The complaint is often made that there is little opportunity to learn anything about the specimens exhibited in museums. At Brooklyn the experiment has been tried of placing for the use of visitors books bearing upon the subjects exhibited alongside the cases. This experiment seems to have been most successful. The Brooklyn experiment is not a new one. It has been practised for many years past in our museum (_vide_ _Museums’ Journal_, vol. ii., 1902). * * * * * BRITISH SNAKES. [Illustration: The Viper. The Common Snake.] We have in Great Britain only three representatives of the class Reptilia which come under the name of Snake. They are the Common Snake, the Smooth Snake and the Viper. In Ireland there are--as the result of events to which we referred in our previous number--none at all. Of the three British Snakes, one, the Smooth Snake,[1] is so rare that it is of interest only to the naturalist. It is met with in Hampshire and Dorset, and perhaps in Scotland, but it is nowhere frequent. It is more nearly allied to the Common Snake than to the Viper, and is quite harmless. It is much smaller than the others. We will concern ourselves for the present only with the other two. The Common Snake[2] is quite harmless and should never be injured by any humane person. The Viper[3] is venomous, and should be destroyed without mercy. It is easy enough to distinguish between the two even when in movement. The Common Snake is always, when full grown, much longer than the Viper. It may measure 4 feet and is usually 3, whilst the Viper is never more than 2. The Common Snake tapers off very gradually at its tail, whilst the Viper has a short tail, which is abruptly constricted at its base. The Viper is usually brown, often deeply coloured, whilst the Snake is much lighter coloured, of a light grey-brown tinged with green. The Common Snake has only spots of black, whilst the Viper is marked down the whole of its back with large zig-zag black lozenges. This is a most important feature, is characteristic at all ages of the animal, and is easily seen under all conditions. We have named the characters which are most easily seen when the animal is gliding about on the sward or path, there are others which are available when the animal is dead or in captivity. Under such conditions it will be seen that the scales which clothe the Viper are much smaller in size than those of the Snake, more especially on the head, and further, that the head of the Viper is marked with black, somewhat in the form of the letter V. Snakes, as well as Vipers, have sharp teeth, but they use them only for seizing their prey, and they have no poison fangs.