THE FAUNA OF THE MOOR 123 



The pairing takes place from March to May, and the 

 young ones are born in July and August. We say 

 "are born," since the Adder is not an egg-layer like 

 the Grass Snake, but viviparous. The telescoping of 

 the development of the young ones so that it takes 

 place within the safety of the mother's body is often 

 an indication that the life of the young is precarious, 

 especially if they are helpless to begin with. 



The Adder's bite what does it mean? The fangs 

 are formed by a pair of long, curved, tubular teeth, 

 borne by the movable maxillary bones; the tube is 

 open at both ends; at the base it is in temporary 

 connection with the duct of the poison gland (which 

 turns out to be a transformed salivary gland). The 

 poison passes from the compressed poison gland 

 along the canal of the tooth and escapes through 

 a minute groove towards the tip of the tooth. When 

 the Adder gets its fangs into the Mouse or other 

 victim, a little of the poison is automatically injected 

 into the wound, and this paralyses and kills with great 

 rapidity. The fangs are apt to be broken, and in any 

 case they only serve for a limited time; there is a 

 succession of reserve fangs ready to replace them. 

 When a new fang moves into the vacant place its 

 base has to be connected with the duct of the poison 

 gland. 



One of the most elusive creatures of the moor is 

 the Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis), a limbless lizard of 

 most innocent qualities, which unthinking, stupid, or 

 cruel people often kill. Its fatal resemblance to a 

 Snake is quite superficial, and is simply a shape like- 

 ness, due to both animals being adapted to creeping 

 through holes and among herbage. Almost all Snakes 



