ADDER 



sands. The horns are about four feet long, 

 beautifully twisted into wide sweeping spirals 

 with the points directed outward. It has tufts 

 of hair on the forehead and throat, and a white 



ADDAX 



blaze or stripe on the nose. It is hunted by 

 Arabs with greyhounds, both for its flesh, which 

 is used for food, and for its skin, which is val- 

 uable commercially. 



ADDER, a name applied to several varieties 

 of poisonous snakes, but especially to the cop- 

 perhead and the water moccasin. When angry, 

 the adder has the habit of puffing out or swell- 

 ing the upper part of its neck. The puff adder 

 is a South African snake whose bite is nearly 

 always fatal. The natives, in some parts, poison 

 their arrows with its venom. The only poison- 

 ous snake of Great Britain is the adder, belong- 

 ing to the snake family of vipers. It is easily 

 recognized by a distinct V-shaped mark on its 

 head. See COPPERHEAD; MOCCASIN; SNAKE. 



The poison of the adder is comparatively 

 slow in action, and one bitten may linger for 

 days before death or recovery. The use of 

 strong doses of whisky or brandy in case of 

 snake bite, though once believed in, is strongly 

 condemned by medical authorities. Stimula- 

 tion can be more satisfactorily produced by 

 means of ammonia or strychnine, and without 

 the harmful reaction caused by alcohol. A liga- 

 ture must be applied above the wound, which 

 should be bled freely by cutting with a clean 

 knife. To suck out the poison is dangerous. 

 The wound should be well washed w:th a solu- 

 tion of permanganate of potash. Burning with 



ADDISON 



nitrate of silver is also beneficial. The most re- 

 liable treatment, however, is not always avail- 

 able; this consists of injections of serum from 

 animals which have been rendered immune 

 by inoculation of snake venom. 



ADDER'S TONGUE. See DOG'S-TOOTH VIO- 

 LET. 



ADDING MACHINE, a name generally but 

 not always accurately applied to computing 

 machines. Not only do these devices add 

 sums of figures mechanically, but many of 

 them can be manipulated so they will sub- 

 tract, multiply and divide, the latter opera- 

 tions being as simple as those of addition. 

 See CALCULATING MACHINES, for description of 

 the various types. 



ADDIS ABEBA, ah' dis ah bay' bah, the 

 capital of Abyssinia, situated at an altitude of 

 over 8,000 feet, is one of the world's strangest 

 cities. It is 300 miles from the ocean, and as 

 yet only a trail leads from the capital to the 

 nearest port; a railroad, however, is projected. 

 Its buildings are low, rude and particularly un- 

 inviting; it has no streets, for its houses are 

 set down wherever convenience suggests. The 

 only native school in the entire country is in 

 this city. Addis Abeba was the scene of the 

 signing of the treaty of peace between Italy 

 and Abyssinia in 1896, in which Italy resigned 

 her claim to a protectorate. Population, esti- 

 mated at 50,000. See ABYSSINIA. 



ADDISON, JOSEPH (1672-1719), an English 

 poet and essayist, of whom Samuel Johnson 

 said he who would attain the perfection of Eng- 

 lish style "must give his days and nights to 

 the volumes of Addison." He was born at 

 Milston, in Wiltshire, studied at Oxford, and 

 won a name for himself by his easy, graceful 

 Latin verse. 

 After his gradu- 

 ation he was 

 given a pension 

 by the govern- 

 ment, which en- 

 abled him to 

 travel on the 

 Continent for 

 several years. In 

 1704 he wrote 

 The Campaign, a 

 poem addressed 

 to the Duke of 

 Marlborough, cel- 

 ebrating his vic- 

 tory at the Battle of Blenheim, and this se- 

 cured him several government appointments. 



JOSEPH ADDISON 



