THE ADDER. 193 
Lastly, it is of great interest to know that one 
species of venomous serpent certainly swallows her 
young ones, even if the British adder is not proved to 
do so, Dr Rudolph Menger, San Antonio, Texas, 
US.A., who has devoted much time to the study of 
the rattlesnake, describes the following incident :— 
“T was one day passing through a field and hap- 
pened to notice a large rattler lying along the fence 
surrounded by about a dozen very young rattlers. I 
dismounted, and while hunting for a strong stick with 
which to kill the snakes, I noticed that all the 
young snakes had disappeared, and that the throat 
of the old snake was considerably swollen. A few 
heavy blows killed the snake, and to my great 
surprise on examining the reptile’s neck, a large 
number of young rattlers crept out of the snake’s 
mouth. J captured one of the little fellows and found 
that, although it must have been very young, for it 
was scarcely a foot long, its poisou-fangs were fully 
developed.” 
1 New York Herald, April 21, 1901. 
