-xivii. 



and frogs occurred there, but not toads. The Secretary, alluding to tl)e 

 Treasurer's scepticism as to the swallowing of her young by the mother 

 viper, said that two of his neighbours, William and Eliza Hunt, whom he 

 had known well for some years, and whose statements were, he considered, 

 quite to be depended upon, stated that a few years ago, when they were 

 about S and 12 years of age respectively, they were playing near a certain 

 bank in Tidmoor Lane, Charleston, Chickerell, when they came upon a 

 viper Avith several young around her, basking in the sun. The group 

 being alarmed at their approach the old viper began to open her mouth 

 and hiss, whereupon the little vipers made for the mouth of their mother 

 and glided down her throat. ISIrs. Hunt remembers her children running 

 in, rather alarmed, and saying that tliey had seen a viper swallow its 

 young ones. The Secretary desired to place this upon record, as he, 

 like the Treasurer, had never before met with anyone Avho had seen 

 such an occurrence, although it was a general popular belief. He said 

 he thought it was a rare thing to see a viper ivith its young, to which 

 the Treasurer assented, saying that he had never seen such a sight. 

 Mr. A. Bankes and others reconmiended Condy's fluid, ammonia, wash- 

 ing soda, or indeed any alkali, as good in cases of snake bite. The 

 Secretary mentioned that toads sometimes suffered from the attacks of 

 leeches at some little distance from water, as Mrs. Eichardson had found 

 one with several small leeches adhering to it, some little way from a 

 pond. Also that at a reservoir in Carmarthenshire, the natterjack toads 

 were in immense swarms, and such large quantities of them died annually 

 in the late spring that they had to be carted away to prevent the tainting 

 of the water caused by their dead bodies. 



A jiaper on " Charminster Church and its Restoration " was then read 

 by the Rev. Sir Talbot Baker as follows : — 



"I have been asked to read a paper on Charminster Church with a 

 view to raising a discussion on the very serious question of its removal, 

 owing to its dampness and liability to floods, to a higher situation, which 

 could be provided for it on the top of a hill not far off". Should this 

 extreme measure be negatived then discussion is invited on the best 

 )uanner of counteracting the damp and on one or two points connected 

 with its restoration where it stands of presumed interest to antiquarians. 

 I am aware that this church has been briefly, yet ably, treated with the 

 other churches of the Rural Deanery of Dorchester by Mr. Barnes, 

 (Pro. D.N.H. and A.F.C., vol. xii. p. 47 plate iv.), but the tempta- 

 tion to examine it from under the roof of a house that had shelteretl 

 Philip of Burgundy and Joan of Castile was too strong to make 

 me resist the invitation to offer some remarks on the subject, even at tlic 



