Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/539

 Of reptiles and batrachians there are but 30 species. Of these, the already mentioned giant salamander is by far the most remarkable, some specimens attaining to a length of over 5 ft., and a weight of over 14 lbs. There are also some large, but harmless, snakes. The only poisonous snake is a small species of adder (Trigonocephalus Blomhoffi), known to the Japanese under the name of mamushi. The country folk look on its boiled flesh as a specific for most diseases. The peasants of certain thickly wooded districts also harbour an inveterate belief in the existence of a kind of boa, which they call uwabami and circumstantial accounts of the swallowing alive of some child or woman by one of these monsters appear from time to time in the vernacular press. Zoologists, however, have not yet given the Japanese boa official permission to exist. Another creature undoubtedly mythical is the bushy-tailed tortoise so often depicted in Japanese art. The idea of it was probably suggested by nothing more recondite than the straggling water-weeds that sometimes adhere to the hinder parts of a real tortoise's body.

With regard to fish, Dr. Rein remarks that the Chinese and Japanese waters appear to be richer than any other part of the ocean. The mackerel family (Scomberoidæ), more particularly, is represented in great force, the 40 species into which it is divided constituting an important element of the food of the people. But the fish which is esteemed the greatest delicacy is the tat, a kind of gold-bream. The gold-fish, the salmon, the eel, the shark, and many others would call for mention, had we space to devote to them. Altogether, the number of species of fish inhabiting or visiting Japan cannot fall far short of 400.

Insects are extremely numerous, but, excepting the beetles, moths, and butterflies, are not yet even fairly well-known, so that a rich harvest here awaits some future naturalist. There are two silk-producing moths, the Bombyx mori and the Antheræa yamamai. Of dragon-flies the species are numerous and beautiful. There are but few venomous insects. The gadfly torments the traveller only in Yezo and in the northern half of the Main