20 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



don't know where to set it, for there is not one 

 square foot of ground which is not already occupied 

 by an adder coiled in readiness to strike. 



In adder-seeking, the main thing is to find your 

 adder without disturbing it, so as to be able to 

 stand near and watch it lying quiescent in the sun. 

 The best plan is to come almost to a stop as soon 

 as the creature has been caught sight of, then to 

 advance so slowly and stealthily as to appear 

 stationary, for the adder although unalarmed is, 

 I believe, always conscious of your presence. In 

 this way you may approach to within two or three 

 yards, or nearer, and remain a long time regard- 

 ing it. 



But what is the seeker to do if, after long 

 searching, he discovers his adder already in retreat, 

 and knows that in two or three seconds it will 

 vanish from his sight? As a rule, the person who 

 sees an adder gliding from him aims a blow at it 

 with his stick so as not to lose it. Now to kill your 

 adder is to lose it. It is true you will have some- 

 thing to show for it, or something of it which is 

 left in your hands, and which, if you feel disposed, 

 you may put in a glass jar and label " Vipera berus" 

 But this would not be an adder. Must we then 

 never kill an adder? That is a question I do not 

 undertake to answer, but I can say that if we are 

 seeking after knowledge, or something we call 

 knowledge because it is a convenient word and can 

 be made to cover many things it would be difficult 

 to name, then to kill is no profit, but, on the contrary, 



