232 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



till it quite passes through the body, and then it im- 

 mediately hardens, and resembles a glass ring, which 

 whoever finds shall prosper in his undertakings. The 

 rings thus generated are called Gleinau Nadroeth ; in 

 English, snake-stones " (' Antiquities of Cornwall,' by 

 Borlase). I have heard of similar stories being told 

 in Denbighshire. 



A variety of this superstition is found in the Vale 

 of Glamorgan, where the idea is that when the reptiles 

 congregate they kill one of their species and weave or 

 make on the dead serpent's tail a small ball. The 

 snakes are said to be very fierce during the operation, 

 and the victim is supposed to give vent to shrieks of 

 agony. Here as elsewhere the snake-stone is regarded 

 as a charm, and as bringing good luck to the possessor. 



Moving masses of snakes. — Several corre- 

 spondents have told me that they have encountered 

 masses of snakes writhing together in a ball. I confess 

 I do not quite understand this curious phenomenon 

 seen on the open land. It would appear to be only 

 explainable on the supposition that they had worked 

 themselves out of their hibernating quarters en masse 

 when thus encountered, or that a number had got 

 together in the pairing season. Whatever the real 

 signification of this curious circumstance, it would 

 seem, to be not very uncommon, as I have had no 

 less than four accounts of it being seen in six months. 

 — Author. 



