160 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Kirkcudbrightshire, I, one day in July 1893, chased an 

 adder along the water-edge till it sought safety in swimming 

 into the loch and in amongst the sedges. It went out at 

 least six yards, when I lost sight of it in the thick vegetation. 

 Whether these reptiles would of their own free will enter the 

 water may be doubted, but it is constantly alleged that they 

 are found on the islands that abound on so many of our 

 lochs an allegation, however, that I have never been able 

 to prove for myself. 



I cannot refrain from discussing the question that seems 

 inseparable from any paper on the present subject. I would 

 not have done so, had I not been in a position to say some- 

 thing about what Sir Herbert Maxwell so aptly terms " a 

 venerable controversy, the flames of which have broken out 

 afresh lately. Seven lustres must have run their course 

 since a good hare, as old and tough as human credulity, was 

 started in the columns of the ' Field,' and lo ! it is running as 

 stoutly as ever" ("Memories of the Months," 1st series, p. 99). 

 That refers, I suppose, to the copious correspondence that 

 took place in 1895 in reference to some pamphlets written 

 by the late Mr. Tootal Broadhurst, who at that time was 

 resident at Terregles, near Dumfries. Mr. Broadhurst issued 

 the first of these pamphlets in 1894. It contained a series 

 of letters, giving statements of when, and where, and how 

 the various writers had seen adders swallow their young 

 when danger threatened. A larger edition, with many 

 additional letters, was sent out in I 895. Many of the writers 

 of these letters are personally known to me, and all are per- 

 fectly convinced there was no illusion on their part ; but it is 

 easy to see on reading the statements where the link of 

 scientific evidence fails. At the same time as this later 

 pamphlet was issued, Mr. Broadhurst posted a handbill 

 broadcast throughout the country, offering a reward of 2 

 to any one who would send an adder with the throat tied up 

 and with the swallowed young inside. I was to be referee, 

 and on my certificate the reward was to be paid. It was 

 never applied for. Next year Mr. Broadhurst deposited 

 10 in the Bank of Scotland in Dumfries, issued a bill in 

 similar terms, offering this sum on similar conditions, but as 

 the said bill was much more widely distributed, Sir William 



