POISON-SNAKES. ^21 



Potent medicinal qualities were by our fore- 

 fathers attributed to the Adder-egg, or Adder- 

 stone ; the ovum anguinum of Pliny, the glein 

 neidr of the ancient British. The Druids con- 

 nected its production with the convoluted as- 

 semblages of Snakes which have ah-eady been 

 noticed, and Mason, in his " Caractacus," has 

 embodied the tradition in the following spirited 

 lines : — ■ 



" From the grot of charms and spells, 

 Where our matron sister dwells, 

 Brennus, has thy holy hand 

 Safely brought the Druid wand, 

 And the potent Adder-stone, 

 'Gendered 'fore the autumnal moon ? 

 When, in undidating twine, 

 The foaming snakes prolific join, 

 When they hiss, and when they bear 

 • Their wond'rous eg^ aloof in air ; 

 Thence, before to earth it fall, 

 The Druid, in his hallow'd pall 



Receives the prize ; 



And instant flies. 

 Followed hj the envenom'd brood. 

 Till he cross the crystal flood." 



Divested of poetry and superstition, these 

 " Adder-stones," however, are nothing more than 

 perforated beads of blue glass of -great anti- 

 quity. 



It has been often asserted, and the same 

 thing is reported of the Rattle-snake, and 

 other Serpents of this Family, that the young 

 when alarmed, retreat into the mouth and 

 gullet of the parent, and there remain until the 

 danger 'is past. Some viper-catchers deny that 

 this ever takes place, while others as strenu- 

 ously affirm it. " There is no physiological 

 reason against it. The young might live in 



