THE ADDER. 175 
satisfactory proof? My answer is this. Let the first 
person who sees the adder-mother swallow her young 
proceed to carry out the following programme : 
1. Secure the mother alive or dead, and tie a liga- 
ture securely round the neck. 
2. Take the specimen to any well-known naturalist, 
and make a statement in the presence of witnesses as 
to the circumstances attending the capture. 
3. Request the naturalist to dissect the adder in 
the presence of three reputable witnesses. 
The final act in the drama will be the finding (or 
not finding) of the young in the gullet of the adder- 
mother, or elsewhere, by the naturalist in question. 
This is what science calls proving a question, aud 
short of this, whatever private opinion may be held 
on the matter, scientists cannot be expected to con- 
sider the adder-swallowing belief proved. Until this 
is done, rather will they regard the question as one 
capable of proof, if true, but hitherto unsettled. 
