ADVICE TO ADDER SEEKERS 79 



British Museum, each coiled in its spire confidence in them he would go 



bottle of spirits and labelled " Viper a with half a dozen large snakes in his 



berus, Linn." coat pockets into the village school, 



We seek the adder or nadder, that and pulling his pets out would play 



being venerated of old and generator with and make the children handle 



of the sacred adderstone of the Druids, them and take note of their beautiful 



and he dwells not in a jar of alcohol form and motions, 



in the still shade and equable tempera- J can understand it, and if space 



ture of a museum. He is a lover of allowed I should be glad to relate some 



the sun, and must be sought for after of my boyish adventures with serpents 



his winter sleep in dry incult places, in a far land, and the strange feelings 



especially in open forest-lands, stony excited in me by that mysterious and 



hill-sides, and furze-grown heaths and beautiful creature that moved not by 



commons. After a little training the feet or wings nor by any other organ 



adder-seeker gets to know a viperish of locomotion, as an ancient writer 



locality by its appearance. It is, how- has said, but by means of its own fiery 



ever, not necessary to go out at random spirit. 



in search of a suitable hunting-ground, My snake-lover possessed one of the 



seeing that all places haunted by adders largest parks in southern England, 



are well known to the people in the abounding in oak trees so ancient and 



neighbourhood, who are only too ready of so noble a growth that they are a 



to give the information required. There wonder to all who see them. This 



are no preservers of adders in the land, vast park was his snake-preserve, and 



and so far as I know, there has been in moist green places, by running 



but one person in England to preserve waters, he planted thickets for their 



that beautiful and innocuous creature, shelter. But when his time came and 



the ringed-snake. Can any one under- he died, the son who succeeded him 



stand such a hobby or taste ? Cer- thought he would get more glory and 



tainly not that friend of animals who sport by preserving pheasants, and 



pays sixpence for any dead snake, engaged a little army of men and boys 



He, the snake-saviour, our unknown to extirpate the reptiles. There is 



little Melampus, paid his village boys nothing now to recall the dead man's 



sixpence for every one they brought " fantastic hobby " but a stained glass 



to him alive and uninjured, and to in- window I wish it had been done by 



