Note 53 — Chapter XI

The vipers in the London Gardens labelled Cenchris piscivorus have not the thorny tail, nor are they fish eaters. Nor can the spectator form any idea of their swimming capacities, their dark, narrow tank barely enabling them to extend themselves full length. Herpetologists differ in assigning the above name, and in deciding which is really the ‘Thorn-tail’ or ‘Horn snake’ of Lawson and Catesby. Those at the Zoological Gardens, notwithstanding their specific name, are never regaled on fish.