O 
18: BRITISH SERPENTS. 
Pankhurst was the keeper on the estate. There were 
several members of my own family and other friends 
tovether at the time of which I speak. Make what- 
ever use you please of this.”’—(Rev.) Win. Burnett, 
The Manse, Eythorne, Dover, August 7, 1900. 
Letter 7—The following, taken from a communica- 
tion | have received from Mdme. Ehse Otte, is of 
peculiar interest, inasmuch as it is the only statement 
I know of from an eyewitness whose name is known 
to scientific naturalists. Years avo Mdime. Otte was 
well known for her work on marine zoology, and 
as a capable and accurate observer I take the 
following quotations from her narrative: 
“The scene which TI witnessed thirty years ago, 
when I saw the youne of an adder run into the 
mother’s mouth, was on an oceasion when I had 
come from Torquay to take part in a geological 
excursion to Lustleigh Cleve. The late William 
Pengelly, F.R.S., was to explain the nature of the 
strata exposed to view in some recently made cut- 
tings of a railway. As, however, I had previously 
seen similar beds, I preferred to take the oppor- 
tunity of reaching a point of view on the moor I 
specially wished to see. Accordingly I applied to 
the landlady of our inn for a guide to take me 
through the network of intersecting lanes that had 
to be traversed. A young girl was selected to be 
my cicerone, and after innumerable turnings brought 
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