no NATURE NEAR LONDON 



harmless snakes are numerous in this part, and they 

 always keep near water. They often glide into a mole's 

 " angle," or hole, if found in the open. 



Adders are known to exist in the woods round about, 

 but are never, or very seldom, seen upon the heath itself. 

 In the woods of the neighbourhood they are not un- 

 common, and are sometimes killed for the sake of the 

 oil. The belief in the virtue of adder's fat, or oil, is still 

 firm ; among other uses it is considered the best thing for 

 deafness, not, of course, resulting from organic defect. 

 For deafness, the oil should be applied by pouring a 

 small quantity into the ear, exactly in the same manner 

 as in the play the poison is poured into the ear of the 

 sleeping king. Cures are declared to be effected by this 

 oil at the present day. 



It is procured by skinning the adder, taking the fat, 

 and boiling it ; the result is a clear oil, which never 

 thickens in the coldest weather. One of these reptiles 

 on being killed and cut open was found to contain the 

 body of a full-grown toad. The old belief that the young 

 of the viper enters its mouth for refuge still lingers. The 

 existence of adders in the woods here seems so un- 

 doubted that strangers should be a little careful if they 

 eave the track. Viper's bugloss, which grows so freely 

 by the heath, was so called because anciently it was 

 thought to yield an antidote to the adder's venom. 



