A Cold-blooded Race. 51 



Perhaps the consciousness of power makes them more 

 deliberate than the harmless snake, which has no 

 weapon beyond the power of emitting a not very 

 agreeable smell. The adder is much more irascible 

 too, and sometimes the first notice of its presence is 

 given by an angry hiss. 



Hold him down with a stick. Now watch your 

 opportunity and take him up by the tail. There is no 

 danger whatever. A snake so held cannot raise its head 

 more than a few inches towards the hand that holds it. 



On its head is a mark like a V ; the other way up 

 perhaps it might do for A ; though ' naddre ' is said to 

 be the original spelling, corrupted from ' a naddre ' to 

 ' an adder.' 



He will strike if a stick is offered him, showing his 

 weapons two long teeth that are generally folded 

 away along the roof of the mouth. These make an 

 extremely fine puncture, hardly visible at the moment. 

 Presently a pain sets in like a bad wasp's sting, ac- 

 companied by a dull, throbbing ache, soon extending 

 up the arm, while the bitten hand swells and becomes 

 discoloured. 



Oil applied to the spot, and ammonia taken inter- 

 nally, are the general remedies ; but the wound some- 

 times keeps open like a burn from phosphorus, and 

 heals up with difficulty. 



The bite of an old adder in hot weather is no doubt 

 a painful affair, but only some half-dozen cases are on 

 record in which it has proved fatal to human beings. 



42 



