THE ADDER IN SOLWAY 161 



Flower was to be referee, and to him the adders were to be 

 sent, if caught Locally, I was authorised by Mr. Broadhurst 

 to grant the requisite certification if an adder with 

 swallowed young was presented. No adder came to me, 

 and if any were sent to Sir William Flower I think I should 

 have heard of it. Since then both Mr. Broadhurst and Sir 

 William Flower have, alas ! joined the majority. That being 

 so, there can be no harm in quoting one sentence from 

 a letter received by Mr. Broadhurst from Sir William 

 Flower, which was shown to me, and which shows quite 

 clearly that Sir William Flower's opinion on the matter was 

 that held by all practical zoologists. Sir William said : 

 " That adders swallow their young in moments of danger 

 there is ample evidence and so is there for the existence of 

 ghosts." 



Time passed, and the facts I have rehearsed had fallen 

 well behind, when one day in September 1900 a strange 

 thing happened, as a certain well-known writer would phrase 

 it. A small box was handed to me, along with a letter. 

 Opening the latter, I found it was from Mr. Atkinson, a 

 gamekeeper in Southwick. The contents were startling. 

 Mr. Atkinson stated that he had sent me an adder into 

 whose mouth he had seen young adders run. Thereupon 

 he had killed the reptile, and tied up the mouth, and he 

 added that he believed there was a reward connected with 

 such a discovery, and that I had something to do with it, 

 and would be glad if I would send it (the reward) on. I 

 knew Atkinson as a reliable and most respectable man. Of 

 course I felt excited, but I did not venture to touch the 

 adder until I had sent for a couple of friends, who knew 

 something of internal anatomy, to bear me witness. When 

 they arrived we undid the string round the throat, opened 

 the mouth, and peered down the interior. No young were 

 to be seen. Then we began to dissect the creature. To 

 make a short story of it, we took out seven fully-developed 

 young from the oviduct. There were none elsewhere. 



Now, how is it that men used to outdoor life, like 



Atkinson and many others of similar occupations, are 



deceived ? Their good faith is quite beyond question. Of 



a surety it is never difficult to see what one thinks one 



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