‘In confinement,’ he says, ‘snakes are more easily induced to lick up drops sprinkled on grass than to drink from a vessel.’ Naturally so. In their native haunts they are not accustomed to pans of water or saucers of milk, but they _are_ accustomed to moisten their tongues on the blades of grass or the leaves of plants which hold the drops of rain or dew. Lenz then mentions some experiments which he himself made with snakes. He placed a ring snake and an adder in an empty box, and kept them there without food for a fortnight, at the end of which period he placed them in a tub containing half an inch of water, and left them there for half an hour. He then killed them both, and on dissection found no water inside of them. This led him to the conclusion that they had not drank at all; but, in the first place, had they occupied the whole half-hour in lapping with their thread-like tongue, it may be doubted whether any appreciable quantity could be imbibed during that time; and in the second place, the sudden transition and strange situation in which they found themselves would, through fright, entirely destroy whatever inclination they might have had to appease hunger or thirst. It will be seen that snakes are exceedingly capricious in taking food; and that when in an abnormal or strange locality they rarely feed for a long while. Mr. Lenz himself is of opinion that, had he left them longer in the water, or placed them in a dry tub where liquid could be got at, they would or might have drunk. Thus, the experiments only go to corroborate what all keepers of snakes have observed, viz. that captivity or strange surroundings render them averse to feed. M. Lenz placed his snakes among the cows in order to test the foolish belief that obtains in some countries that snakes will ‘suck’ the udders; but of course, and for similar reasons, even could such an achievement be possible, the snakes attempted no such thing. His snakes were strict members of a temperance society also, for not even wine could tempt them to drink, though this and other liquids were placed within reach to entice their taste. Not so Pliny’s snakes, for he would have us believe that they show ‘a great liking for wine,’ whenever an opportunity presented itself for their tasting it!