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Show 514 MESSRS. MOLE AND URICH ON THE [June 19, catus, and was swallowed by 9.24^ P.M. At 9.27 another one 9 inches long was introduced, and then directly it was caught just above the vent. At 9.59 the Coral got its victim's muzzle in its mouth, and swallowed it by 10.5|. Neither of these snakes, nor many more besides which we have seen swallowed, were dead when their tails disappeared down the Coral's throat. These little snakes resist the Coral vigorously to the very last, twining their bodies round their devourer's head in almost inextricable knots and doing everything in their power to hinder the gorging process. ELAPS LEMNISCATUS. This snake sometimes reaches the length of 4 feet, but specimens of this size are not at all common. Opinions in Trinidad are divided as to their being poisonous, owing probably to the fact that they have been frequently handled without disastrous consequences. There are, however, cases on record of persons having lost their lives through the bites of these reptiles when they have been inadvertently trodden upon. They usually lie dormant during the day under the dead leaves on sugar estates, but they are more frequently found in cocoa plantations. At night they are exceedingly lively and quick in their movements. The species feeds, so far as we can find out, exclusively upon other snakes, all efforts to induce E. lemniscatus and E. riisei to take frogs and lizards having been failures. E. lemniscatus wanders about at night searching in holes and crevices for the small diurnal Ophidia, and catches them when they are asleep. Being possessed of a comparatively solid head and, for a snake, very small mouth, in which are two short fangs (situated further back than those of the vipers), it is very difficult indeed for them to bite anything large. Naturalists, we understand, are divided in their opinions as to the use of the poison in these serpent-devouring Ophidia, and it is asserted that the Indian Ophiophagus does not use his venom to kill his prey. Though this may be the case with other suakes, it is certain that the Trinidad Elaps lemniscatus relies upon its poison very considerably in overcoming its victims : otherwise it would not be able to secure its active prey even when surprised asleep. A snake of this species 33 inches long, brought to us in the first week of M a y 1893, was placed in a small glass-fronted box with a jar of water and a wet pad of blotting-paper-it being an absolute condition for the well-being of these creatures that they should be kept damp. On May 15 we introduced a Liophis melanotus. The next day it had disappeared, and there was a slight increase in the Coral's circumference. On the night of May 23rd a Coluber boddaerti similarly vanished. Three days later another L. melanotus was disposed of. All these snakes manifested the greatest uneasiness and even terror of the Coral, giving it the largest berth possible, although, so long as daylight lasted, the Coral paid no attention to them. On the night of June 11th we gave a L. melanotus (17^ inches long) to the Coral. The moment it entered the box the Coral |