THE ADDER. 12% 
especially the case with hounds. It can be easily 
understood why this should be the case, as hounds 
work with their noses close to the ground, and 
would be very apt to run over an adder. Probably 
some of the cases read of now and then of hounds 
being lost and found dead are to be accounted for 
in this way, and not always to be put down to wil- 
ful poisoning by malicious people. Dogs are gener- 
ally bitten in the lower part of the lee, just above 
the foot, or under the jaw. A good many sheep, 
too, perish annually from adder-bite. In their case 
the bite is generally under the jaw, or, as I saw 
in one case, on the udder. The hardness of the hoof 
is a protection to the feet. This also applies to cattle, 
which are invariably struck under the jaw. A farmer 
on Garway Hill, Hereford, this summer (1900) lost 
a young bullock in this way, and found the adder 
lying beside its victim—not an unusual habit of the 
reptile. The adder measured 244 inches, and was 
in my possession an hour or two after it slew its last 
bullock. 
In the case of animals the symptoms vary according 
to whether the dose of venom is a lethal one or not. 
The venom is a powerful cardiac depressant, tending 
to stop the action of the heart very soon. If suffi- 
cient venom was thrown into the system at the time 
of the bite to kill the animal quickly, no symptoms 
will show themselves except a rapid unconsciousness. 
The two marks where the fangs struck are the only 
