THE ADDER. 193 



Lastly, it is of great interest to know that one 

 species of venomous serpent certainly swallows her 

 young ones, even if the British adder is not proved to 

 do so. Dr Eudolph Menger, San Antonio, Texas, 

 U.S.A., who has devoted much time to the study of 

 the rattlesnake, describes the following incident : — 



"I was one day passing through a field and hap- 

 pened to notice a large rattler lying along the fence 

 surrounded by about a dozen very young rattlers. I 

 dismounted, and while huntino; for a stroncr stick with 

 which to kill the snakes, I noticed that all the 

 young snakes had disappeared, and that the throat 

 of the old snake was considerably swollen. A few 

 heavy blows killed the snake, and to my great 

 surprise on examining the reptile's neck, a large 

 number of young rattlers crept out of the snake's 

 mouth. I captured one of the little fellows and found 

 that, although it must have been very young, for it 

 was scarcely a foot long, its poison- fangs were fully 

 developed." ^ 



1 New York Herald, April 21, 1901. 



