THE ADDER. 127 



especially the case with hounds. It can be easily 

 understood why this should be the case, as hounds 

 work with their noses close to the ground, and 

 would be very apt to run over an adder. Probably 

 some of the cases read of now and then of hounds 

 being lost and found dead are to be accounted for 

 in this way, and not always to be put down to wil- 

 ful poisoning by malicious people. Dogs are gener- 

 ally bitten in the lower part of the leg, just above 

 the foot, or under the jaw. A good many sheep, 

 too, perish annually from adder-bite. In their case 

 the bite is generally under the jaw, or, as I saw 

 in one case, on the udder. The hardness of the hoof 

 is a protection to the feet. This also applies to cattle, 

 which are invariably struck under the jaw. A farmer 

 on Gar way Hill, Hereford, this summer (1900) lost 

 a young bullock in this way, and found the adder 

 lying beside its victim — not an unusual habit of the 

 reptile. The adder measured 24h inches, and was 

 in my possession an hour or two after it slew its last 

 bullock. 



In the case of animals the symptoms vary according 

 to whether the dose of venom is a lethal one or not. 

 The venom is a powerful cardiac depressant, tending 

 to stop the action of the heart very soon. If suffi- 

 cient venom was thrown into the system at the time 

 of the bite to kill the animal quickly, no symptoms 

 will show themselves except a rapid unconsciousness. 

 The two marks where the fangs struck are the only 



