At this person's residence, a large company were assembled, and were seated at dinner, when a hooded snake, which had glided in unobserved, and doubtless remained concealed under the table, was seen to twine itself round the frame of a chair on which a lady sat, and gradually mount till it had brought its head and neck on a level with her's. The alarm of every one present may well be conceived; they feared to make the slightest attempt at affording assistance, lest the effort might irritate the animal, who could inflict its bite with a quickness greater than they could prevent. At last it was suggested, that the musicians should be sent for; they were at some distance, and the lady herself was intreated not to exhibit any alarm, which could rouse the anger of the Serpent, who all the time continued to move about near her person, without offering herany violence. After half an hour of suspence, the music was at last heard, but so faint from distance, that it was the snake itself which gave the first intimation of its arrival. It suddenly erected its head, in the attitude of listening, and gradually, as the sounds became more distinct, uncoiled itself, glided down the frame of the chair, and out of the room, where the musicians were prepared to seize him.

Mr. Forbes informs us, that when the music ecases, the snakes appear motionless, but if not immediately covered up in a basket, the spectators are liable to fatal accidents. He

mentions having had one exhibited before him, which danced for an hour on his table, and which he frequently handled during that time, not doubting but its fangs had been previously extracted. The first day, however, its master was showing it in the market place, and entertaining with its dance the country people who sat round, when either from the music stopping too suddenly, or from some other cause irritating the vicious reptile, it darted at the throat of a young woman, and inflicted a wound, of which she died in about half an hour.

THE COMMON OR RINGED SNAKE.

THE Common, or Ringed snakes are well-known inhabitants of moist and warm woods in England, on the dry banks of which they are often seen during the summer, either sleeping or bask ing themselves. They are likewise found in bushes in moist places, and are often seen to take the water, as they swim perfectly well.In the Viper, the young are excluded alive, as we have mentioned; this is not the case with the Common snake, which deposits her eggs from fourteen to twenty in number, either in a hole with a warm aspect, or in dunghills, where they remain till the following Spring before they

are hatched. They are harmless and inoffensive animals, being totally destitute of every means of injuring mankind.

In winter, these snakes conceal themselves, and become nearly torpid; re-appearing in Spring, when they uniformly cast their skins. This is a process which they also seem to undergo in the Autumn. Mr. White says, "About the middle of this month, (September) we found in a field, near a hedge, the slough of a large snake, which seemed to have been newly cast. From circumstances, it appeared as if turned wrong side outward, and as if it had been drawn off backward, like a stocking or a woman's glove. Not only the whole skin, but the scales from the very eyes were peeled off, and appeared in the head of the slough like a pair of spectacles. The reptile, at the time of changing his coat, had entangled himself intricately in the grass and weeds, in order that the friction of the stalks and blades might promote this curious shifting of the exuviæ.

It would be a most entertaining sight, could a person be an eye-witness to such a feat, as to see the snake in the act of changing its garment. As the convexity of the eyes in the slough, is not inward, that circumstance alone is a proof that the skin has been turned. Thus it appears, from what has been said, that the snakes crawl out of the mouth of their own sloughs, and quit the tail-part last, just as ecls are skinned by a cook.

While the scales of the eyes are becoming loose, and a new skin is forming, the creature must, for the time, be blind, and feel itself in a very awkward and uneasy situation.

Several instances have occurred of the Common Snake being in some degree, domesticated. Mr. White says, that he knew a gentleman who had one in his house quite tame. Though this was usually as sweet in its person as any other animal, yet, whenever a stranger, or a dog or cat entered, it would begin to hiss, and soon fill the room with an effluvia so nauseous, as to render it almost insupportable. In Sardinia, the country people are very partial to these snakes, frequently keeping them with great care, and putting their food, which they have prepared for them, into their mouths.

A friend of Mr. Bingley's had a Common Snake in his rooms at Cambridge, nearly three months. He kept it in a box of bran; and, during all that time, he never could discover that it ate any thing, although he frequently put both eggs and frogs, the favourite food of this species, into its box. Whenever he was in the room, he used to let the animal out of its prison it would first crawl several times round the floor, apparently with a desire to escape; and, when it found its attempts fruitless, would climb up the tables and chairs, and not unfre. quently even up the chair of its owner, as he sat at table. At length, it became so familiar,

as to lie in a serpentine form on the upper bar of his chair; it would crawl through his fingers, if held at a little distance before its head, or lie at full length upon his table, while le was writing or reading, for an hour or more at a time. When first brought into the room, it used to hiss and dart out its forked tongue; but in no instance emitted any unpleasant vapour. In all its actions it was remarkably cleanly. Sometimes it was indulged with a run upon the grass, in the court of the college; and sometimes with a swim in a large basin of water, which it seemed to enjoy very much. When this gentleman left the University, he gave his hedmaker orders to turn it out into the fields; which, he believes, was done.

These animals prey on frogs, insects, worms, and mice; for the former of which they often go into the water, where they swim with great elegance. After a snake has devoured a tolerably large frog, or a small bird, its prey will be seen to form a knot in its body; and it then becomes so stupid and inactive as to be easily caught. The Common Snakes are said to be particularly fond of milk, so much so, that they will occasionally creep into dairies to drink the milk from the vessels. It is even said that they will twine themselves round the legs of the cows, in order to reach their udders, and they will sometimes suck them till the blood flows.