of the under-rocks here and there
uncovered. These are the spots frequented, too, by the _Cyclura_; and
are continuations of our Red Hills--a country that so much resembles the
terraced cliffs and red-soil glens of Higuey.

It is remarkable that I have heard nothing more of this serpent of
renown, this true Basilisk, from that time till now; though I have no
doubt my Jamaica friends, who had become much interested in the matter,
would have communicated the specimen to me if any one had been obtained.
There is, however, sufficient evidence to assume the existence of such a
form in the greater Antilles, whether Seba's figures be identical with
it or not.

[141] _Op. cit._; vol. ii. pl. 40.

VII.

THE DOUBTFUL.

A very curious and unaccountable habit is attributed to some Reptiles,
which, though asserted by many witnesses, at different times and in
distant countries, has not yet received the general assent of men of
science. White of Selborne, in one of his charming letters to Pennant,
has the following note:--"Several intelligent folks assure me that they
have seen the Viper open her mouth and admit her helpless young down her
throat on sudden surprises, just as the female Opossum does her brood
into the pouch under her belly, upon the like emergencies. Yet the
London viper-catchers insist on it, to Mr Barrington, that no such thing
ever happens."[142]

The evidence of the London viper-catchers goes for no more than it is
worth; those whom Mr Barrington applied to,--how many and of what
experience I know not,--had not met with such a case. But negative
evidence is of little weight against positive. At the same time, others
of the same fraternity affirm the fact. There is, as Mr Martin observes,
no physiological reason against the possibility of the young maintaining
life for a brief period within the stomach of the parent. A swallowed
frog has been heard, by Mr Bell, to cry several minutes after it had
been swallowed by a snake; and the same excellent authority has seen
another frog leap out of the mouth of a snake which had swallowed it,
taking advantage of the fact that the latter gaped, as they frequently
do, immediately after taking food.

Mr Martin says he has conversed with several who had been assured by
gamekeepers and gardeners that the swallowing of the young by vipers had
been witnessed by them.[143] And Mr Blyth, a zoologist of established
reputation, observes,--"I have been informed of this b