Volume 2

A history of British reptiles / [Thomas Bell].

  • Thomas Bell
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A history of British reptiles / [Thomas Bell]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/56 page 55
    lowing satisfactory reply :—4 Tlie report of my having intro¬ duced Snakes into this country is correct. Being curious to ascertain whether the climate of Ireland was destructive to that class of reptiles, about six years ago I purchased half a dozen of them in Covent Garden Market in London; they had been taken some time, and were quite tame and familiar. I turned them out in my garden ; they imme¬ diately rambled away ; one of them was killed at Milecross,* three miles distant, in about a week after its liberation ; and three others were shortly afterwards killed within that dis¬ tance of the place where they were turned out; and it is highly probable that the remaining two met with a similar fate, falling victims to a reward which it appears was offered for their destruction.' ” Such is the most accurate and authentic account which I have yet obtained respecting this curious fact in the geogra¬ phical distribution of these animals ; and it certainly does not appear that the failure of these attempts to introduce Snakes into Ireland is to be attributed to anything connected with the climate, or other local circumstances, but rather to the prejudices of the inhabitants which led to their destruc¬ tion, nor is there reason to believe that their absence from Ireland is other than purely accidental. This species grows to the length of more than three feet, sometimes, though rarely, of four feet. The head is consi¬ derably depressed, of an elegant ovate form, the back part broader than the neck ; the gape is of the length of the head, and slightly curved, rising posteriorly. The teeth are small, curved backwards, and, as in all the other innocuous Snakes, arranged in two series on each side of the jaw both above and below. Plates of the head broad and flat ; labial plates seven. Tongue long, excessively flexible, bifid to about one * This was the one before alluded to, as having been brought to Dr. Drum¬ mond.
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