THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 81
NOTE ON AN ADDER (VIPERA BERUS) TAKEN
IN EPPING FOREST.
By G. A. BOULENGER, F.R.S.,
[Read June 15th, 1895].
[Although Adders are fairly common in the district, and have
frequently been taken by members of the Club and others, but few
forest specimens have ever been recorded in natural-history journals,
and the few records hitherto made have given no precise details of
measurement or description. The following brief note by the
leading herpetologist in England will therefore be welcomed as a
contribution towards our Forest Fauna.—Ed.]
A FINE male Adder or Viper was captured on the 12th of May,
1895, between the "Wake Arms" and Ambresbury Banks, by
Dr. Lewis N. Jekyl, who kindly sent it to me for the British
Museum.
In a paper published in "The Zoologist" for March, 1892, I
have dealt with the variations of this snake in Great Britain, and
made an appeal for further specimens in order to carry on my
statistics. I have, therefore, much pleasure in reporting on the
specimen found by Dr. Jekyl.
The specimen, which measures 221/2 ins., in which the tail
enters for 3, is typical in its lepidosis but for the presence of a single
small shield (apical shield) instead of two, behind the rostral shield.
It has eight upper labials on one side, and nine on the other ; on
both sides, the fourth and fifth are situated below the eye. The
ventrals number 139, and the subcaudals 36 pairs. The ground
colour above is a pale grey, with the zigzag and other markings of
a deep black ; below, uniform bluish black.
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
Meeting at the British Museum of Natural History,
Saturday, April 6th, 1895.
On the above afternoon the members of the Club were kindly invited by the
Director, Sir William Flower, K.C.B., F.R.S., to inspect the magnificent Intro-
ductory or "Index Collections" at the Museum (which are approaching
completion), and the series of native species of Mammalia, Birds, and Invertebrata
now arranged in the British Saloon.
A large number of members and friends assembled at 3 o'clock in the Com-
mittee Room, when Sir W. Flower delivered a most interesting address on the
nature and objects of the Index Collection, and the right way to see and study
F