In arranging the information I have grouped the counties according to the sheet recently issued (prepared by Alex. Somerville, F.L.S.), and called "The County and Vice-County Divisions of the British Isles," for biological purposes. Some districts have supplied much fuller information than others, for the simple reason that where snakes are not, there is nothing more to say.

At first sight there would appear to be some direct contradictions in the records of some counties, but on closer examination it will be found that where two observers disagree in their statements they refer to different localities, though it may be the same county. This very local distribution is a striking feature in British serpents, and is to be noticed in many counties. People who live on different sides of the same range of mountains, though perhaps in the same county, may make directly opposite statements as to which serpent is the most common, and both are probably right. Adders particularly keep to very much the same place, if the process of civilisation around them is fairly stationary; and there are places where adders abound, the persons living a few miles off being quite unaware of their existence, because the reptiles stop in the same place. The ring snake is not quite so local in its habit, and wanders farther afield. These facts should be borne in mind in comparing the statements made by various correspondents. Not quite so easy of explanation is the great

difference shown in the average size of our adders in different localities, and this is a question that awaits elucidation. The fact that the small red viper occurs in fifteen counties where the ordinary adder is also found, though the two differ greatly in size as well as in appearance, is very interesting. But the adder itself also exhibits great variation in size. Thus in Sussex it seems to attain its maximum size at 20 inches, while in Herefordshire the average is 24 inches, and specimens of 26 inches are not unusually taken; and in Scotland 24 inches is a very usual

measurement.

In Devonshire the size varies greatly in different parts, and in this case the small measurements may be those of the small red viper, the large one the ordinary adder, as both varieties are found in the county.

In the Isle of Man, as in Ireland, there are, I am informed, no snakes at all; and the same local immunity is reported from Guernsey and Sark.

Finally, we may sum up the most prominent features of the county and local records, taking the areas in groups, as divided in the biological chart referred to above.

I. Peninsula Province.

Vipera berus.-There is no doubt that the adder is more common than the ring snake in Cornwall; but opinions differ regarding Devon, no doubt because the two snakes have their own habitats. In the latter

county the length varies greatly, being estimated at 12 inches in one part and at 27 in another part of Devon. The former figure refers in all probability to the small red viper. The most usual average over the whole area is 18 to 20 inches.

Tropidonotus natrix.—The ring snake is frequently found in Devon and Somerset, but not so often in Cornwall. The ordinary length of 2 to 3 feet is observed.

The small red viper occurs in Devon, but Coronella austriaca is not found anywhere in this area.

II. Channel Province.

Vipera berus. In the Isle of Wight the adder is the most common snake, and is very frequent in all this area with the exception of the county of Wiltshire. It is perhaps most common in Mid-Dorset, though there are, of course, numbers in the New Forest.. In Dorset its period of hibernation seems shorter than in most places, as it is often found active in February. It averages 18 inches over the greater part of this area.

Tropidonotus natrix.—The ring snake is universally distributed in the Channel Province, being extremely frequent in parts of Wiltshire. In the New Forest its proportion in numbers to the adder is estimated at 10 to 1. It was from this place that Lord Londesborough obtained his large specimen of 5 feet 8 inches. In this forest also the famous Brusher Mills has

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killed some thousands of snakes in his lifetime. The average length is fairly uniformly 2 to 3 feet.

Coronella austriaca.-As one would expect from climatic considerations, our reptiles show a decided preference for the southern counties of England, and this division of the counties includes the only area in which the smooth snake is seen at all frequently— namely, Bloxworth. It is also found in Hants, but more often in Dorset than elsewhere, its peculiarly local distribution being hard to account for. Possibly a very careful investigation in some other southern localities might reveal its presence where it is so far unrecorded.

The small red viper occurs in Dorset and Sussex, and in all probability in other parts of this division.

III. Thames Province.

Vipera berus. This is another division prolific in reptiles, especially in its southern portions. The chalk downs of Kent are famous for adders, and some of the spots in the neighbourhood of Dover are described as being infested with them in some seasons. The average size in most parts is 20 inches or thereabouts, an adder of 2 feet being considered a very large one, a striking contrast to Herefordshire, for instance, where that figure is the average for male adders. There are a good many localities in this division where the adder outnumbers the ring snake, especially some places in Surrey, another example of

what is seen so often, the adder keeping to a restricted area, and there becoming very numerous for a time.

Tropidonotus natrix.-The ring snake is to be found. fairly universally distributed all over this division, and, with the possible exception of Surrey, is more common than the adder in every county of the division. It averages up to 3 feet, as elsewhere in

the south.

Coronella austriaca.-There are two points of interest concerning the smooth snake in the Thames Province. The first is, that at a former period, some twenty years ago, it was an inhabitant of Berkshire, where it is apparently no longer found. The second is, that it occurs in Surrey, and from the observations of Mr Bryan Hook it seems quite probable that it may be in considerable numbers in this county. No doubt it is usually mistaken for the adder and killed forthwith, many specimens thus being lost to county records. Unfortunately the class of people who come across more of our serpents than any one else—the various workers on the land, that is-look upon them from one point of view only, namely, as things to be destroyed on every possible occasion.

The small red viper has been taken in Berks in this division.

IV. Ouse Province.

It has proved difficult to get much local information for this area, but one finds that the ring snake is the