1902 Reptile Studies 181 



ordinary summer, female adders may be seen in July and 

 August sunning themselves on the edge of some cover into 

 which they can readily retire, and hastening on the process 

 of development by deriving as much warmth as possible from 

 the heat of the sun. The males, which are busy amongst 

 the youn^ mice and other small mammals, are rarely seen at 

 this time, keeping very much to the seclusion of the bracken 

 or other vegetation of their locality. Hence it is that a 

 summer collection of adders is found to consist mainly of 

 females. These latter, heavy with young, are extremely 

 sluggish in movement, and are hence easily captured, but 

 are more savage now than at other seasons. In due time 

 they bring forth a family of about twelve or thirteen,^ and if 

 an adder mother be killed by a blow from a stick just before 

 parturition takes place, the young adders escape from the 

 ruptured body alive, and the ignorant observer immediately 

 concludes that they have been swallowed, and writes to the 

 nearest paper to say that he saw the phenomenon. 



Young adders at birth are from 6 to 8 inches in length, 

 their poison fangs are fully developed and the poison-gland 

 functional, but of course the dose of venom they are capable 

 of injecting is small, and the effect on a human being is 

 similar to that from a severe wasp sting. They have all the 

 characteristic markings of their parents, but the colours are 

 not so brilliant as they are after the first spring sloughing 

 has taken place. Their infant diet is a matter of conjec- 

 ture, but probably consists of insects, slugs, worms, and 

 such small fry. Very soon, however, the young reptile is 

 capable of swallowing small mice, which it prefers to any- 

 thing else. 



Angtiis fragilis, the slow- worm, brings forth a family of 

 from six to twelve young ones in August or September, 

 the size at birth being rather under two inches in length, 

 the thickness not much more than that of a wax vesta. 

 No nest is made by the mother. The young burst the egg- 

 membranes immediately as they are extruded, and in the 

 course of twelve weeks or so the young reach a length of 

 3 to 4 inches. They feed at first on very small insects, 

 spiders, and suchlike ; later on slugs are the favourite diet. 



^ British Serpents, p. 145. 



