iscretion. (5th
Eliz. chap. 3.) In the 14th year of her reign the act was passed and
provision made for regular assessments, and the appointment of
overseers provided for; which the subsequent acts of the 18th, 39th,
and 43rd of the same reign completed, and which has still remained.

ERNLE CRASHAW.

_Near Weymouth_.

* * * * *

THE NATURALIST.

* * * * *

ANIMAL INSTINCT: ANECDOTE OF A TAME SNAKE.

_(To the Editor.)_

The following remarkable circumstance clearly proves how foreign to
children, is the fear or even the idea of danger; and, at the same
time, it presents to the contemplative mind a striking instance of the
wisdom which the Almighty has displayed in the works of the creation!
In what a wonderful manner has he endowed all his creatures with
sensibility, regulated their habits, and provided for their wants; and
so ingeniously are the animal and vegetable kingdoms arranged, that
the former is, in a great measure, dependent on the latter for
nourishment and support.

From the study of Nature may be deduced a most valuable lesson:
namely, to think nothing that exists on the face of the globe unworthy
of our attention and notice: and were we to confine ourselves to the
practice of this excellent maxim, we should not rest satisfied, until
we had obtained a complete insight into the economy and habits of such
curious objects.

A labouring man residing near the White Cross, (about a mile westward
of the city of Hereford,) and occupying a cottage belonging to Thomas
Webb, Esq. of that place, in the month of May last, repeatedly
observed one of his children (a little girl not eighteen months old,)
reserving at meal-time a part of her allowance of food, and carrying
it invariably to one particular corner of the house. Curiosity induced
the father to watch more minutely the proceedings of the child, and
great was his astonishment, when on the girl as usual repairing to the
spot, and making a noise something similar to the chirping of a bird,
a snake appeared out of a hole in the wall, and fearlessly partook of
the repast provided for it by its infantine attendant.

Such a circumstance is very uncommon, though not unprecedented; for
that indefatigable naturalist, Gilbert White, mentions a tame snake in
his meritorious _Natural History of Selborne_. The greater degree of
surprise must be attributed to the case itself, that a child so you