THE ADDER. 163 
all probability another hour or so would have seen 
fourteen lively young adders playine about at that 
spot: they certainly have every appearance of being 
capable of looking after themselves. This group shows 
the fact that was mentioned when discussing sloughing 
—namely, that the first slough is east before birth. 
Several of the embryos show the slough as a ring 
round the body, peeling off towards the tail. 
It is quite possible that the size of the young in 
this particular case was larger than usual; but I 
think there can be no doubt that youne adders are 
born greater in size than is usually supposed, and 
o 
g 
are quite perfectly developed at birth. All these 
embryos were provided with their teeth, including the 
fangs. ‘Two of them are now in Sir William Turner’s 
museum at Edinburgh University, the others preserved 
in my own collection, where any one interested can see 
them. This size of the young at birth will be again 
referred to when discussing the question of the adder- 
nother swallowing her young for protection, 
