184 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



Letter 1. — "J see you are seeking information 

 through the local papers, asking, Do adders swallow 

 . their young ? I think I can honestly say they do. I 

 will write you an incident I once saw with an adder. 



" I was walking by the side of a small brook and I 

 came in contact with an adder. Of course the first 

 thing I did was to kill it. To my surprise there were 

 three small adders close by, from 3 to 4 inches long. 

 I smashed them up and turned my attention to the 

 old one, where I could see protruding from the mouth 

 the tail of a little adder. I got it out ; it was the same 

 size as the other three. With the aid of two small 

 sharp sticks I tore open the old adder and found two 

 more of the same size inside. I should say the little 

 ones all belonged to the same lot. This happened 

 quite twenty years ago. I never saw such a thing 

 before or since, though I have killed several since. I 

 have killed two adders this season." — James Davies, 

 Mill Farm, Welsh Newton, nr. Monmouth, July 23, 

 1900. 



Letter 2. — " I can quite understand your desire for 

 information re adders. I came across one on Ascot 

 Heath many years ago ; it was attempting to cross the 

 road, out of some furze and heather. I don't know if 

 it was not wanton mischief on my part to try and kill 

 it — however, I made for it with my stick. It made a 

 hissing noise, and, to my surprise, seven small — its 

 own offspring, no doubt — ran to it and were de- 



