THE ADDER IN SOLWAY 153 



There is a strong belief in Easter Ross, and probably in 

 other parts of the Highlands, on the efficacy of a decoction 

 of Adders' head as a cure for the bite of the reptile. The 

 head is soaked in boiling water until the water is coloured 

 yellow, presumably by the contents of the poison gland. 

 The broth is then applied to the wound, and, if possible, 

 also given internally. Mr. Campbell assures me that in this 

 way he completely cured in about three hours a small dog 

 that was badly bitten, enormously swollen, and seemingly 

 almost at the point of death. Evidently a case of siinilia 

 siinilibus curantur ! 



THE ADDER IN SOLWAY. 

 By ROBERT SERVICE, M.B.O.U. 



THOUGH sensibly less in numbers than it was two to three 

 decades ago, the adder is still a very common reptile 

 throughout our area. In the warm summer-time its sinuous 

 trail across the grey, hot dust of the roadways is familiar 

 enough to the cyclist if his, or her, eyes have been trained 

 to see such things. 



Nature-knowledge is being widely taught now, but it is 

 to be feared that it is still, for the most part, a lifeless and 

 artificial thing. Cyclists, therefore, their splendid oppor- 

 tunities notwithstanding, never see anything. 



Wherever the condition of the land suits the species, it 

 is comparatively abundant. Of the three counties that 

 constitute Solway, the Stewartry probably holds the biggest 

 adder population, which is specially abundant along the dry, 

 warm, seaboard parishes, where rocky hummocks, covered 

 with bushes and brackens, abound. In Dumfriesshire, 

 Lochar Moss is a locality where adders are particularly 

 common. Along the sheep-farms of the hill-districts the 

 adder has a rather peculiar distribution. In the Eskdale 

 heights it is not uncommon, but along the hills of Annan- 

 dale it is not at all so, and on some parts may even be 

 reckoned very scarce indeed, while from the hill-country at 

 the head of Nithsdale, westwards to the Rhinns of Galloway, 

 it is quite abundant. The reasons for such inequalities of 



