceased were decently embalmed, and are
now in the Norfolk and Norwich Museum.
He afterwards relates how he made his dis-
covery known to Mr. J. H. Gurnev, and learnt
from him that many years before Mr. George
Berney had imported a number of these reptiles
alive, and liberated them in this neighbourhood.
Application to Mr. Berney educed the foregoing
account of his introduction of edible frogs into
this country.
How far the facts above related, adds Mr. Newton, will
serve to answer the inquiry propounded nearly twelve years
since by Mr. J. Wolley (Zoologist, p. 1821), "Is the edible
frog a true native of Britain ? " I do not presume to say,
but I will merely draw attention to one point, namely, that
as appears from Mr. Berney's letter, upwards of 1,500 edible
104 OUE EEPTILES.
frogs, besides spawn, had been by him alone imported into
the East of England, some of them six years, and all more
than a whole year, before Mr. C. Thurnall's discovery of the
species in September, 1843, at Foulmire Fen, in Cambridge-
shire.*
The above evidence would appear very con-
clusive, so far as evidence of that kind could go,
had the publication of Mr. Newton's remarks
not elicited a reply from Mr. Thomas Bell, which
was published in a succeeding number of the
same journal, in which his remarks appeared.
Mr. Bell says :
My father, who was a native of Cambridgeshire, has often
described to me, as long ago as I can recollect, the peculiarly
loud, and somewhat musical, sound uttered by the frogs of
Whaddon and Foulmire, which procured for them the name
of " Whaddon Organs." My father was always of opinion
that they were of a different species from the common frog,
and this opinion of his, formed nearly a century ago, was
confirmed by Mr. Thurnall's discovery that the frogs of
Foulmire are of the species Rana esculenta. f
Tlie croak of the Edible Frog, as alluded to
already, is much louder and more musical than
that of the common species.
" Let me," says a German writer, " recall our
summer nights of Northern Germany. When
on the wide plain all life is asleep, and the lone-
some disquieting groan of the Moor-frog is all
that is heard sounding from afar, like a summons
* The Zoologist, p. 393. t 16., p. 6565.
THE EDIBLE FROG. 105
from the nether world, on a sudden the frog in
the pond begins to raise his voice. It is an
agreeable tenor. He summons to horary prayers :
in a large circle round about him sits the syna-
gogue ; when presently a deeper voice, and evi-
dently of one advanced in years, chimes in ; a
third joins the chant, and the recitative begins.
A little while, and a pause ensues ; then the
precentor sings again alone, some long-drawn
responses follow, when suddenly a hurly-burly,
that thrills through every fibre, bursts forth in
the air. It lasts some minutes, until single
solos, in a minor key, disengage themselves
from the scattered tones, which soon break forth
again in a stormy chorus. Thus does their
music last on throughout the whole night, and
may be heard for many miles. Yet this, it would
seem, is but gentle music, when compared to
the uproar which hums in the ear of the traveller
when, on the shores of the Volga and the
Caspian Sea, the frogs in myriads celebrate their
marriage festivals. The bacchic rejoicings of
these orgies absorb everything; all is grown
froggish; it is as though the very earth were
shaking with the rest, unable to resist the inex-
tinguishable laughter."
The proportion of European frogs found in
Great Britain is small. Out of the nine species
inhabiting the continent we have but two. The
106 OUR REPTILES.
little painted frog (Discoglossus pidus) is confined
to the extreme south, on the shores of the Medi-
terranean. The bell frog (Alytes obstetricans) is
smaller still, and has a wider distribution, being
found principally in the central countries, and is
not uncommon in France. The brown frog
(Pelobates fuscus), which gives out a strong
odour of garlic when touched, is apparently less
common, but is found in France, Belgium, and a
few other localities. The rough-headed frog
(Pelobates cultripes) has only been observed in
Spain and the south of France. The red-bellied
frog (Bombinator igneus) is found over the tem-
perate regions of Europe, in France, Germany,
Switzerland, and Russia, passing most of its time
in water. Lastly, the common tree frog (Hyla
viridis), with the extremities of its toes expanded
into a kind of cushion or disk. Except during
the spawning season, it is an inhabitant of trees
and shrubs. This species is found nearly every-
where in Europe except the British islands. It
is a small, light green, elegant species, with a
loud and musical croak. The seven species just
enumerated, with the two more fully described
as British, constitute the frog fauna of Europe.
Of toads there are but three, and two of these
belong to our islands.
The name of " edible frog" suggests a
THE EDIBLE FROG. 107
gastronomic idea not much in favour with.
Englishmen. To cook and eat frogs was long
since regarded on this side the Channel as the
privilege only of Frenchmen. Recently we have
been relaxing in our prejudices, and both
Frenchmen and frogs, seen through a less dis-
torting medium, are being better understood and
appreciated. " Fricassee de grenouilles," which
we should call "preserved frogsMegs," are
regularly sold at some of the West-end provision
warehouses, packed in air-tight canisters, in the
same manner as many other mysterious modern
comestibles. It is three or four years since we
learnt that " French frogs " had introduced
themselves into British commerce, and we re-
solved upon testing their edible qualities. One
of the canisters referred to was purchased, and
by dint of labour opened, and what seemed
to be little strips of boiled chicken floated in
thin melted butter. We looked at them, and
paused smelt of them and paused again; at
length, with marvellous courage as we thought,
tasted them. At first there seemed some little
irresolution on the part of the internal genii,
whether they ought not to rebel against the
admission of the intruder. But, as the taste
was in their favour, down went the frogs. After
all, the flavour was very agreeable, if one could
108 OUR REPTILES.
only forget for a while their origin and name,,
and fancy them little stewed rabbits, which they
most resemble.
Mr. P. Buckland, when in Paris on one
occasion, resolved upon a banquet of frogs.
I went (he says) to the large market in the Faubourg St.
Germain, and inquired for frogs. I was referred to a stately-
looking dame at a fish-stall, who produced a box nearly full
of them, huddling and crawling about, and occasionally
croaking, as though aware of the fate to which they were
destined. The price fixed was two a penny, and having
ordered a dish to be prepared, the dame de la halle dived
her hand in among them, and having secured her victim by
the hind legs, she severed him in twain with a sharp knife ;
the legs, minus skin, still struggling, were placed on a dish ;
and the head, with the fore-legs affixed, retained life and
motion, and performed such motions that the operation
became painful to look at. These legs were afterwards
cooked at the restaurateur's, being served up fried in bread-
crumbs, as larks are in England ; and most excellent eating
they were, tasting more like the delicate flesh of the rabbit
than anything else I can think of. I afterwards tried a dish
pf the common English frog, but his flesh is not so white
nor so tender as that of his French brother.
Frogs, and sometimes toads, are more exten-
sively eaten than some of us would imagine. In
China, at New York, on the banks of the Seine
and the Amazon, in the West Indies and the
East, in the Philippines and the Antilles, by
both barbarous and civilized races, frogs or
toads are regarded as delicacies. Professor
THE EDIBLE FROG. 109
Dumeril used to warn his pupils that the dealers,
in collecting frogs, often met with toads, and
never rejected them, but cutting off the hind
quarters and skinning them, mixed all together,
toads and frogs, and sent them to Paris to be
eaten. The Chinese have a peculiar taste with
regard to frogs, and economize portions which
the Parisians reject. Mr. Fortune says :
They are brought to market in tubs and baskets, and the
vendor employs himself in skinning them as he sits making
sales. He is extremely expert at this part of his business.
He takes up the frog in his left hand, and with a knife
which he holds in his right, chops off the fore part of its
head. The skin is then drawn back over the body, and
down to the feet, which are chopped off and thrown away.
The poor frog, still alive but headless, skinless, and feetless,
is then thrown into another tub, and the operation is
repeated on the rest in the same way. Every now and then
the artist lays down his knife, and takes up his scales to
weigh these animals for his customers, and make his sales.
Everything in this civilized country, whether it be gold or
silver, geese or frogs, is sold by weight.
One of the remembrances of our school-days
is of one or two of the big boys who were accus-
tomed to astonish their juniors by the singular
exhibition of putting little frogs in their mouths,
and sometimes swallowing them. In Cheshire,
we are told, it is still the practice to catch little
frogs and place them alive in the mouths of
children suffering from the thrush. Of course
110 OUR EEFTILES.
this is considered an infallible cure, and in some
eastern counties the disorder itself is known as
" the frog." The reptiles in these cases being
the common frog, that species would appear to
have some little claim also to be regarded as
edible ; though, on the other hand, if swallowed
alive, how can they be said to have been eaten ?
N'importe ! a dead rabbit is better than a live
frog, as an esculent, provided it is not too
"high."
Frogs and toads had formerly some reputation
in medicine, either wholly or in part ; but all
belief in their efficacy is now vested in a few
obscure matrons, who prescribe for the rustic
population in some out of the way villages in
agricultural districts. Sic transit gloria mundi.
The principal features by which the edible
frog may be distinguished from the common
frog are : the absence in the former of the
conspicuous dark patch, which in the latter
extends from the eye to the shoulder the vocal
sacs or bladders at the angles of the mouth in
the edible frog, which are distended while
croaking, and which are absent in the common
frog and the light line which runs down the
back of the former but which is not seen in the
latter. To these may be added the more distinct
and beautiful markings in the edible frog, its
louder note, and generally larger size. In their
o
THE EDIBLE FKO'J. Ill
food, habits, and habitats, there is probably no
great difference between them, except that the
edible frog appears to be more exclusively
aquatic. Messrs. Dumeril and Bibron, the authors
of a large French work on Reptiles, say that
It inhabits indiscriminately running or still waters, the
borders of rivers, rivulets, or streams, lakes or ponds, salt
or fresh marshes, or even ditches and simple pools of water,
Sometimes they are seen on the leaves of water-lilies, or on
the herbage of the banks, where they love to bask in the
warm sunshine ; but at the slightest noise they strike into
the water, and do not again expose themselves until certain
that all danger is past.
In the edible frog the toes are cylindrical,
and a little swollen at the tips ; the webs of the
toes are slightly notched, and do not reach to the
extreme tips ; the fourth toe of the hind foot is
one-fourth longer than the third and fifth; the
nostrils half-way between the corner of the eye
and the tip of the muzzle ; the head is triangular;
the teeth on the palate are in a line exactly be-
tween the nasal openings ; the tongue is broad,
lobed, and covered on the surface with scattered
warts. On the upper surface of the body are a
number of rather indistinct, scattered warts or
folds, but the skin on the belly is smooth. The
male is furnished with a bladder at the angle of
the gape on each side, which when distended
112
OUR REPTILES.
is as large as a small cherry. The colour is ex-
ceedingly variable, generally of a greenish tint,
sometimes of a rich chestnut-red. Length above
three inches.
113
THE COMMON TOAD.
Skull of Common Toad (enlarged).
ONLY a small proportion of the European
species of frogs are found in Britain; whilst
of three toads, two are indigenous to these
islands. Some have even doubted whether two
of these species (J5. viridis and B. calamita)
are not varieties of the same. If this be the
case, all the European toads are British. We
think, however, that the two just named are
really distinct, and that the green toad (Bufo
viridis) is, therefore, a stranger and an alien.
The common toad is found all over Europe,
i
114 OUR REPTILES.
from Sweden and Eussia to Greece and Italy,
Ireland excepted.
Pennant commences his chapter on this rep-
tile in the following words :
The most deformed and hideous of all animals : the body
broad, the back flat, and covered with a pimply dusky hide ;
the belly large, swagging and swelling out ; the legs short,
and its pace laboured and crawling ; its retreat gloomy and
filthy : in short, its general appearance is such as to strike
one with disgust and horror ; yet we have been told by
those who have resolution to view it with attention, that its
eyes are fine. To this it seems that Shakespeare alludes,
when he makes his Juliet remark
" Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes."
As if they would have been better bestowed on so charming
a songster than on this raucous reptile.*
Pennant, however, only gave expression to
the feeling which was common, and almost uni-
versal, at the time he wrote. Toads were looked
upon with dread and disgust; and even now
many people, not only illiterate, but educated,
would describe it in equally prejudiced terms.
There is nothing very prepossessing, perhaps, in
a casual glance at a toad nothing to recom-
mend it very strongly to a lady as a drawing-
room pet. How often have we heard the
exclamation of an anxious mother to her child,
* Pennant's " British Zoology," vol. iii. p. 14.
THE COMMON TOAD. 115
f c Don't go near that toad j it will spit at you ! "
And how long and earnestly might we plead
with such a mother before we could convince
her that the toad would do her child no harm !
Before adverting more particularly to the
habits of this animal, we will endeavour to give
a brief epitome of what is known of the secre-
tions of the toad, which were in part, perhaps,
the basis of the belief in its injurious character.
Dr. Davy thinks that the principal use of this poison is
to defend the reptile against the attacks ,of carnivorous
animals. He also remarks that, as it contains an inflam-
mable substance, it may be excrementitious ; it may serve
to carry off a portion of carbon from the blood, and thus be
auxiliary to the functions of the lungs. In support of this
idea, the author observes that he finds each of the pulmonary
arteries of the toad divided into two branches, one of which
goes to the lungs, and the other to the cutis, ramifying most
abundantly where the largest follicles are situated, and where
there is a large venous plexus, seeming to indicate that the
subcutaneous distribution of the second branch of the
pulmonary artery may further aid the office of the lungs,
by bringing the blood to the surface to be acted upon by
the air.*
The viscid exudation from the skin in this
kind of reptile is regarded as a kind of poison.
It appears to answer as a defence to an animal
which has no other means of defending itself;
but, as there are no provisions for inoculation of
* " Philos. Trans, for 1826," pt. ii. p. 127
i 2
116 OUR EEPTILES.
the fluid, it cannot be employed as a means of
attack. According to M. Moquin Tandon, it is
a thick, viscid, milky fluid, with a slight yellow
tint, and poisonous odour. It has a disagreeable
caustic, bitter taste ; becomes solid on exposure
to air, and assumes the form of scales when
placed on glass.* M. Pelletier affirms that its
acrid properties are due to the presence of an
acid. MM. Gratiolet and Cloez performed with
it some experiments on birds, such as linnets
and finches, which were inoculated with the
fluid, and died in about six minutes. They were
not convulsed, but opened their beaks, and
staggered as if in a state of drunkenness. In
a short time they closed their eyes as if falling
to sleep, and fell down dead. The same gentle-
man also ascertained that when a small quantity
of the fluid was introduced beneath the skin of
such mammalia as the dog or goat, it caused
death in less than an hour.
M. Vulpian repeated these and similar experi-
ments, both with the common toad and the
natterjack. He inoculated dogs and guinea-
pigs, and found that they died in from half an
hour to an hour and a half. This fluid acts also
as a poison on frogs, and generally kills them in
the course of an hour ; it is sufficient to apply it
'" Moquin Tandon's " Medical Zoology," p. 287.
i/ Toad'
THE COMMON TOAD. 117
externally upon tlieir backs'; but upon toads
themselves it has no influence.
It is said that in certain countries the Indians
hunt after several species of toads with pointed
sticks. They transfix the animals with these
sticks, and when they have collected a consi-
derable quantity of them, they place them before
a large fire, but at a sufficient distance to pre-
vent their being roasted. The heat excites the
cutaneous secretion, which is collected by the
Indians as it is discharged from the pustules, for
the purpose of poisoning their arrows. The
humour secreted in the follicles of the triton,
or great water newt, has similar properties, but
is less virulent.
In a recent number of a French journal, an
instance is recorded of the virus of the toad
entering the blood of a child, and causing
death :
A young lad, ten years of age, named Louis P , whose
parents are small tradespeople in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine,
was playing with some of his companions near Bercy, not
far from a building in the course of demolition. This boy,
who was of a delicate constitution, had a slight abrasion of
the skin of the right hand. Having seen a lizard crawl into
a hole in an old wall, he put in his hand, but instead of the
lizard he drew out an enormous toad, which he immediately
threw on the ground. The skin of the toad is covered with
large tubercles, formed by an aggregation of small pustules,
open at their summit. A milky liquid, of a yellowish-white
colour, very thick, and of a fetid odour, escapes from these
118 OUE KEPTILES.
tubercles when the animal is irritated. Whilst the lad had
the animal in his hand, this liquid, which is a violent poison,
was introduced through the wound in his hand into the
blood. He was soon after seized with vertigo, vomitings,
and faintings, and was carried to the house of his parents,
who called in a doctor immediately ; but already the malady
had made such progress that, in spite of the most energetic
means employed, the patient soon died.*
The venomous character of the toad seems to
have been a firm belief of the ancients ; but
they had, at the same time, very erroneous
opinions of the s ' toad^s envenomed juice," as-
signed to it a power and an action far different
to what it possesses. ^Blian regarded the toad
as capable of conveying death in its look and
breath; and Juvenal records of the Eoman
dames that they infused the venom of the toad
in wine, to form a draught whereby to rid them-
selves of their husbands. Our own Shakespeare
used it as a compound of the witches* caldron
in " Macbeth":
Toad, that under coldest stone,
Days and nights hast thirty-one
Sweltered venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' th' charmed pot.
Even Pennant, with all his repugnancy to the
toad, could not be induced to favour the popular
belief in its poisonous character.
* Petit Journal, 29th March, 1865.
THE COMMON TOAD. 119
We shall now return (he writes) to the notion of its being
a poisonous animal, and deliver as our opinion, that its ex-
cessive deformity, joined to the faculty it has of emitting a
juice from its pimples, and a dusky liquid from its hind
parts, is the foundation of the report. That it has any
noxious qualities we have been unable to bring proofs in the
smallest degree satisfactory, though we have heard many
strange relations on that point. On the contrary, we know
several of our friends who have taken them in their naked
hands, and held them long without receiving the least injury.
It is also well known that quacks have eaten them, and have
besides squeezed their juices into a glass and drank them
with impunity. In a word, we may consider the toad as an
animal that has neither good nor harm in it ; that being a
defenceless creature, nature has furnished it, instead of arms,
with a most disgusting deformity, that strikes into almost
every being capable of annoying it, a strong repugnancy to
meddle with so hideous and threatening an appearance.
The toad is very easily domesticated, and
when under confinement, or partially so, soon
becomes emboldened and apparently attached to
those who cater for its appetite. A gentleman
who caught a young toad, and brought it to the
great metropolis to reside with him in town,
gives the following particulars of his pet :
He would occasionally absent himself for weeks, so that I
ceased to be alarmed for his welfare, even though I might
not have caught sight of him for a month. In this manner
we went on, leaving Toady to take his holidays as he pleased,
until the spring of last year. During one of his temporary
vacations, I was watching the movements of some small
insects, and it appeared that my pet was watching them
also, for on their approaching within reach of his tongue,
120 OUR EEPTILES.
that organ was instantaneously thrust forward, and the in-
sect disappeared. Thus while losing sight of a new acquaint-
ance I became aware of the presence of an old friend. I
also derived fresh satisfaction in observing his choice of food,
and mode of taking it. Thenceforward I became diligent in
supplying him with the same kind of food, so that he soon
lost all appearance of shyness, would come out of his hiding-
place regularly, day by day, until late in November, 1863,
when he again disappeared as the frost set in. At this time
the weather was very severe for so early a period : the aqua-
rium was frozen, the fish were killed, the glass was broken,
and all its contents became a solid mass, plants, animals,
and everything, embedded, as it were, in a large transparent
crystal. Again, I was agreeably surprised, one beautiful
spring day in the early part of April, to observe my old friend
moving about, as if to inform us that he had returned again
from his unknown place of retreat. He had again grown
fatter and uglier than he was in the autumn, his skin was
blacker and coarser, and dark spots covered the whole body.
Yet his eye seemed more brilliant and thoughtful. He came
direct to the same spot on which I had fed him when last
we met, more than four months previously. He was supplied
with what we term " garden-hogs," woodlice, worms, and the
lively little black ant. None of these would he touch, if
dead, or did not show unmistakable signs of active life.
Then would he fix his calculating eye, until the object came
within reach of his tongue ; this he would dart at them, and
in an instant the object was gone. When satisfied, he would
return again to some quiet nook, out of sight. This summer
being long and dry, I have had some difficulty in providing
him with his necessary food. One day I placed him in a
large hole at the bottom of the garden, where I collected
the sweepings and rubbish, and he literally became a " toad-
in-a-hole." This was some fifty yards from the house, and I
left him to shift for himself amongst the insect life of the
rubbish. I afterwards sought him to convey him back to
THE COMMON TOAD. 121
his old neighbourhood around the house, but he was nowhere
to be found, and this time I gave him up for lost. Four
days after, what was my surprise, whilst seated at supper, to
see Toady come tumbling heels over head down the step
into the room, on a visit to his old friends. The most re-
markable feature in this last freak is, the circuitous route he
must have taken before he arrived, and the obstacles he must
have encountered in his way.*
Toads, as well as frogs, are insectivorous ; and
it is curious to observe how, by means of their
folded tongue, they rapidly catch and appropriate
any small insects which may come in their way.
Large beetles and earthworms occasion them
much more trouble, sometimes annoyance.
Mr. Holland, in narrating his experiences with
toads, gives an excellent illustration of their
mode of feeding :
My toads, two in number, had lived for a year or two in
a hothouse which was devoted to the growth of pineapples.
They were, I think, first placed there purposely by the gar-
dener, who found them very useful in destroying insects. I
used very frequently to visit the place and amuse myself
with feeding the toads with worms, and with watching their
habits. The heat of the place, which was considerable, did
not seem to inconvenience them in the least, for they were
remarkably active, and of a large size ; but at the same time
they seemed greatly to enjoy the artificial showers when the
plants were syringed, and would come out from their hiding-
places to be rained upon. They usually remained amongst
Science Gossip, vol. i. p. 12.
122 OUE REPTILES.
the pineapple plants, which grew on a bed raised some four
feet from the ground, where they sat under the long leaves ;
but when the place was watered they would not unfrequently
jump down and lie upon the cool, wet tiles of the floor,
spreading themselves out as flat as possible. How they
climbed up to the pine-bed again I cannot say, for I never
saw them do it.
They evinced very little shyness, taking worms readily
when offered to them. When feeding, their actions were
very curious. Upon placing a worm about three inches from
a toad, it would instantly fix its attention upon it. Then its
whole appearance was changed. Instead of the dull, lethargic-
looking animal that the toad generally appears, it was all
vivacity ; the body was instantly thrown somewhat back,
and the head bent a little downwards, its bright eye riveted
upon its prey ; and though the toad was perfectly still as
long as the worm remained motionless or nearly so, yet its
attitude and its eager gaze w r ere full of life and animation.
Directly the worm made any active movement, the toad
would dart forward, open its mouth from ear to ear, and
seize it, generally about the middle. A curious scene now
took place ; mouth and feet went to work in good earnest ;
the worm was gulped down by a series of spasmodic jerks,
trying to make its escape every time the mouth was opened,
the toad thrusting it back all the time, and forcing it down
its throat by the aid of its fore-feet. Altogether it was rather
a disgusting sight, and gave one the idea that the toad is an
uncommonly greedy animal.
Having got the worm down was by no means a reason
that it would stay there, for I have sometimes seen a worm
rather larger than usual make its way up again ; however,
the feet would immediately go to work a second time, and
the toad would at length remain the undisputed possessor of
its own dinner.
Frequently I used to cheat the toads by moving a small
twig before them. They would seize it directly, imagining
THE COMMON TOAD. 123
it to be a worm, and would regard it with stupid astonish-
ment when they discovered their mistake.
I never had the good fortune to see my friends take beetles
or other small prey ; but these the gardener told me were
never seized with the mouth, but were caught with unerring
aim upon the point of the long tongue.*
There is a curious twitching movement of the
hind toes observable in the toad whilst watching
an insect which he purposes making its prey.
This movement has been noticed to us by several
persons who have kept toads in confinement, or
closely watched their habits.
Mr. G. Guyon, of Ventnor, has kindly com-
municated to us some additional particulars of
the behaviour of these reptiles under confinement.
There are two or three features in his letter so
curious, and the whole so interesting, that we
think no apology is needed for introducing it
entire.
My toads are sufficiently tame to sit quietly on the hand
while carried to the window, and there snap up the flies which
they are held within reach of, and in this way I often cleared
my sitting-room of these troublesome insects during last
summer. Indeed the notion occurred to me of constructing
a sort of cage of wire-work, and suspending it in the centre
of the room, as is done with the so-called " Fly-catcher,"
believing that the enclosed toad would be willing to make
himself useful by appropriating the flies that settled on the
* Hardwicke's Science Gossip, vol. i. p. 62.
124 OUR REPTILES.
wires, while visitors of limited zoological attainments would
be puzzled by the strange bird thus hung up. Some similar
arrangement attached to a window would materially reduce
the number of insects on the panes. It has been observed
that they refuse to seize anything that is not in motion, and
it may be added that they will attack anything that is, pro-
vided it is not too large to be swallowed. It would appear
as if their sight, or perhaps judgment, was very defective, as
the form or colour of an object seems of no importance, if
only it moves. It need not in the least resemble any living
creature, any small object in motion is regarded as suitable
prey. If the end of a pencil, or anything similar, is drawn
along the side of the vase which the toads inhabit, they are
nearly sure to strike at it ; and not learning wisdom by
failure, they will go at it again and again. One or two small
tortoises shared the same vase till the post proved too much
for their constitutions, and if one of these put out its head
with the intention of taking a slow " constitutional," the
movement was pretty sure to attract the attention of the
nearest toad, who would place himself in a convenient posi-
tion, intently watching his shelly companion, until the latter
moved again, when dab would go the toad's tongue upon its
head, which the tortoise would quickly draw back into the
shell, not appearing to relish the unceremonious salute. This
absurd scene, which was of frequent occurrence, was plainly
owing to the toad mistaking the head of the tortoise for
some insect small enough to be swallowed. Although the
toads refuse to strike at a motionless insect, they may be
easily deceived, and induced to attack the still object if
motion is communicated to themselves, no doubt thinking it
is the object that moves, as a child in a railway train fancies
the houses and trees are running past. In this way I have
often, when holding them to the window, made them strike
at flies that were quite stationary.
On one occasion, while carrying the toad about, I noticed
a fly near the top of the door, and presenting the reptile to
THE COMMON TOAD. 125
it was surprised to find that though the usual snap was made
the insect never moved. On close examination I found that
being near-sighted I had mistaken a fly that had been smashed
in closing the door for a living specimen, and the toad evi-
dently made the same mistake. If they do not succeed
when they strike at an insect, they will try again and again,
in no way discouraged by failure.
In collecting flies for their benefit, a glass tube, closed at
one end with a cork, has been found very handy. Flies at
rest are easily caught by a rapid sweep of the hand, and if
the open end of the tube is then thrust into the hand, the
fly will quickly make its way into it, and thus one or two
dozen flies can be readily introduced into the tube, as they
will always collect at that end which is pointed to the light.
If this tube is then placed in the toad vivarium, the insects
will crawl out one by one, and as they proceed along it the
toads will repeatedly strike at them, not deterred by the
hard glass that balks their attempts. The swallow of the
toad must be capacious, as insects of large size go down at
one gulp. The cockroach of our kitchens, commonly called
the " black-beetle," is a substantial insect ; but the largest
specimen disappears as quickly as a house fly, though not un-
frequently one of the antennae is seen projecting cigar-fashion
from the toad's mouth for a minute or two. Hard beetles, if
of any size, appear more difficult to dispose of. I have seen
a large Otiorhynchus reproduced with a dreadful grimace the
next minute after it had been swallowed ; but a second
attempt was more successful and the poor insect was seen
no more in the land of the living.
The manner in which a toad manages to get
rid of his old skin has been thus minutely de-
scribed by an eye-witness :
About the middle of July I found a toad on a hill of
melons, and, not wanting him to leave, I hoed around him ;
126 OUR EEPTILES.
he appeared sluggish, and not inclined to move. Presently
I observed him pressing his elbows hard against his sides,
and rubbing downwards. He appeared so singular, that I
watched to see what he was up to. After a few smart rubs,
his skin began to burst open, straight along his back. Now,
said I, old fellow, you have done it ; but he appeared to be
unconcerned, and kept on rubbing until he had worked all
his skin into folds on his sides and hips ; then, grasping one
hind leg with both his hands, he hauled off one leg of his
pants the same as anybody would, then stripped the other
hind leg in the same way. He then took this cast-off cuticle
forward, between his fore legs, into his mouth, and swallowed
it ; then, by raising and lowering his head, swallowing as
his head came down, he stripped off the skin underneath,
nntil it came to his fore legs, and then grasping one of these
with the opposite hand, by considerable pulling, stripped off
the skin ; changing hands, he stripped the other, and, by a
slight motion of the head, and all the while swallowing, he
drew it from the neck and swallowed the whole. The
operation seemed an agreeable one, and occupied but a short
time,*
Professor Bell, in Ms "British Reptiles/' gives a
similar account to the above, upon the faith of his
own observations. As the toad generally retires
into his private apartments to undress himself,
and dispose of his old clothes, opportunities for
observing the process do not often occur.
As we never kept toads in confinement long
together, for the purpose of observing their
traits of character, we have been obliged, as
* New 'York Independent, Dec. 29, 1859.
THE COMMON TOAD. 127
our readers will have observed, to draw pretty
freely from the experiences of our friends. This
we have preferred doing in their own language,
at the risk of all imputation of " scissors and
paste/' rather than rob those of honour " to
whom honour is due."
This reptile is far more terrestrial in its habits
than the frog, yet its ova are deposited and de-
veloped in water ; and the first six months of its
career it is as aquatic as a fish. The eggs are
arranged in long double chains, and not deposited
in a mass, as is the case with the frog. There
appears to be very little difference between them
in their early stages. The ova are deposited
two or three weeks later ; the tadpoles are simi-
lar but darker, pass through the like stages, and,
in the autumn, having attained their legs and
lost their tails, they venture upon the land, as
miniature toads, and commence their terrestrial
life. In this state they crawl about in search of
their prey, neither running with the natterjack,
nor leaping with the frog, but less vivacious than
either, and more persecuted than both.
We have alluded to the incarceration of frogs
in blocks of granite, &c., and, out of courtesy to
the toad, which deserves as much at our hands,
subjoin from the Leeds Mercury, an account there
given of a truly patriarchal toad, at least if the
assumptions of its historian are true :
128 OUR REPTILES.
During the excavations which are being carried out under
the superintendence of Mr. James Yeal, of Dyke House
Quay, in connection with the Hartlepool Waterworks, the
workmen on Friday morning found a toad embedded in a
block of magnesian limestone, at a depth of twenty-five feet
from the surface of the earth, and eight feet from any spring-
water vein. The block of stone had been cut by a wedge,
and was being reduced by the workmen, when a pick split
open the cavity in which the toad had been incarcerated.
The cavity was no larger than its body, and presented the
appearance of being a cast of it. The toad's eyes shone with
unusual brilliancy, and it was full of vivacity on its libera-
tion. It appeared when first discovered desirous to perform
the process of respiration, but evidently experienced some
difficulty, and the only sign of success consisted of a
" barking " noise, which it continues invariably to make at
present on being touched. The toad is in the possession of
Mr. S. Homer, the president of the Natural History Society,
and continues in as lively a state as when found. On a
minute examination, its mouth is found to be completely
closed, and the barking noise it makes proceeds from its
nostrils. The claws of its fore feet are turned inwards, and
its hind ones are of extraordinary length, and unlike the
present English toad. The Rev. E. Taylor,, incumbent of
St. Hilda's Church, Hartlepool, who is an eminent local
geologist, gives it as his opinion, that the animal must be at
least 6,000 years old. This wonderful toad is to be placed
in its primary habitation, and will be added to the collection
in the Hartlepool Museum. The toad when first released
was of a pale colour and not readily distinguished from the
stone, but shortly after its colour grew darker until it became
a fine olive-brown.
Professor Bell devoted some attention to this
question, and, nob only him but other naturalists,
without being convinced that such incarcerations
THE COMMON TOAD. 129
for immense periods of time are proven. Mr.
Edward Newman, of The Zoologist, we believe
has, more than once or twice, inquired into the
particulars of such accounts, and invariably found
a flaw, and such a flaw as to prevent his coming
to the conclusion to which such accounts tend.
Whilst he and they are too good students of
nature to deny, or strive to mystify, what they
do not comprehend, they look too closely at facts,
and are too chary of deductions, without sound
foundation, to accept mere affirmations in lieu of
proof. All we can say is " It may be so, and
it may not. 33 The latter alternative seems the
most probable.
The " toad stone 33 or " toad's jewel " was one
of the superstitions of a superstitious age, alluded
to in the lines
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
it having been supposed that in the head of the
toad was to be found a wonderful stone, which
was strong in curative power and magical virtue.
The most singular supposed association of
toads with some kinds of fungi, whence the
latter have been said to derive their name of
" toadstools/'' evidently arose in a mistaken
and foolish application of a new sense to an old
K
130 OUR REPTILES.
compound, after the original meaning and deri-
vation had been forgotten. This word is clearly
derived from the German ' ' tod " and " stuhl,"
meaning " death- stool/' in reference to the
poisonous nature of some, and the supposed
dangerous character of others, of the stalked
fungi, and, despite our woodcut, has nothing
whatever to do with toads, as commonly supposed.
In Norfolk those fungi which in other localities
are commonly called "toadstools," are called
" toads'-caps," according to some orthography ;
but as we have heard it, " toad-skeps." Any
one who may converse with farm labourers, or
their children, about any of the Agarics, except
the common mushroom and the Horse mushroom,
will hear no other name for them than " toad-
skeps." The etymology of this cognomen is to
us very obscure, although conversant with the
local dialect. The large wicker baskets, holding
a bushel, and which are extensively used in East
Norfolk, are there called " skeps " but what
connection there is between a toad and a bushel
basket is to us as much a problem as the asso-
ciation of a toad and a side-pocket, another East
Anglian allusion equally classical and inexplicable.
The body of the toad is broad, thick, very much
swollen; the head large, with the crown much
flattened ; muzzle obtuse and rounded ; gape very
wide ; no teeth either on the jaws or the palate ;
THE COMMON TOAD.
131
the tongue entire, not notched ; over each eye a
slight porous protuberance, a larger one on each
side behind the ears ; on the fore feet the third
toe is the longest; the first and second are equal,
and longer than the fourth ; the hind legs scarcely
longer than the body, with five toes, and the
rudiment of a sixth, webbed for half their length ;
the fourth much the longest ; the third a little
longer than the fifth ; the skin both above and
below is covered with warts and pimples of
various sizes ; these are largest on the back, but
more crowded on the belly.
Length of the body about three and a half
inches. Often larger in some parts of Europe.
K 'I
132
THE NATTERJACK.
(Bufo calamita, Laur.)
THE Natterjack is less common or widely dis-
tributed in this country than its congener the
common toad. Yet it is far from uncommon in
many localities, and may be regarded rather as
local than rare. In places where it is found at
all, it is often plentiful. The earliest author who
mentions this reptile as a British native, is
Pennant, in the third volume of his " British
Zoology." He says it had been found " on Putney
Common, and near Reverby Abbey, Lincolnshire,
where it is called the natterjack." It is t& be
met with in several localities around London, as
at Blackheath, Deptford, Cobham, and Wisley.
In Cambridgeshire, near Gamlingay ; in Norfolk ;
at Ormesby, near Yarmouth ; and one or two sta-
tions in the neighbourhood of Lynn and Norwich,
and in Suffolk, near Southwold. In Scotland it
THE NATTEKJACK. 133
is recorded, on the authority of Sir William
Jardine, as occurring " in a marsh on the coasts
of the Solway Firth, almost brackish, and within
a hundred yards of spring- tide high- water mark.
It lies between the village of Carse and Sother-
ness Point, where I have found them, " he adds,
"for six or seven miles along the coast. They
are very abundant." In Ireland, Dr. Carrington
verifies that they are to be found at Ross Bay,
and a correspondent of the Field, at Eoscrea,
writes * :
Mr. Tate sent me from England three dozen natterjacks.
I sent two to the Zoological Gardens, Dublin, and gave the
others their liberty about the place. We occasionally meet
with some of them, and they walk about rapidly, and can
climb anything in their way, in a most extraordinary manner,
reminding one of the movements of a lizard. I kept four of
the " natterjacks " for a few days. They lived upon worms
and slugs, and whenever I uncovered them, they immediately
concealed themselves amongst the damp moss given them
for a bed, and feigned death.
In form this species is very similar to the toad,
but may be easily distinguished by its difference
in colour. It is of an olive tint, darker on the
flanks, and with a definite pale yellowish stripe,
or line, running down the back. The under
parts are yellowish with black spots, and dark
bands occur on the legs. The warts, with which
* The Field, June 24th, 1865.
134 OUR EEPTILES.
the upper portion of the body is studded, are
of a reddish brown. In its habits it is far less
sluggish than the common toad, sometimes in-
dulging in an extempore run, and altogether is
far more attractive. Mr. W. R. Tate, from whom
we have received specimens, has, for some time,
kept them in conjunction with other reptiles.
He says, " They always go in pairs, and seem to
be more delicate than the common species, as
mine scarcely ever enter the water in cold weather,
which the latter frequently do. I find them most
commonly on sunny days, where a pond has
nearly dried up. Mine are now tame enough to
eat out of my hand. Their food consists of
worms and insects, which they catch by their
tongues in the same way as the other species.
Their croak is hoarser than that of the toad. A
person inhabiting a disused semaphore, on a
heath in Surrey, says that they do great mischief
in his garden, by digging their holes in the seed-
beds. These holes are dug straight for a few
inches, and then there is a passage at right
angles to the perpendicular one, in which the
reptile lies. The men call them " Goldenbacks."
In the eastern counties, where we are told that
this species is sufficiently common to be recognized
by the country people as distinct, it is called the
" Walking Toad." It is a matter of history that
superstitions and old wives' fables are by no
THE NATTEJKJACK. 135
means extinct in Norfolk, and we learn of one
connected with the " Walking Toad," which is
extant in the neighbourhood of King's Lynn.
One of these toads is to be obtained and buried
in an ant's nest, where it is to be left for some
time. When the flesh is all cleared off by the
insects, and the skeleton is quite clean, the
shoulder bones are to be taken off and thrown
into a running stream. One of these bones will
float with the current, while the other will float
against it. The latter bone must be secured, and,
if kept as a talisman, will confer on its possessor
supernatural power.
The name of " natterjack " is evidently a cor-
ruption of the German. In that country they
appear to have been first known. We think that
natter was probably derived from nieder, Anglo-
Saxon naedre, " nether " or " lower/' from the
creeping habit of the " adder," to which it be-
longed, under the form of eddre ; and " jack "
from yager, Cf one who runs," a very applicable
term for such a running reptile as the natterjack.
Moreover, words compounded of nieder have the
signification of some place or object lying low,
and yager or jagd in such a combination would be
well applied to this reptile.
Pennant notices of it that " several are found
commonly together, and, like others of the
genus, they appear in the evenings ;" but Mr.
136 OUR REPTILES.
Tate has given a fuller account of the nocturnal
habits of this species than we have seen re-
corded elsewhere :
After dark, or at least, after the rising of the moon,
I was returning home across Wisley Heath, and when
near a pond something ran quickly across the path. I took
it up, and saw by its bright vertebral stripe, showing clearly
in the moonlight, that it was a natterjack. I therefore com-
menced looking round the pond, and caught no less than
fifty-seven of them. The noise they were making was very
great; their croak being hoarse, and one continued note,
instead of, as in the common toad and frog, a succession of
short notes. The natterjack showed more sense than the
toads, by leaving off croaking, and squatting close to the
ground to escape observation whenever I approached one of
their haunts, while the toads kept croaking and hopping.
I found them always in shallow water (in which they can
sit with their heads out), and, as their name implies, among
reeds very often. I see now why their eyes are so much
brighter by night than by day, as they are evidently noc-
turnal in their habits ; but until this time I have always
caught them on hot sunny days going about the heath in
pairs.*
The "mephitic toad " of Shaw's " Zoology "
appears to be the present species, for his descrip-
tion is that of an cc olive toad, spotted with
brown, with reddish warts, and sulphur-coloured
dorsal line/' Such being the case, we must take
exception to some portion of his remarks :
* W. R. Tate, in Science Gossip), vol. i. p. 111.
THE NATTERJACK. 137
In its pace it differs from the rest of the toad tribe,
running nearly in the manner of a mouse, with the body
and legs somewhat raised. It is chiefly a nocturnal animal,
lying hid by day in the cavities of walls, rocks, &c. The
male and female perfectly resemble each other. They breed
in June : so speedy is the evolution of the ova that the
tadpoles liberate themselves from the spawn in the space of
five or six days. This happens about the middle of June ;
and about the end of August the hind legs appear, which,
in a certain space, are succeeded by the fore legs, and by
September and October the animals appear in their complete
form.
Roesel informs us that this species is known in some parts
of Germany by the name of roeMing, or reed frog, from
its frequenting in spring-time such places as are overgrown
with reeds, where it utters a strong and singular note or
croak. When handled or teased, it diffuses an intolerable
odour, resembling that of the smoke of gunpowder, but
stronger ; this proceeds from a whitish acrimonious fluid,
which it occasionally exudes from its pores. The smell in
some degree resembles that of orpiment or arsenic in a state
of evaporation ; and sometimes the animal can ejaculate
this fluid to the distance of three or four feet, which, if it
happen to fall on any part of the room where the creature
is kept, will, according to Koesel, be perceived two months
afterwards.*
As far as this country is concerned, the forego-
ing is a great exaggeration of the odour emitted
by this toad. Lord Clermont remarks, " when
excited, it emits from the skin a strong sulphury
odour." At present we have not experienced a
very strong sulphury odour, much less any ap-
* Shaw's " Zoology," vol. iii. pt. i. p. 149.
138 OUR REPTILES.
proximation to Shaw's description. There is,
however, a very appreciable odour under certain
conditions of excitement, &c.
Mr. Hepworth, of Wakefield, has made some
curious calculations and investigations on the
prolific nature of frogs and toads, as well as con-
tributed useful observations on their enemies
whilst in the larval state.* Mr. Couch having
recorded that on one occasion he had drawn out
and measured one of the strings of ova deposited
by the natterjack, and had found it at least one
hundred feet in length, Mr. Hep worth calculates
that as these strings are double, and allowing
eight ova to the linear inch, the number of eggs
deposited by one female toad of this species
would reach not less than nineteen thousand. He
afterwards makes an independent calculation on
the common toad. " I have taken four inches as
the average diameter of these masses (of ova).
Now, as there are eight eggs in one linear inch,
and six strings laid side by side fill the same
space, we shall have for one cubic inch 288
germs, and in a globular mass of four inches
diameter 9,650, or rather more than half the
number obtained from Mr. Couch's measurement
in the case of the natterjack." This, he argues,
* The Naturalist, vol. i. pp. 24, 73, &c. Huddersfield,
1865.
THE NATTERJACK. 139
is nearly the same in effect, " when we consider
that there are two rows in the spawn of the
natterjack, while in the common toad there is
only one." As the calculation is based upon the
space occupied by a single ovum, whence the
number contained in so many cubic inches is cal-
culated, we cannot comprehend how that number
is influenced by the ova lying in pairs or singly.
Further, the observation that in one species the
line is single and in the other double arises
probably from regarding the alternate ova in the
one chain as a single zigzag line, and not as a
double chain with the ova alternately arranged.
After adverting to the uses of the tadpoles in
the economy of nature, the same gentleman
inquires, " What becomes of these myriads of
tadpoles ? " and sets about to furnish an answer.
Few of those vast swarms that blacken the waters in
spring with their dusky forms, ever reach the perfect frog.
Their enemies are many, their means of defence few. They
become the prey of larger or more warlike animals than
themselves. These constant attacks greatly thin their
numbers. Thus by the time they are fit to leave the water,
they are, though still somewhat numerous, much less so than
at an earlier period of their existence. But having left the
waters, they are still exposed to great dangers. They are
greedily devoured by the snake, weasel, polecat, and by
nearly every species of water-fowl.
Amongst the creatures who feed largely upon
the toad and frog in its larval state, are enume-
140 OUR EEPTILES.
rated the larvae of the dragon-flies (Libellula),
which are exceedingly destructive ; the larvae
and imago of the great water-beetle (Dytiscus
marginalis) ; the boat-flies (Notonectidce) , the
various species of newts, and several fish, such
as the bearded loach (Gobitus barbatula), and
the stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Finally,
he concludes that not one in a thousand of the
young frogs which emerge from the egg in spring
ever reach their winter quarters.
Were it not for the unbounded fertility of the
frog and toad, they would be totally extermi-
nated in one year by the unceasing attacks of
their numerous terrestrial and aquatic foes.
Should this fertility be checked by any cause
whatever, these creatures, like their giant pro-
totypes of the Mesozoic and Cainozoic ages,
would soon be known only by their remains.
Its general appearance is similar to that of
the last species, but the eyes are more project-
ing, with the eyelids very much elevated above
the crown ; porous protuberance behind the eyes
not so large ; toes on the fore feet more nearly
equal ; the third notwithstanding a little longer
than the others; first and second not shorter
than the fourth ; hind legs not so long as the
body; the toes on these feet much less palmated
than in the common toad ; the sixth toe scarcely
at all developed; skin similarly covered with
THE NATTERJACK. 141
warts and pimples. Above of a yellowish -brown
or olivaceous, clouded here and there with darker
shades ; a line of bright yellow along the middle
of the back ; warts and pimples, especially the
porous protuberance behind the eyes, reddish;
beneath whitish, often spotted with black ; legs
marked with transverse black bands.*
Length 2f inches; hind leg 2 inches.
* Jenyn's " Manual of British Vertebrate Animals,"
p. 302.
142
GKEAT WATER NEWT.
Great Water Newt, at the end of the first and second years.
(Triton cristatus.)
THE Great Water Newt, or Common Warty
Newt, is only a small reptile of its kind after all,
since it seldom exceeds a length of six inches.
Though not so common as the smooth newt, it
is by no means a rare British species, and is
generally to be found in ponds and large ditches,
where it subsists upon water insects and small
animals, occasionally making a meal of its cousin
the little eft or smooth newt. On the Continent
this triton is the most common species, extend-
GREAT WATER NEWT. 143
ing in its geographical distribution from Italy
to Sweden ; is plentiful all through Italy and
Switzerland, and is not uncommon in the South
of France, Belgium, and Carniola.
Any one who has paid the slightest attention
to the British newts, will at least have noticed this
rough-skinned species and the common smooth
newt. It is now upwards of twelve years since
a very patient and earnest observer made pets of
the British tritons, and studied closely their
habits and changes through a period of five
years. Since we cannot lay claim to any such
close and continued observation, the principal
facts of our history of this species will be derived
from this source, which is the most complete and
authentic account we possess.
To commence with the egg, we learn that the
ova begin to be deposited as early as the begin-
ning of April, and continue to be deposited until
the first or second week in July. These ova are
carefully enclosed, singly, in the folds caused by
the bending together of the leaves of certain
aquatic plants. Those most favourable for this
purpose have been found to be Water Speedwell
(Veronica anagallis) and long grasses. If the
leaf be too pliable and soft, it opens and exposes
the ovum so that it perishes; if too rigid, the
triton is unable to bend or break the fibres so
as to fold it conveniently.
144 OUR REPTILES.
If a plant with long leaves be thrown into a pool where
there are tritons, for only a single night during the breed-
ing season, it will be found on the following morning to
have a number of its leaves folded, and within each fold an
ovum.*
When it is first deposited, the ovum or egg is
of a globular shape, with a little white yolk in
its centre, floating in a watery fluid and sur-
rounded by a delicate but firm transparent shell
or capsule. This latter is covered on the outside
with a gelatinous adhesive substance which assists
in securing the ovum to the leaf within which it
is folded. If the egg becomes exposed too early
to the full influence of the water, it is addled or
rendered sterile. Within about fourteen days they
become so large as to force the folds of the leaf
apart, and expose themselves to the water, which
at that period exerts no deleterious influence.
From a series of experiments instituted by Mr.
Higginbottom, it is clear that constant counter-
currents are going on, of water passing into
and out of the cell of the ova, through their
transparent walls. This is doubtless necessary
at the present stage for the perfect development
of the eggs. At the end of three weeks the
embryo is fully formed, moves freely within its
envelope, and shortly escapes. External circum-
* Higginbottom, in " Ann. Nat. Hist.," 2nd ser. XII. p.
371.
GEEAT WATEE NEWT. 145
stances, especially temperature, exert consider-
able influence upon the growth of the embryo,
and either hasten or retard its development.
When the tadpole leaves the ovum it swims away
freely, and either attaches itself to the sides or
falls to the bottom of the vessel. It soon com-
mences to feed voraciously, is not at all particular
about its diet, and will devour the tadpoles of
the smooth newt with no compunction on account
of their near relationship. " I have seen the
warty triton," says Mr. Higginbottom,* " in its
branchial state with three of the smaller species
in its stomach at one time." The legs appear
to be very tardy in their development, and until
they possess sufficient strength to support the
reptile on land it continues to inhabit the water
in its fish-like state. It is not until three months
after their exclusion from the egg that the triton-
tadpoles give any evidence of their quadrupedal
tendencies. Even at this period the hind legs
are exceedingly delicate, though the fore legs are
developed in as many weeks. When the legs
are all fully formed the branchiae are absorbed,
the gills are closed, and the triton emerges upon
dry land to enter upon its terrestrial existence.
* " On the Influence of Physical Agents on the Develop-
ment of the Triton." Philosophical Transactions, 1850
part ii. p. 431.
L
146 OUR REPTILES.
This generally occurs about the middle of Sep-
tember. It may be noted that tritons which
emerge from the ova too late in the season to
develop their legs before the cold weather sets
in, make no progress during the winter, and do
not attain a terrestrial state until the ensuing
spring. Under ordinary and favourable circum-
stances, five or six months are necessary for their
passage through their metamorphoses.
There were, prior to Mr. Higginbottom's paper
becoming known, two puzzles in the history and
habits of the tritons. Why were they so com-
monly collected from water, and yet, soon after
being transferred to water in confinement, make
every effort to escape from that element ? And,
why were so many varieties and sizes, crested or
uncrested, found, and yet so nearly allied as
to appear but as forms of the same species?
Answers to both these queries are found in the
terrestrial habit and slow development of the
reptile through three whole years after its change
from the tadpole stage. "The triton does not
commonly return to the water until the expiration
of the third year, when it is so far advanced towards
maturity as to be able to reproduce its kind."
We have here a singular instance of protracted
development, of a slow growth through four suc-
cessive summers, and a cessation of growth
through four inglorious winters. At length the
GREAT WATER NEWT. 147
full period of efthood is arrived at, when, the
crested male having attained the dimensions of
a perfect gentleman-newt, may take to himself a
spouse, or the more soberly attired lady- newt
lend a willing ear or eye to the advances of the
other sex.
At the close of the first year the length of the
triton is about two inches, of the second year
three inches, of the third year four inches, and at
the expiration of the fourth year it has reached
from five to six inches, thus adding annually
about an inch to its length.
In its earliest terrestrial state the skin is but
slightly rough, and through the first and second
year very little change takes place in this respect j
but at the close of the third year the skin becomes
manifestly rougher, which attains the perfection
of its warted appearance in the fourth year.
During the first and second year there is
scarcely any difference in the sexes ; but during
the breeding season in the third year, the male
aspires to an incipient crest, the tail expands,
and a permanent silvery stripe appears along
either side. The average weight of the triton at
the close of each of the first four years is thus
given by the observer already quoted : At the
end of the first year 25 grains, of the second year
54 grains, of the third year 75 grains, and of the
fourth year 134 grains. Hence, we learn that
L 2
148 OUR EEPTILES.
whilst the weight is more than doubled at the
close of the second year, but little more than
one-third is added during the third year, whilst
in the fourth year three -fourths of the prior
year's weight becomes superadded.
At the close of March the perfect triton again
resumes its predilections for the water, and
returns to an aquatic life. At this period it
becomes voracious, the male is full crested, with
which appendage the female, generally the
largest, is not adorned. After a little more than
three months of this second life in the water, the
crest of the male diminishes to a mere ridge, the
female has deposited her ova, and both return
again to a terrestrial existence until the following
and succeeding years. Thus are the phases of
their existence passed, and there is little reason
to wonder at the fact that the same species
should have been regarded as distinct in some of
these stages when the history of their career
was unknown, and their metamorphoses little
understood.
Hitherto we have not specially referred to the
period of hybernation. Prior to this there is a
general meeting of all ages, which occurs at no
other period of the year, and takes place about
the month of September.
In the summer the tritons are found in abundance in
old brick-yards. The brickmakers, who are constantly dis-
GREAT WATER NEWT. 149
turbing the water and removing the clay, and who occasion-
ally clear the bottoms of the pools, state that they never find
any tritons in the water during the winter months ; but
they discover great numbers of them in holes in the clay, and
sometimes ten or twelve coiled together. I have observed
that either a very wet or very dry situation is fatal to the
triton during its state of hybernation, and that a moderately
damp one is always chosen for that state of existence.
When in this state respiration is very low, and
is believed to be carried on through the pores of
the skin. No food is taken or required during
this period, and the body is comparatively stiff.
Tritons of the third and subsequent years usually
hybernate in company, a number of them being
rolled together into a lump as large as a cricket-
ball. Those of an earlier period seem to descend
deeper into the earth, and hybernate singly,
WTien these reptiles are kept in confinement,
it will be supposed from what has already been
stated, that the aquarium is not the best place
for them except in the tadpole state, or the
breeding season for mature specimens ; but that
they should be kept in a case under some
arrangement that water may be sought of their-
own will when desired, and that during the
winter some provision should be made for their
hybernation under somewhat similar conditions
to those enjoyed in the natural state. To force
them at some periods of their life to exist in
water is something like endeavouring to compel
150 OUE EEPTILES.
eels to live on land, and exchange their fishy
habits for those of a snake. The snake may love
to lie in water sometimes, but it still remains
terrestrial, and the eel may be found on land,
but is no less aquatic. The triton may be
thoroughly aquatic at one period of its existence,
and as completely terrestrial at another. Any
attempts to subvert nature will only end in dis-
appointment.
The amount of cold which the triton is able
to bear is greater than one would suppose. On
this point Mr. Higginbottom writes :
I put two tritons into some water, and exposed them to a
freezing temperature during the night ; in the morning I
found the water frozen very firmly, with the tritons enclosed
in its centre. On thawing they were lively and flexible. In
the second experiment there was a piece of ice at the bottom
of a circular vessel. I placed two tritons upon it, and then
another covering of ice, and filled the vessel with water. I
exposed it during the night in the open air to a temperature
of 28 F. In the morning the whole had become a solid
mass of ice twelve inches in circumference, with the animals
in the centre. On breaking the ice carefully they were
found completely encased in the ice. I had some difficulty
in separating the extremity of one, but being liberated it
used its arms and legs equally well."*
The Warty Newt is characterized by the fol-
lowing features. The skin is warted, and uni-
formly covered with scattered pores ; a row of
* " Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist.," 1853, p. 378.
GREAT WATER NEWT. 151
pores occur on each side of the head, and along
each side of the body, so as to form a line along
the space between the fore and hind legs. A
collar formed by a loose fold of the skin passes
beneath the neck. The tail is very much flattened
laterally, with sharp edges above and below, and
terminates gradually in a blunt point. In spring
a high membranous crest with a jagged edge
runs along the back from between the eyes nearly
to the tail, which also is crested. The upper
parts are blackish-brown, blotched with rounded
spots of a darker tint. The breast and belly are
of a bright orange, or orange -yellow, with con-
spicuous round black spots, sometimes confluent,
or running one into the other, and forming
irregular bands. The sides are dotted with
white, and there is often a silvery white band
along the sides of the tail.
Entire length about five or six inches.
152
COMMON SMOOTH NEWT OR EFT.
MALE SMOOTH NEWT.
(Lophinus punctatus.)
THE Smooth Newt, Eft, or Effet, is the most
common species of newt in the British isles. It
is found over a large part of Europe ; is very
common in Switzerland, Belgium, Galicia, and
the Bukovina; uncommonly numerous in Silesia,
and very abundant in Italy, especially near
Rome ; inhabits many parts of France, and is
found in Carniola.* In our country it is found
in almost every clear ditch or pond, sometimes
in great numbers, where it feeds upon aquatic
insects and worms, and in their turn, as some
have observed, themselves become food for the
great warty newt.
Though perfectly harmless, these poor crea-
tures, devoid of any means of defence or offence,
* Lord Clermont's " Quadrupeds and Reptiles of Europe."
COMMON SMOOTH NEWT OR EFT. 153
are often the subject of persecution in rural dis-
tricts. Schoolboys, especially, consider them
fair game for torture, and adults view its in-
fliction with complacency, or at lea$t without
protestation, because not a few still entertain
superstitious or fabulous notions either of their
poisonous properties, or their secret association
with the " black art." In towns, since aquaria,
vivaria, and such "parlour menageries" have
become fashionable, newts and lizards have been
better known and appreciated, and have even
been taken under the protection of the fair sex.
In common with the warty newt, this species is
slow in arriving at maturity, and there is every
reason to believe that the remarks made under
that species, as to development, &c., will also
apply to the present. In the first edition of
BelPs ' ' British Reptiles " considerable confusion
was made of the smooth newts, on account of
the different appearances presented by them at
different periods of their career. In the second
edition most of the errors were corrected, but
one was still maintained, to which Dr. Gray has
referred in the following terms : " Mr. Bell,
believing that the form of the upper lip afforded
a good character for the distinction of the species
of these animals, divides them into two species,
thus, (1.) ' Lissotriton punctatus, upper lip
straight, not overhanging the lower. (2.) Lis-
154 OUR REPTILES.
sotriton palmipes, upper lip pendulous at the
sides, overhanging the under in a distinct festoon
as far as the base of the lower jaw. Toes of the
hinder feet fringed with a short membrane at all
seasons/ I may observe that the latter is not
the Triton palmipes of Latreille, which has the
hind feet of the male, in the breeding season,
webbed ; and that I believe it only differs from
the former by being in the fully developed state
at the season of reproduction. I am borne out
in this idea by the observations of Messrs.
Higginbottom, Hogg, and many others. The
former observes : 'Some tritons have been
distinguished by the upper lip overhanging the
lower/ I have observed that in the first year of
Triton asper (T. cristatus) the upper lip over-
hangs the under," &c.*
Newts undergo confinement with complacency,
and under such circumstances their insectivorous
habits may render them useful. The results of
one of these experiments is thus recorded :
In the fern-case I formed a small pond of water, thinking
that as effets are mostly found in ponds during the day, in
summer they would enjoy the luxury of a bath. Not so,
however. I never saw them voluntarily go into the water,
and when thrown in they always scrambled out as soon as
possible. The same thing occurs in keeping them in the
* Dr. Gray, in " Proceedings of the Zoological Society,"
1858, p. 137.
COMMON SMOOTH NEWT OR EFT. 155
aquarium ; they always crawl out if they have the oppor-
tunity, seeming to eschew the very element they are gene-
rally found in when caught. These effets readily took food
from the hand, particularly if it was rubbed against their
noses ; they seemed almost too sluggish to take much trouble
in the matter else. I gave them small worms, gentles, and
ants' eggs ; they seized them with a bite, and got them down
with a series of gulps. But I hardly ever fed them, perhaps
not more than a dozen times altogether, as my object was to
combine business with pleasure ; the fern-case, in common
with most others I expect, being at times much blighted
with green fly. I first put in lizards, to try and keep them
down, but could not keep the lizards alive for any length of
time, owing, I think, to the dampness of the case not being
suitable to their constitutions, and their active habits making
them require more food than they could obtain. I then
tried small toads, and had the same luck with them as with
the lizards. My third venture, the newts, were a great
success ; they soon cleared off all the green fly within reach,
crawling to nearly the top of the ponds for that purpose. I
have never had any trouble with the green fly since their
introduction to the case.*
About the month of September, the smooth
newts seek a comfortable spot in which to pass
their long winter sleep. It may be under stones,
bricks, or pieces of timber, but is not often far
beneath the surface of the soil. On this occasion
they may be found, like the warty newt, in com-
panies, closely packed together
Rolled up like a ball,
In a hole snug and small,
They sleep till warm weather comes back, poor things.
Science Gossip, vol. L p. 39.
156 OUR REPTILES.
Though the children in the nursery sing thus
of the dormouse, it is equally applicable to the
newts. In the early spring they emerge from
their places of concealment, and the mature
animals seek the water to pass a tripled honey-
moon in an aquatic state.
The eft, in common with other reptiles, casts
its skin at certain, or perhaps uncertain, periods
of the year. Mr. Guyon has thus described the
process, from his own observation :
The operation was nearly completed, the skin being
pushed down the body in a ring, by which the hinder legs
were, to use an Irishism, handcuffed to the tail. The snout
was principally used in pushing it down, and the tail was
scarcely free when the animal seized the skin with its mouth,
and in half a dozen gulps swallowed it. This act occupied
nearly a minute, during which three filmy gloves, the integu-
ments of the paws, were projecting from the mouth. Al-
though a tremendous yawn testified to the fatigue of the
performance, the newt made no objection to concluding the
meal with a scrap of roast mutton.*
From Mr. Higginbottom's remarks one might
conclude that the mode of depositing the ova
was the same in this instance as in that of the
warty newt, and that each ovum was deposited
separately in the fold of a leaf. To this conclu-
sion Mr. Kinahan dissents, and observes that he
has seen the ova of the smooth newt deposited
* The Zoologist, p. 6210.
COMMON SMOOTH NEWT OR EFT. 157
in strings of from four to six about the roots of
aquatic plants, and that such ova he has hatched*
Our own observations confirm those of Mr.
Kinahan, as we have seen them deposited in
similar strings or chains, on stones, &c., but
have never attempted to preserve or place them
in conditions for hatching. Three of the species
of newt herein recorded are said to be inhabitants
of Ireland, and of these the present species is
most common. The warty newt is more doubt-
ful, and the palmate d newt was found by Mr.
Thompson in the western wilds. There is no
doubt that all are condemned to death as soon
as they meet the eye of a thorough-going Irish-
man.
In a paper by Mr. Kinahan, read before the
Dublin Natural History Society (Feb. 10, 1854),
the superstitions regarding these reptiles hold
a conspicuous place. "In almost every part of
the country we find these animals," he says,
" looked on with disgust and horror, if not with
dread. This arises from two superstitions : one
of them, common to great part of Ireland,
relating chiefly to the animal in its aquatic state,
and which in the county of Dublin has earned
for it the names of Man-eater and Man-keeper ;
though the dry ask of the county of Dublin that
is, the animal in its terrestrial stage is supposed
to be equally guilty with the first-mentioned in
158 OUE EEPTILES.
the habit of going down the throats of those
people who are so silly as either to go to sleep
in the fields with their mouths open, or to drink
from the streams in which the dark lewkers
(newts in the aquatic state) harbour : they are
also said to be swallowed by the thirsty cattle.
In consequence, the country people kill them
whenever they meet with them on land, and
poison the stream they are found in by putting
lime into the cattle's drinking-pools. In either
case the result is the same, the reptile taking up
his quarters in the interior of his victim in some
way, it would puzzle a physiologist to explain
how. It contrives to live on the nutriment taken
by the luckless individual or animal, so that,
deprived of its nourishment, the latter pines
away; nay, so comfortable does the newt make
herself, that, not content with living by herself,
she contrives to bring up a little family. Often
have I been told of the man who got rid of a
mamma newt and six young ones by the follow-
ing recipe, which I am assured is infallible : The
patient must abstain from all fluids for four-and-
twenty hours, and eat only salt meats ; at the
expiration of that time, being very thirsty, he
must go and lie open-mouthed over a running
stream the noisier the better ; when the newts,
dying of thirst, and hearing the music of the
water, cannot resist the temptation, but come
COMMON SMOOTH NEWT OR EFT. 159
forth to drink, and of course you take care that
they do not get back again. The dry ask, in
addition to this bad character, is also supposed
to be endowed with the power of the f evil eye J
children and cows exposed to its gaze wasting
away. The Rev. J. Graves states that in Kil-
kenny it is looked on as ' a devil's beast/ and,
as such, burnt. But to compensate in some
measure for its evil qualities, the dry ask. is said
in Dublin to bear in it a charm. Any one desirous
of the power of curing scalds or burns, has only
to apply the tongue along the dry ask's belly to
obtain the power of curing these ailments by a
touch of that organ. In the Queen's County it
is also used to cure disease, but in a different
way ; being put into an iron pot under the
patient's bed, it is said to effect a certain cure,
though of what disease I am not quite clear." *
Lord Clermont's excellent description of this
reptile may usefully close this chapter :
The whole of the skin is quite smooth, without
any tubercles ; on the top of the head are two rows
of pores; occasionally there are a few distinct
pores on the sides, forming an indistinct lateral
line ; the collar beneath the throat very incon-
spicuous; the male in the breeding season fur-
nished with a crest, which runs continuously
* The Zoologist, p. 4355.
160 OUE REPTILES.
from the top of the head along the tail, and is
regularly festooned on its edge. The upper
parts are of a light brownish -grey, inclining to
olive; yellowish beneath, becoming bright orange
in spring, marked all over with round, black,
unequal spots ; on the head the spots form about
five longitudinal streaks ; and there is a yellowish
streak under the eyes. The female is much less
spotted than the male, the spots being smaller
and often very obscure, and the under parts are
often quite plain. It passes a great deal of its
time on land, when the skin loses its softness
and sometimes becomes wrinkled ; the toes, from
being flat, become round ; the membranes of the
back and tail entirely disappear, and all the
colours become more dull.*
Entire length, from 3^ to 4 inches.
* Lord Clermont's " Quadrupeds and Reptiles of Europe,"
p. 264.
FEMALE SMOOTH NEWT.
161
PALMATE NEWT.
(Lophinus palmatus, Dum. and Bibr.)
THIS species is said to be the most common
newt around Paris, and Lord Clermont states
that it occurs in many parts of Germany, near
Vienna, and elsewhere. It is common in the
south of France, but rare in Switzerland. In
Italy it has been found near Rome and about Pisa.
To this M. Deby adds more explicitly, that it
was found ' ' by Fournelle in the department de
la Moselle, by Sturm in Germany, by Razou-
mowski in Switzerland, by Latreille in France,
and by De Selys, Van Haesendonck, and myself,
in Belgium/'*
The specimens described and figured in the
first edition of BelFs " Reptiles " as the Palmated
Smooth Newt (Lissotriton palmipes), do not re-
present a genuine species at all, but a variety of
* 'The Zoologist, p. 2231.
H
162 OUR REPTILES.
the common newt, spotted on the sides and
belly with large black spots. This error was
corrected in the second edition, and new figures,
not very characteristic, added.
This species appears to have been first recog-
nized by Razoumowski in 1788, when it was
discovered in the fountain of Vernens, in the
canton of Vaud, in company with the Smooth
Newt. The first notice of it in this country, as
far as we are aware, is the account in the Zoolo-
gist, dated May 3rd, 1848, by Mr. J. Wolley,
in which he mentions having found it around
Edinburgh ; and that during a ramble in the
Pentland Hills he saw no other species.* In
the succeeding number of the same journal, Mr.
W. Baker, of Bridgewater, stated that he had
found this species in the neighbourhood of
Bridgewater for many years, and had forwarded
specimens to Mr. Belief so that the merit of
its discovery rests with Mr. Baker. A subse-
quent communication from Mr. Wolley adds
another locality, that of some pools by the side
of the hills which rise from Loch Eribol, on the
west.J
About this time M. Julian Deby indicated the
points of difference between the common newt
* The Zoologist, p. 2149. t The Zoologist, p. 2198.
t The Zoologist, p. 2265.
PALMATE NEWT. 163
and the present species, with a view to the cor-
rection of those who had maintained that the
Palmate Newt was only a variety of the common
newt ; whilst Mr. Bell had announced his belief
in its being a species entirely new to science.
We believe that Mr. Edward Newman first
declared that it was specifically distinct from
Lophinus punctatus, and, moreover, that it was
" not new to science/' but was really the true
Palmated Newt.
Five-and-twenty years ago, Mr. Holdsworth
says, in company with other small boys, he used
to catch black-footed newts in a pond near Dart-
mouth, in Devonshire; the means of capture
being of the simplest kind, consisting of a bit
of twine fastened to a small bent pin, and a
worm for bait. He had since caught a great
many of these newts, and three years ago (1860)
they were abundant in the same pond. In 1863
he spent a few days in Herefordshire, and near
the village of Letton, about twelve miles from
Hereford, had again the satisfaction of seeing
Lissotriton palmipes in abundance, although, as
far as he could ascertain, confined to one pond.
In this case, as well as at Dartmouth, L. palmipes
was the only species to be found. A number of
specimens were sent by him to the Zoological
Gardens, and at a meeting of the Zoological
M 2
164 OUR EEPTILES.
Society specimens were exhibited.* Its habits
do not apparently differ from those of the
common smooth newt. The males show the
same lateral curvature of the tail, with a rapid
vibration of its lash-like extremity during the
love season. The slough is cast entire, and, in
most cases, immediately swallowed by its owner. f
In pointing out the distinctions to be observed
between this species and its allies, Professor
Bell notes that " the whole animal is smaller ;
the head flatter, broader in proportion, and
beautifully marbled. The crest is straight, and
much less elevated than in the other species,
and begins further back on the neck. The
hinder feet of the male are palmate ; entirely so
in the summer, less so in the autumn, and
towards winter the web is scarcely broader than
in the smooth newt in the full season. The tail
is not much more than half the depth, termi-
nating rather abruptly, and furnished at its ex-
tremity with a small filament, which varies in
length from two to four lines, in the female
dwindling to a mere mucronation. The colours
of the back and sides are more clear and bright,
although generally darker. The spots are more
numerous and often confluent; and the tail has
* See " Proceedings of Zool. Soc., 1863," p. 159.
t E. W. H. Holdsworth, Zoologist, p. 8640.
PALMATE NEWT. 165
two distinct longitudinal fasciae of spots, with
occasionally a few between them ; but the in-
ferior margin is invariably and distinctly pale
and immediate. The female is usually paler than
the male ; but the spots on the tail are in general
more numerous, smaller, and disposed to become
confluent."* Indeed, so distinct and permanent
are the characters which separate the present
species from its congeners, that it seems sur-
prising that it remained so long without recog-
nition.
In a communication made by Dr. Gray to the
Zoological Society in 1863, he thus adverts to
some points of difference between this species
and others :
The T. cristatus has a circular ring-like iris, and the only
Batrachians which appear to have the spot on each side of
the iris, forming a band across the eyes, are the English
Lophinus punctatus and L. palmatus ; the band on the
eyes looking in these like a continuation of the dark streak
on the side of the head. I may add that the best character
for the distinction of these two species, which are often
found in the same pond, is that in L. punctatus the crest of
the male is scalloped on the edge, and high in front, while
in L. palmatus it is low in front and higher behind, and has
a smooth straight upper edge. The tail of the latter is also
always truncated, and usually appendaged at the tip.t
* Bell's " Brit. Kept," 2nd ed., p. 156.
f Dr. Gray, in "Proc. ZooL Soc., 1863," p. 203.
166 OUR REPTILES,
M. Deby thus compares the two species :
L. punctatus. L. palmatus.
1. Tail generally tapering 1. Tail suddenly truncate
to a point. before the apex, and termi-
nating in a slender filament
three lines in length.
2. Hind feet having the 2. Hind feet perfectly pal-
toes free, only edged by a mate, all the toes united by
membrane. a membrane.
3. Back with a very large 3. Back flattened, with two
festooned undulating crest, elevated lateral lines passing
which extends from the nape above the eyes and extending
of the head to the end of the to the base of the tail. The
tail. No lateral elevated dorsal crest small and simple,
ridges.
4. Length much greater 4. Size much smaller than
than palmatus. punctatus.*
The females are more difficult to distinguish
from the same sex of the common smooth newt
than are the males; but even these present
features which are characteristic, and which
were indicated by Mr. Wolley as supplementary
to the above. Their heads seem broader and
shorter than in L. punctatus, and the toes of
their hind feet are, for the most part, shorter ;
the males also have the former, but not the latter
character. As to the colour, if in a genial situ-
ation the belly is usually a delicate milk-and-
* The Zoologist, p. 2232.
PALMATE NEWT. 167
water white, tinged more or less with yellow
towards the middle line ; the back and sides of
the body and tail are of a dark olive-green, and
in some, particularly very large specimens, are
beautifully mottled by a network of lighter
colour. In moor land the skin becomes harsh,
and coloured more like the females of the
common newt, sometimes even to the orange
belly.*
The distinguishing features of this species
are, besides belonging to the smooth- skinned
section, that there is a prominent line running
down on each side of the back, from the nose to
the hind legs. The crest, or fin, along the back
and tail is highest on the tail. The toes of the
male are united and completely webbed. The
upper part of the body of the male is olive-
brown or greenish, with dark spots, with a wide
band of yellowish white, bordered with round
spots, on the side of the tail ; and the belly is
yellow, with a few darker spots. The female is
lighter coloured, and differs so much in general
appearance in the spring that it has been de-
scribed as a distinct species,
Mr. Higginbottom thus summarizes the cha-
racteristics of this species :
1st. Tail suddenly truncate before the apex,
* The Zoologist, p. 2268.
168 OUR REPTILES.
and terminating in a slender filament three lines
in length.
2nd. Hind feet perfectly palmate, all the toes
united by a membrane.
3rd. The dorsal crest small and simple.
4th. Size much smaller than the smooth newt
(Lophinus punctatus).
I have fully ascertained the changes when the
breeding season is over. The slender filament
is absorbed, and the truncated portion of the
tail becomes obtusely rounded off, with a slight-
indurated dark tip at the end, and the web on
the hind feet is wholly absorbed, leaving the
toes free.*
* " Annals of Natural Hist.," 2nd series, vol. xii. p. 382.
TADPOLE OF NEWT.
169
GRAY'S BANDED NEWT.
(Ommatotriton vittatus, Gray.)
a bed
SKULLS OP NKWTS.*
THE fourth species of British Newt rests on
the authority of specimens in the British
Museum. The sole habitat of this species for
some time known was Lycia, with the exception
of the specimens in the British Museum collected
by Dr. Gray in the neighbourhood of London ;
but more recently it has been found to inhabit
Holland, Belgium, and Prance. Professor Bell
described and figured one in his "British
Reptiles " as a variety of his Palmated Smooth
Newt, which latter now proves to be a variety
of the Common Smooth Newt.
* a. Triton cristatus. b. Lophinus punctatus.
c. Lophinus palmatus. d. Ommatotriton vittatus.
170 OUR REPTILES.
The present newt differs generically from the
Common Newt, that is, the difference is of such
a nature as to warrant its exclusion from the
same genus which includes the Common Newt,
and its being placed in another, and a new
genus, under the name of Ommatotriton. From
his remarks, it would appear that Professor Bell
considered the specimens above alluded to as
veritably indigenous, for he says, " There is no
reason to doubt that they are British, and there
is ground for believing that they were taken at
no great distance from London." His sole
objection seemed to be that he did not regard
them as different from his own Palm -footed
Newt, and he quotes Dr. Gray's letter to him on
the subject, which would probably not be so
decided then as now ; for, as it will be hereafter
seen, Dr. Gray is more convinced than ever that
he was right, and that Professor Bell was
wrong.
The letter quoted is to the following effect :
" My Salamandra vittata (meaning the present
species), which has been figured by Guerin,* who
has adopted my name, belongs to the same
group as the former (Triton cristatus). It agrees
with it in having the crest interrupted over the
loins, and chiefly differs from it in having smaller
* Guerin, " Icon. Keg. Animal," 17, t. 28, 2.
OKAY'S BANDED NEWT. 171
tubercles, and in colour. It is easily known both
from S. palustris (Triton cristatus) and from
Triton (Lophinus) pundatus by the wide black-
edged white streak along the lower part of each
side of the body, &c. The head is much larger,,
and more depressed, than that of any of the
varieties of T. pundatus.
" The species is found in Holland and Belgium
as well as here. It must be very local in this
country, as I have seen no specimens since those
I caught some thirty years ago."
Whilst debating as to the propriety of includ-
ing this species amongst " Our Reptiles," we
communicated with Dr. Gray on the subject, to
which he replied : " Triton vittatus, Gray, is
not only a distinct species, but a distinct genus
from any of our European Tritons, characterized
by the form of the skull and the large size of the
orbits."
On referring to a paper on the Salamandrines,
published by Dr. Gray in 1858, we found that
after giving England, the North of France, and
Belgium, as localities for this species, he makes
the following observations : " Mr. Bell, in his
' British Reptiles/ gives a good figure of one
of my specimens of this species, which he is
convinced 'is to be considered as a variety of
the Palmate Newt. The osteological character,
as well as the form of the dorsal crest, and the
172 OUR REPTILES.
disposition of the colours, shows this is not the
case, and that it is not only a distinct species,
but a very distinct genus, as is further proved
by M. Duges' figure of the skull/ "* In illustra-
tion of the latter remark, we have given wood-
cuts of the skull of this species, together with
the other British Newts, which have been faith-
fully copied from M. Duges' treatise in the French
" Annals of Natural History." f
The habits of this species do not probably
differ from those of the Smooth and Warted
Newts ; but hitherto it has been found so seldom,
and the observations have been so few, that
beyond its merely scientific character, we have
no character to give it. Indeed, in a popular
sense we may almost say that it is a newt with-
out a character. So far as genus and species are
concerned, it is regarded as very well charac-
terized by scientific men. In this sense we will
give its character, as written by Dr. Gray.
" Pale grey, closely black-spotted. Tail nearly
black. Side of abdomen and middle of tail with
a broad wide streak, white beneath (belly).
Throat black-dotted. Mature male, during the
breeding season, with a high-toothed dorsal
(back) and caudal (tail) fin, the base interrupted
* Dr. Gray, in " Proc. Zool. Soc., 1858," p. 140.
t Ann. den Sc. Nat., 3rd series, xvii. t. 1.
GKAY'S BANDED NEWT. 173
over the loins. Toes separate, webbed, slightly
finned."
Our figure is taken from one of Dr. Gray's
specimens in the British Museum, courteously
placed at our disposal for this purpose.
Here terminate the Amphibia, as represented
in the British islands. It has already been ob-
served that some excellent erpetologists consider
the Amphibia in the light of a class distinct from
the Eeptilia. We are heretic enough to doubt
whether this distinction will long be maintained ;
and to us it appears that recent investigations
and discoveries tend more to the association than
to the dissociation of these two groups of rep-
tiles. The student will find in Dr. Griinther's
" Reptiles of British India " facts which we are
fain to believe support this view. This, however,
is no place for the discussion of such a question,
which is in itself of very little importance to the
readers for whom these pages have been written.
A toad remains still a toad, and an amphibious
animal, whether we choose to call it a Reptile or
a Batrachian.
174
THE HAWK'S-BILL TURTLE.
(Chelonia imbricata, Schw.)
WE have advisedly reserved the Chelonians
until the close of " Our Reptiles/'' instead of
commencing with them, as in true scientific
arrangement we were almost bound to do. It is
a doubtful point with us whether they deserve a
place at all, certainly not a prominent one ; and
that this little volume might not be regarded as
incomplete in its enumeration, we have added
them at the end, in the hope of " saving our
turtle," even though it should prove to be only
" mock turtle."
The HawkVBill Turtle is an American species,
and its occurrence on our coasts must be re-
garded as the result of accident. Sibbald refers
to one of which he possessed the shell, and which
came from the Orkneys. Dr. Fleming states :
" I have credible testimony of its having been
taken at Papa Stour, one of the West Zetland
Islands," and Dr. Turton records an instance of
one which in the year 1774 was taken in the
Severn, and placed in his father's fish-ponds,
where it lived till winter. This is all the evidence,
THE HAWK'S- BILL TURTLE. 175
slender as it may be, upon which, the present
species is included in the Fauna of Great Britain.
This we shall not in the present instance much
regret, as it is a very interesting species, and
one which possesses a commercial value, so
that we shall avail ourselves of the example of
our predecessors, and include it amongst our
number.
The Chelonians are divided into families for
the purposes of classification ; one of these in-
cludes the Thalassians, or Sea-Turtles, to which
both species we shall have occasion to enumerate
belong. In this family the fore-limbs are con-
siderably lengthened, and all are modified into
flappers, or paddles for swimming. Turtles
seldom leave the sea, except to deposit their
eggs, though some accounts state, " they will
crawl up the shores of desert islands in the
night, and clamber up the edges of isolated rocks
far at sea, for the purpose of browsing on certain
marine plants." They may be met with far out
at sea, floating motionless upn the water, as if
dead. They are good divers, and can remain a
long time beneath the surface of the water.
Their food consists chiefly of marine plants,
whilst some of them do not object to a delicate
crustacean, or to appropriate molluscs as their
chief articles of food.
At the breeding season these reptiles seek a
176 OUE REPTILES.
retired, sandy beach after sunset, and there,
above high-water mark, a hollow is excavated to
serve as a nest, in which during the night about
a hundred eggs are deposited. It is said that the
female repeats this operation three times in the
same season, at intervals of two or three weeks.
The eggs are lightly covered with sand, and left
to be hatched by the heat of the sun, which
operation is accomplished in two or three weeks.
The parents thenceforth take no regard of
their progeny. As soon as the young turtles
leave the egg, they seek the sea, some of them
falling a victim to rapacious birds during the
brief journey they have to perform, and many
others serving as a delicate morsel for predatory
fish as soon as they reach the water. Thus the
balance of life is maintained, or the surface of
the sea might soon be covered with floating
turtles.
The eggs of the turtles are more or less
spherical, and are much prized as articles of
food. A native Brazilian will eat twenty or
thirty for breakfast, as they are about the size
of those of a "Bantam" hen. By the river
Amazon a large number of turtle eggs are se-
cured every year for the sake of turtle-oil. The
stratum of eggs in the sand is ascertained by a
pole thrust in, and the harvest of eggs is esti-
mated, like the produce of a well- cultivated
THE HAWK'S-BILL TUETLE. 177
acre; an acre accurately measured, of 120 feet
long and 30 wide, having been known to yield
one hundred jars of oil. The eggs when col-
lected are thrown into long troughs of water,
and being broken and stirred with shovels, they
remain exposed to the sun till the yolk, the oily
part, is collected on the surface, and has time to
inspissate ; as fast as this oily part is collected
on the surface of the water, it is taken off and
boiled over a quick fire. This animal oil, or
( tortoise-grease/ when prepared, is limpid, in-
odorous, and scarcely yellow, and it is used, not
merely to burn in lamps, but in dressing victuals,
to which it imparts no disagreeable taste. It is
not easy, however, to produce oil of turtle' s eggs
quite pure; there is generally a putrid smell,
owing to the mixture of addled eggs. The total
gathering of the three shores between the junc-
tion of the Orinoco with the Apure, where the
collection of eggs is annually made, is 5,000
jars, and it takes about 5,000 eggs to furnish
one jar of oil.* By this one means, therefore,
in a single district, twenty-five millions of turtles
are prevented coming into existence every year ;
or, as many as would, when full grown, cover
eight square miles, as closely as they could be
placed to each other.
* Simmonds's " Curiosities of Food," p. 182.
N
178 OUE REPTILES.
Turtle-catching is another means by which
excessive turtle-population is kept in check
whether to supply the tables of epicures with
the dainty " green turtle/' or to secure the
horny plates of the "Hawk's Bill" for con-
version into combs, card-cases, &c., for the use
of the elite of the civilized world. One method
adopted is to watch the females as they come on
shore to deposit their eggs, to turn them on
their backs, and let them lie helplessly vibrating
their " flappers " till their hunters think fit to
kill them, or carry them away. Another method
is described by Mr. Darwin as adopted at Keel-
ing Island. The water is so clear and shallow
that, although at first a turtle quickly dives out
of sight, yet in a canoe or boat under sail the
pursuers, after no very long chase, come up to
it. A man standing ready in the bows at this
moment dashes through the water upon the
turtle's back ; then clinging with both hands by
the shell of the neck he is carried away till the
animal becomes exhausted, and is secured.* A
more curious mode of capture is that by means
of the Remora, or sucking-fish. A number of
these fish are carried in tubs in the boats that
go in search of turtles. To the tail of each fish
is attached a strong cord. When the fishermen
* Darwin's " Journal of Researches."
THE HAWK'S -BILL TURTLE. 179
perceive the turtle basking on the surface of
the sea, they drop one of these fish overboard,
retaining hold of the cord, which they "pay
out " to a sufficient length not to impede the
Remora. As soon as the fish observes the
floating reptile it makes towards it, and by
means of its sucker attaches itself to it so firmly
that both fish and turtle are drawn into the
boat. Several other methods are adopted in
other localities, but these are amongst the most
curious.
The tortoise-shell of commerce is in part
yielded by this species, although there is little
doubt that both in ancient times and in the
present, more than one, and probably several
species, afforded tortoise-shell.
Bruce, the African traveller, alludes to this
article.
The Egyptians (he says) dealt very largely with the
Romans in this elegant article of commerce. Pliny tells us,
the cutting them for veneering or inlaying was first prac-
tised by Carvilius Pollio, from which we should presume
that the Romans were ignorant of the art of separating the
laminaB by fire placed in the inside of the shell, when the
meat is taken out ; for these scales, though they appear per-
fectly distinct and separate, do yet adhere, and oftener break
than split, where the mark of separation may be seen dis-
tinctly. Martial says that beds were inlaid with it. Juvenal
and Apuleius, in his tenth book, mentions that the Indian
bed was all over shining with tortoise-shell on the outside,
and swelling with stuffing of down within. The immense
N2
180 OUR REPTILES.
use of it in Rome may be guessed at by what we learn from
Yelleius Paterculus, who says that when Alexandria was
taken by Julius Caesar, the magazines or warehouses were
so full of this article that he proposed to have made it the
principal ornament of his triumph, as he did ivory after-
wards, when triumphing for having happily finished the
African war. This, too, in more modern times, was a great
article in the trade to China, and I have always been ex-
ceedingly surprised, since near the whole of the Arabian
gulf is comprehended in the charter of the East-India Com-
pany, that they do not make an experiment of fishing both
pearls and tortoises ; the former of which, so long abandoned,
must now be in great plenty and excellence ; and a few
fishers put on board each ship trading to Jidda, might surely
find very lucrative employment with a long boat or pinnace,
at the time the vessels were selling their cargo in the port ;
and while busied in this gainful occupation, the coasts of the
Bed Sea might be fully explored.
The thirteen plates which cover the carapace
are known technically as two plates, two main
plates, three backs, two wings, two tongues,
and two shoulders in all, thirteen. In an
animal of the ordinary size, about three feet
long and two and a half wide, the largest plates
will weigh about nine ounces, and measure
about twelve inches by seven, and one-fourth of
an inch thick in the middle.*
The market value of tortoise-shell is subject
to many fluctuations, but at ordinary times it
ranges from sixteen to thirty shillings per pound.
* The Technologist, vol. i. p. 382.
THE HAWK'S-BJLL TURTLE. 181
The total value of our imports in one year is
estimated at about twenty-five thousand pounds.
The greater proportion of this is derived from
the British East Indies, and the residue from
Central and South America, Australia, Egypt, the
West India and Philippine Islands.
The mode of working this substance is de-
scribed at some length by MM. Dumeril and
Bibron, in their large work on " Reptiles." In
order to straighten the plates, which, when de-
tached, are bent in various ways, it is sufficient
to steep them in boiling water for a few minutes,
and then take them out and place them between
plates of metal or smooth blocks of hard wood,
leaving them to cool, great pressure being em-
ployed at the same time. They then retain the
flatness desired. They are next scraped and
filed, a smooth surface being obtained with as
little loss as possible. When these shells or
scales are brought to a proper thickness and
size, they may be then used separately ; but they
are generally submitted to a still further pre-
paration. When, for instance, they are too thin,
or when they are not sufficiently long or broad,
the following processes are employed : In order
to obtain single plates of great size, two are
soldered together, the thin part of one being
laid upon the thin part of the other; or, as is
.^sometimes done, the edges of each plate are
182 OUR REPTILES.
delicately bevelled and fitted together. In
each case they are then put between metallic
plates ; to these a certain degree of pressure is
given, which, when the whole is plunged into
boiling water, is increased, and by this mode
they are so intimately joined together that the
slightest trace of their union cannot be detected.
It is almost exclusively by means of boiling
water that the effects upon tortoise-shell are
obtained. The substance of the scales becomes
so softened by the action of the heat, that it
may be acted upon like a soft mass, or a flexible
and ductile paste, which, by pressure in metallic
moulds, will assume every variety of form re-
quired. The soldering of two pieces together
is effected by means of hot pincers, which, while
they compress, at the same time soften the
opposed edges of each piece, and amalgamate
them into one. No portion of the scales is
worthless; the raspings and powder produced
by the file, mixed with small fragments, are put
into moulds, and subjected to the action of boil-
ing water, and thus made into plates of the
desired thickness, or into various articles which
appear as if cut out of the solid block.
The following is Dr. Turton's description of
the present species :
" Body roundish-ovate, slightly heart-shaped,
slightly carinated down the back ; head small,
183
prominent, with the upper mandible curved over
the lower; two claws on each foot; plates of
the disk imbricated, thirteen in number, rather
square, semi-transparent, variegated ; of the
circumference twenty- five, pointed, and incum-
bent on each other in a serrated manner ; tail a
mere notch."*
General length from the tip of the bill to the
end of the shell, about three feet; has been
known to measure five feet.
* Turton's " Brit. Fauna," p. 78
184
THE LEATHERY TURTLE.
(Sphargis coriacea.)
THIS Turtle differs materially from the pre-
ceding in several points. The carapace, instead
of being clad with plates, is covered with a
tough leather-like skin. Along the upper shell
are seven distinct ridges, running longitudinally ;
these are sharp and slightly toothed in the adult
animal, but rounded in the young. It appears
to be a native of the Mediterranean Sea, but
even there is not at all common ; it is found also
in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. The
claims of this turtle to be regarded as British
are founded upon a passage in Borlase's " His-
tory of Cornwall," and Pennant's " British
Zoology." Borlase records that two were taken
on the coast of Cornwall in the mackerel nets,
of a vast size, a little after Midsummer, 1756;
the largest weighed eight hundred pounds, the
lesser near seven hundred. Pennant adds, that a
third of equal weight with the first of the above
was caught on the coast of Dorsetshire, and
deposited in the Leverian Museum. The largest
of the Cornish specimens measured six feet nine
inches from the tip of the nose to the end of the
THE LEATHERY TURTLE. 185
shell, and ten feet four inches from the extre-
mities of the fore fins extended.
Shaw mentions a specimen taken on the
French coast, in the month of August, 1729,
about three leagues from Nantz, not far from the
mouth of the Loire, ' ' and which measured seven
feet one inch in length, three feet seven inches
in breadth, and two feet in thickness. It is said
to have uttered a hideous noise when taken, so
that it might be heard to the distance of a
quarter of a league ; its mouth at the same time
foaming with rage, and exhaling a noisome
vapour." * The bellowing noise made by the
members of this genus led to the adoption
of the generic name, which is derived from
the Greek o-^a/otryew, "to make a noise in the
throat."
The turtle so essential to the comfort of an
alderman is not this species. More than one kind
is regarded as very good eating, but the true
Green Turtle is Chelonia My das. It is said that
the Leathery Turtle is positively injurious. Pen-
nant narrates an instance in his " Appendix to
British Zoology :"" The late Bishop of Carlisle
informed me that a tortoise was taken off the
coast of Scarborough in 1748 or 1749. It was
purchased by a family at that time there, and a
* Shaw's " General Zoology," vol. iv. part i. p. 78.
186 OUE EEPTILES.
good deal of company invited to partake of it.
A gentleman who was one of the guests told
them it was a Mediterranean turtle, and not
wholesome j only one of the company eat of it,
and it almost killed him, being seized with a
dreadful vomiting and purging."
The introduction of the Green Turtle to this
country as an article of food is of comparatively
recent date, probably not much exceeding a
century, and it is still confined to a limited circle
of admirers. The plebeian eye may gaze with
longing on " turbot," but does not so often flash
with desire for turtle soup. The green fat is an
aristocratic delicacy, a taste for which is acquired
best by means of an aldermanic gown.
Of the Sea Turtles the most in request, says
Catesby, is the Green Turtle, which is esteemed
a most wholesome and delicious food. It receives
its name from the fat, which is of a green colour.
Sir Hans Sloane informs us, in his " History of
Jamaica/' that forty sloops are employed by the
inhabitants of Port Eoyal, in Jamaica, for catch-
ing them. The markets are there supplied with
turtle as ours are with butcher's meat. The
Bahamians carry many of them to Carolina,
where they turn to good account, not because
that plentiful country wants provisions, but
they are esteemed there as a rarity, and for the
delicacy of their flesh. They feed on a kind of
THE LEATHERY TURTLE. 187
grass, growing at the bottom of the sea,* com-
monly called turtle-grass. The inhabitants of the
Bahama Islands, by often practice, are very expert
at catching turtles, particularly the Green Turtle.
In April they go, in little boats, to Cuba and
other neighbouring islands, where, in the even-
ing, especially in moonlight nights, they watch
the going and returning of the Turtle to and
from their nests, at which time they turn them
on their backs, where they leave them, and pro-
ceed on turning all they meet j for they cannot
get on their feet again when once turned. Some
are so large that it requires three men to turn
one of them. The way by which the turtle are
most commonly taken at the Bahama Islands is
by striking them with a small iron peg of two
inches long, put in a socket, at the end of a staff
of twelve feet long. Two men usually set out for
this work in a little light boat or canoe, one to
row and gently steer the boat, while the other
stands at the head of it with his striker. The
Turtle are sometimes discovered by their swim-
ming with their head and back out of the water ;
but they are oftenest discovered lying at the
bottom, a fathom or more deep. If a Turtle
perceives he is discovered, he starts up to make
* It is not a grass, but the sea-wrack (Zostera marina),
which is here alluded to.
188 OUR REPTILES.
his escape, the men in the boat pursuing him,
endeavouring to keep sight of him, which they
often lose, and recover again by the Turtle
putting his nose out of the water to breathe ;
thus they pursue him, one paddling or rowing,
while the other stands ready with his striker. It
is sometimes half an hour before he is tired;
then he sinks at once to the bottom, which gives
them an opportunity of striking him, which is
by piercing him with an iron peg which slips out
of the socket, but is fastened with a string to
the pole. If he is spent and tired by being long
pursued, he tamely submits, when struck, to be
taken into the boat or hauled ashore. There are
men who by diving will get on their backs, and
by pressing down their hind parts, and raising
the fore parts of them by force, bring them to
the top of the water, while another slips a noose
about their necks.*
To return to the more immediate subject of
this chapter, it is supposed that the Leathery
Turtle was the species which supplied Mercury
with its back shell, to which he applied strings,
and thus extemporized the first lyre, which was
the prototype of all stringed musical instruments.
The seven dorsal ridges to which we have alluded
strengthened this supposition ; the ancient lyre
* Catesb/s " Natural History of Carolina."
THE LEATHERY TURTLE. 189
having, according to some writers, that number
of strings.
The carapace is heart-shaped, the hinder ex-
tremity much pointed ; an elevated ridge follows
the dorsal line from end to end; and on either
side of this central ridge are three parallel ones,
equidistant from each other ; between these
ridges the surface is quite smooth ; the head is
without plates ; the jaws are very strong ; the
lower jaw turns upwards at its extremity, forming
a hook, which is received into a corresponding
channel in the upper jaw. In the young, the
lines on the carapace are formed by a succession
of tubercles in rows, and the entire surface, both
of it and of the plastron, is warty. The eyelids
are divided almost vertically; the fore feet, or
fins, are as long again as the hinder, the latter,
however, being the wider ; there is no trace of
nails to the toes ; the tail is as long as the point
at the hinder extremity of the carapace. The
general colour is brown, with numerous pale
yellow spots on the upper surface; the legs and
tail are black.
The entire length sometimes exceeds six feet.*
* Clermont's "Quadrupeds and Keptiles of Europe,"
p. 169.
APPENDIX.
CLASSIFICATION AND SYNONYMS OF
BEITISH EEPTILES.
Class. REPTILIA.
ORDER I. CHELONIANS.
FAMILY 5. CHELONIAD^E (Sea Tortoises).
1. CHELONIA IMBRICATA. Schw. Hawk's-Bill Turtle. P. 174
Caretta imbricata. Gray.
Testudo imbricata. Linn.
Testudo Caretta. Knorr.
Eretmotchelys imbricata. Fitz.
Chelonia imbricata. Hem.
Chelonia multiscutata. KuTil.
Chelonia pseudo-caretta. Less.
Scaled Tortoise. Grew.
Imbricated Turtle. Shaw.
Hawk's-Bill Turtle. Bdl.
2. SPHARGIS CORIACEA. Gray. Leathery Turtle. P. 184
Sphargis Mercurialis. Merr.
Sphargis Mercurii. Eisso.
Testudo coriacea. Linn.
Testudo Mercurii. Gesn.
192 OUE EEPTILES.
Testudo lyra. Becks.
Testudo tuberculata. Penn.
Dermatochelys atlantica. Leseur.
Dermatochelys porcata. Wagl. (Young).
Coriudo coriacea. Hem.
Turtle. Borlase.
Coriaceous Tortoise. Penn.
Coriaceous Turtle. Shaw.
Leathery Turtle. Bell.
Spinose Tortoise. Penn.
Tuberculated Tortoise.
Trunk Turtle.
ORDER II. SAUKIANS.
FAMILY 1. LACERTINIDJE (Lizards').
3. ZOOTOCA VIVIPARA. Viviparous Lizard. P. 22
Lacerta vivipara. Dum. and Bib.
Lacerta crocea. Wolf.
Lacerta nigra. Wolf.
Lacerta pyrrogaster. Merr.
Lacerta montana. Milcan.
Lacerta agilis. Pennant, Jenyns, Berkenh*, &c.
Lacerta sedura. Sheppard.
Lacerta Schreibersiana. Edw.
Lacerta chrysogaster. Andr*
Lacerta unicolor. Kuhl ?
Lacerta praticola. Evers.
Zootoca Jacquini. Cod.
Zootoca Guerini. Coct.
Zootoca muralis. Gray.
Common Lizard. Jenyns, " Man.," p. 293.
Scaly Lizard. Penn., " Brit. Zool.," iii. p. 21.
Viviparous Lizard. Bell, "Br. Kep.," p. 34.
APPENDIX. 193
Nimble Lizard.
Harriman. (Shropshire.)
4. LACERTA AGILIS. L. The Sand Lizard. P. 26
Lacerta Europa. Pallas.
Lacerta vulgaris. Midler.
Lacerta stirpium. Daud.
Lacerta Laurenti. Daud.
Lacerta arenicola. Daud.
Lacerta sepium. Griff.
Lacerta rosea. Fitz.
Lacerta catenata. Fitz.
Seps varius. Laur.
Seps cserulescens. Laur.
Seps argus. Laur.
Seps ruber. Laur.
Seps stellatus. Schrank.
Lizard des Souches. Edw.
Lacerta di Linneo. Bonap.
Sand Lizard. Bell.
5. LACERTA VIRIDIS. L. The Green Lizard. P. 32
Lacerta varius. Edw.
Lacerta chloronata. Eafm.
Lacerta serpa. Eafm.
Lacerta elegans. Audr.
Lacerta smaragdina. Schinz.
Lacerta bistriata. Schinz.
Lacerta bilineata. Daud.
Seps terrestris. Laur.
Lizard piquete*. Edw.
Lizard vert. Duges.
194 OUR REPTILES.
6. ANGUIS FRAGILIS. L. The Blindworm. P. 38
Anguis eryx. L.
Anguis lineata. Laur.
Anguis clivica. Laur.
Anguis bicolor. Risso.
Anguis incerta. Krynick.
Anguis cinereus. Eisso.
Siguana Ottonis. Gray.
Otophis eryx. Fitz.
Csecilia vulgaris. A Idrov.
Csecilia typheus. Charl,
Cecilia anglica. Petiver.
L'Orvet. Lacep.
Blindworm. Penn.
Slowworm.
Hazelworm. Van Lier.
ORDER III OPHIDIANS.
SUB-ORDER L COLUBRINES.
FAMILY. COLUBRID^E.
7. TROPIDONOTUS NATRIX. Boie. Common Snake. P. 45
Natrix torquata. Gesn.
Natrix vulgaris. Laur.
Coluber natrix. L.
Coluber torquatus. Lacep.
Coluber murorum. Vest.
Tropidonotus cliersoides. Dum. and Bib. (part).
Tropidonotus persa. Eichw.
Ringed Snake. Penn.
Common Snake.
APPENDIX. 195
FAMILY. CORONELLID^E.
8. CORONELLA L^EVis. Boie. Smooth Snake. P. 53
Coronella Austriaca* Laur.
Coluber Austriacus. Shaw.
Coluber Isevis. Lacep.
Coluber Dumfrisiensis. Sow.
Coluber Thuringicus. Becks.
Coluber ferrugineus. Sparm.
Zacholus Austriacus. Wagl.
Natrix Dumfrisiensis. Flem.
Smooth Snake.
Dumfries Snake
SUB-ORDER II. VIPEKINES.
FAMILY. VIPERID^E.
9. PELIAS BERUS. Merr. Viper. P. 66
Coluber Berus. Linn.
Coluber chersea. Linn. ?
Coluber cseruleus. Shepp.
Vipera. Ray.
Vipera vulgaris. Latr.
Vipera communis. Leach.
Viper. Penn.
Red Viper. Racfatt.
Blue-bellied Viper. Shepp.
Black Viper. Leach.
Adder. Scotland.
Common Viper. Shaw.
Etther. Shropshire.
196 OUR REPTILES.
ORDER IV. BATRACHIANS.
A. BATRACHIA SALIENTIA (without tails).
10. RAN A TEMPORARIA. Linn. Common Frog. P. 85
Rana muta. Laur.
Rana Scotica. Bell.
Common Frog. Penn.
Scottish Frog. Bell (variety).
11. RANA ESCULENT A. Gesn. Edible Frog. P. 100
Rana viridis. L.
Rana ridibunda. Pallas.
Rana cachinnans. Eichw.
Rana palmipes. Spix.
Rana maritima. Eisso.
Rana alpina. Risso.
Rana calcarata. Mich.
Rana tigrina. Eichw.
Rana Hispanica. Bonap.
Edible Frog. Penn.
Green Frog. Shaw.
Whaddon Organs. Cambridgeshire.
Moor Frog. Germany.
12. BUFO VULGARIS. Laur. Common Toad. P. 112
Bufo terrestris. Schw.
Bufo cinereus. Schneid.
Bufo palmaram. Cav.
Bufo alpinus. Schinz.
Rana rubeta. Gesn.
Rana bufo. Linn.
Toad. Penn.
Common Toad. Shaw.
APPENDIX. ' 197
13. BUFO CALAMITA. Laur. Natterjack. P. 132
Bufo cruciatus. Schneid.
Bufo rubeta. Flem.
Bufo portentosus. Schinz.
Bufo viridis. Dum. and Bibr. (in part).
Rana foetidissima. Herm.
Rana portentosa. Blum.
Rana mephitica. Shaw.
Goldenback. Surrey.
Walking Toad.
Rcehrling, or Reed-Frog. Germany.
Mephitic Toad. Shaw.
Natterjack. Penn.
B. BATRACHIA GRADIENTIA (with tails).
FAMILY 1. SALAMANDRINES.
14. TRITON CRIST ATUS. Laur. Great Water Newt. P. 142
Lacerta palustris. L.
Lacerta aquatica. a. Gmel
Lacerta lacustris. Blum.
Lacerta porosa. Retz.
Lacerta palustris. 8. Gmel.
Lacertus aquaticus. Gesn.
Salamandra palustris. Schneid.
Salamandra cristata. Schneid.
Salamandra platyura. Daubent.
Salamandra laticauda. Bonn.
Salamandra platicauda. Ruse.
Salamandra aquatica. Ray.
Salaraandra carnifex. Schneid.
Salamandra pruinata. Schneid.
Molge palustris. Menem.
Triton Americanus. Laur.
198 OUR REPTILES.
Triton Bibroni. Bell (young).
Triton marmoratus. Bibr. (non Latr.}
Triton carnifex. Laur.
Triton asper. Higgin.
Triton palustris. Jenyns, Man.,- p. 303.
Great Warty Newt.
Great "V^ater Newt. Shaio, ZooL, iii. p. 296.
Common Warty Newt. Bell, Br. Rep., p. 129.
Warty Lizard. Penn, Br. ZooL, iii. p. 23.
Warted Newt. Shaw, Nat. Misc., viii. pi. 279.
Warty Eft. Jenyns, Man., p. 303.
Salamandre cretee. Cuv. Reg. An., ii. p. 116.
15. LOPHINUS PUNCTATUS. Gray. Common Newt. P. 152
Lacerta aquatica. Linn.
Lacerta aquatica. 6. Gmel.
Lacerta triton. Retz.
Lacerta salamandra. e. Gmel.
Lacerta taeniata mas. Sturm.
Lacerta maculata. Sheppard.
Lacerta vulgaris. Linn.
Salamandra palmata. Schneicl.
Salamandra tgeniata. Bechs.
Salamandra exigua. Ruse.
Salamandra elegans. Daud.
Salamandra punctata. Daud.
Salamandra palustris. Bonelli.
Salamandra palmipes. Latr.
Salamandra abdominalis. Daud.
Molge punctata. Merrem.
Molge palmata. Merrem.
Molge cinerea. Merrem.
Triton parisinus. Laur.
Triton punctatus. Bonap.
Triton lobatus. Otth.
APPENDIX. 199
Triton palustris. Laur.
Triton laevis. Higg.
Triton exiguus. Laur. (young).
Lissotriton punctatus. Bell (young).
Lissotriton palmatus. Bell (aged).
, Brown Lizard. Pennant.
Common Newt. Shaw.
Smooth Newt. Bell.
Man-eater. Ireland.
Man-keeper. Ireland.
Dry Ask. Ireland.
Dark Lewkers. Ireland.
Small Newt.
Eft, or Evet.
Asgal. Shropshire.
16. LOPHINUS PALMATUS. Dum. and Bibr. Palmate Newt.
P. 161
Salamandra exigua. Laur. (young).
Salamandra abdominalis. Daud.
Salamandra cincta. Daud.
Salamandra palmata. Cuv. (not Schneid.)
Triton palmatus. Bonap.
Triton minor. Higg.
Triton palmipes. Deby.
Lissotriton palmipes. Bell (2nd ed.)
Palmated Smooth Newt. Bell.
17. OMMATOTRITON VITTATUS. Gray. Gray's Banded Newt.
P. 169
Salamandra vittata. Gray.
Molge vittatus. Gray.
Triton vittatus. Jenyns.
Lissotriton palmipes, var. Bell,
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