Cumberland."-Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A., ' Fauna of Lakeland,' p. lxxviii. North of England. "The viper is pretty common in Westmoreland, Cumberland, and those parts of Lancashire included in the Lake District. This is especially the case in the low-lying lands in the neighbourhood of Morecambe Bay and the Solway Firth. The largest living adder I have sent to me for inspection measured 28 inches, and was found in the locality of Staveley in the summer of 1890. I have records of adders measuring 294, 291, and 31 inches. The average in Lakeland I should put at about 17 inches. "The ring snake is rather rare in Westmoreland, but fairly common in suitable places in Cumberland and in the Furness district."-G. W. Murdoch, Milnthorpe, Westmoreland. Lake District. "One Sunday in August 1897 Mr Clarke, who has charge of the wood above Chapel Hill, Langdale, told me he had just killed a snake which he had seen once before in the spring, but on that occasion it eluded him. Although he had looked many times in the interval for it, he had never seen it again till this day on which he killed it. I walked up to his cottage in the wood, and there he had an adder 19 inches long. Mr Clarke had been in charge of this wood for nine years, but this was the only snake he had ever seen. For many years I have gone to the Lake District two or three times a-year on geology and botany bent, and I have never seen either the adder or the ring snake, so I conclude both are scarce."-W. Haydon, Liverpool. Cumberland. "The adder is the most common snake in this county, being found in all parts, but especially plentifully near the coast-line. Its average length is 18 inches. "The ring snake is very rare in Cumberland, being quite unknown in the middle of the county. One or two have been seen in the north-west, and twice I have had eggs sent to me from Caldew Valley. In the very south of the county it is more common, but when one crosses the Duddon and gets into the Furness (Lancashire) district it becomes very usual indeed to find it, especially on the low-lying land in the neighbourhood of Morecambe Bay. Its average length in Cumberland may be put at 28 inches. "The smooth snake is not known here."—W. Duckworth, Beacon Side, Penrith. North Lancashire. "The adder is our most common snake here, averaging from 24 inches to 30 inches, and I have seen one just 3 feet long. I have lived in the district of Ulverston since 1875, and have heard many wonderful yarns as to vipers, or hag-worms as they are called locally. In my own experience I have seen about a dozen, all of which I have killed except the first I saw, which was lying curled up with the head in the middle. I came across him on a foot-road through a wood, where he was enjoying a snooze, probably after a meal. I happened to have a bit of dead wood in my hand, and, in my anxiety to kill the beastie,' aimed a blow at once instead of choosing a more reliable weapon. The wood was so rotten that it snapped in my hand and only the end fell harmlessly on the head of the adder, who hissed angrily and made off. They are most often seen in the early warm spring days near old walls and places in which they have been hibernating. I once saw the effect of a bite on a sheep-dog, which had been bitten near the nose, which quickly swelled up and looked very painful. As far as I can recollect, the shepherd applied carbolic oil, and in a couple of days the canine patient was well. One informant tells me that he once saw an adder swimming across Windermere Lake with his head just above the water and making a hissing noise.1 Another friend rode over one on his bicycle as the adder was crossing the main road from Ulverston to Lakeside."-Rev. P. Hartley, M.A., Colton Vicarage, Ulverston. 1 This was probably a ring snake. Lancashire. The adder is the most common snake in this county, the average length being from 21 to 24 inches. In this district it is specially found on Clougha Pike, Holker Moss, and at Witherslack in the Mosses. Gamekeepers state that they have had several dogs killed through adder-bites on these Mosses."-Arthur Stanley, Lancaster (Hon. Sec. Field Nat. Soc.) Various Localities. "The ring snake is the most common snake in Delamere (Cheshire), the adder being seldom met with. I once captured a ring snake 33 inches long in Delamere Forest. "On the bogland at Witherslack, near Grange-overSands, I have often been cautioned by the old men of the district to mind the add-worms,' which they said were plentiful. "The ring snake is still very plentiful near Harlech and Aberdaron, on Cardigan Bay, and near the latter place one day I watched a blackbird pursuing a goodsized blindworm. I captured the blindworm in my butterfly-net and placed it in a large bottle of cyanide of potassium, and carried it in the bottle a mile and a half. On taking it out of the bottle at the village inn the reptile at once showed activity and drove several farmers from the room as effectively as a rattlesnake could have done."-Mr Robinson, 43 St John Street, Longsight, Manchester. 343 CHAPTER XXXII. SCOTLAND. It is unnecessary in the case of Scotland to consider the various biological provinces in detail, because, as far as British serpents are concerned, there is practically only one species found over the whole of the country, and that is the adder. The ring snake is occasionally reported in the extreme south-east, in Roxburghshire and Berwickshire, but never commonly even here. About 20 inches is a very usual length for the adder everywhere, though large specimens are taken now and then. The ophidian distribution in Scotland is probably a matter of climate more than anything else, and the adder has, among its other characteristics, a greater capacity for standing cold than the ring snake. Its period of hibernation does not seem to be any longer in the northern clime, as it is generally to be seen in Sutherland as soon even as March, which is quite as early as most of the southern counties in England. The black variety of the adder is found in Scotland more frequently |