DISTRIBUTION OK ANIMALS AN'I) PLANTS IN KKI.S'l T.AI ), KSSKX. I97 



extinct here. The last certain case of one Ijcing seen dates back 

 ten years, and my informant in this case, an old poacher, but a good 

 observer, says that previous to that he had noticed that they were 

 very rare, although in his younger days he had killed a great many. 

 In many years' peregrination of lonely fields I have never to my 

 knowledge seen one. Snakes now can hardly be marked as frequent, 

 although they were formerly common. Occasionally they will gain 

 something like a footing in a secluded hedgerow, but in a short time 

 they disappear again. I believe them to be great travellers in the 

 spring, as they may be then sometimes met with by the roadside and 

 in frequented footpaths ; but as the summer advances they must 

 be sought for in the most retired situations, particularly by the river 

 side. I can give no sufficient reason for their diminution, but I have 

 been reminded that their distribution may be a matter of very 

 delicate poise — a slight change of drainage, for instance, depriving 

 them of food. They are always hunted and killed where possible, 

 but that has probably been a normal condition of their existence, and 

 it must be remarked that the hunting population has not increased. 

 There has been a slight reduction in the i)opulation in the last two 

 decades. As regards the adders, the enclosure of common lands 

 may have played an important part in their extinction. Fairwood 

 Common, near Leigh, was long a stronghold of the adder, but its 

 enclosure probably sealed their doom. They are very rare, if at all 

 to be found there now. 



In treating of the distribution of plants many difficulties arise. 

 They are subject to so many disturbing elements. The field, too, is 

 so exceedingly wide that only a small portion can possibly be treated 

 of. Nevertheless, observations confined to a limited area will supply 

 interesting cases. 



We have here to do with an element that has not been obvious 

 in the departments treated of, and that is the " Struggle for Life." 

 Undoubtedly this enters as a potent factor, although not the 

 omnipotent one. Like the Fish, Molluscs, and Reptiles, a margin 

 will remain in the problem of distribution which is completely beyond 

 our ken. 



The local history of almost any vigorous plant will furnish 

 illustration. We will take the family of Crowfoots, which are well 

 represented in Essex, and are perfectly adapted to its loams and 

 clays. Strong and vigorous, they might reasonably be supposed to 

 hold their own were the struggle for life all that is concerned. Have 



