2] 
27 
t BRITISH SERPENTS. 
of schoolboys paid a visit to one of these chalk pits 
en a hot summer's day to collect shells, and came 
across scores of adders. One of the party caught 
one of the longest adders and tied it with a piece 
of string round his big straw hat, and thus took it 
home. Without any fear he proceeded to release 
his captive, when it inconsiderately bit him on the 
wrist. It was not lone before the hand and fore- 
arm began to swell and become painful. A doctor 
was called in, and he prescribed some outward ap- 
plication smelling strongly of ammonia. The swelling 
soon gave way to the treatment, and in about a week 
all effects had disappeared. I was that youngster.” 
—W. Haydon, 8 Amberley Street, Liverpool. 
Essex. 
“T do not think that either of our two common 
serpents are so common as they were sixty years 
ago, although even now there are many adders in 
the woods and on the marshes near the coast. I 
do not hear of so many sheep and cows being bitten 
on the marshes as in my childhood. It is often 
said (see the ‘Field’ quite lately) that the adder 
only occurs in dry sandy places. This may be true 
in some localities, but it does not apply in the case 
of our marshes near the ‘sea-walls, where they are 
still frequent. IT could not state the averages ex- 
actly, as | have never measured any unless there 
was something unusual in the size. We find the 
