278 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



of schoolboys paid a visit to one of these chalk pits 

 on a hot summer's day to collect shells, and came 

 across scores of adders. One of the party caught 

 one of the longest adders and tied it with a piece 

 of string round his big straw hat, and thus took it 

 home. Without any fear he proceeded to release 

 his captive, when it inconsiderately bit him on the 

 wrist. It was not long before the hand and fore- 

 arm began to swell and become painful. A doctor 

 was called in, and he prescribed some outward ap- 

 plication smelling strongly of ammonia. The swelling 

 soon gave way to the treatment, and in about a week 

 all effects had disappeared. I was that youngster." 

 — W. Haydon, 8 Amberley Street, Liverpool. 



Essex. 



" I do not think that either of our two common 

 serpents are so common as they were sixty years 

 ago, although even now there are many adders in 

 the woods and on the marshes near the coast. I 

 do not hear of so many sheep and cows being bitten 

 on the marshes as in my childhood. It is often 

 said (see the ' Field ' quite lately) that the adder 

 only occurs in dry sandy places. This may be true 

 in some localities, but it does not apply in the case 

 of our marshes near the ' sea-walls/ where they are 

 still frequent. I could not state the averages ex- 

 actly, as I have never measured any unless there 

 was something unusual in the size. We find the 



