THE ADDER. 135 



Another fatal case has occurred quite recently 

 (June 1901) in Cumberland, where a little boy named 

 Hartley, aged four years and eight months, was bitten 

 on the leg by an adder. In this case death took place 

 three days after the accident. Owing to the long dis- 

 tance to be travelled, it was some hours before medical 

 aid could be got, and though cardiac stimulants and 

 permanganate of potassium were injected, the patient 

 gradually succumbed to the effect of the venom. 1 



The following description of a case of adder-bite 

 has been sent me by my neighbour, B. St J. Attwood- 

 Mathews, Esq., Pontrilas Court, Herefordshire, and 

 is quoted in his own words : — 



" In the year 1846 or 1847, I forget which, I was 

 walking on Jansley Moor, near Matlock, Derbyshire, 

 on a hot day in the month of August. I had caught 

 an adder about 2 feet long and put it into a box. 

 On opening the box soon afterwards the adder bit me 

 in the right forefinger. I shut up the adder again in 

 the box, and tried to suck the venom from the wound. 

 This was of no use, and soon I became very faint and 

 sick, and fainted by the roadside. There I was found 

 by some passers-by, who helped me into a gig and drove 

 me home. I went to bed and had my arm covered 

 with cloths steeped in ammonia. The arm swelled 

 up to twice its natural size, and the swelling extended 



1 I am indebted to Dr Eden Cass of Ravenglass, near Carnforth, 

 who attended the case, for kindly furnishing me with particulars of 

 this fatality from adder-bite. — Author. 



