Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/25

ADDER

Whereas, let it be stated here once again that the Slow, or Blind, Worm is not slow, not blind, not venomous, not eyeless, and not slimy. It may be repeated that it is not a Snake, that it is not harmful in any way, and that it is a legless Lizard.

So much by way of brief introduction concerning the Class Reptilia British representatives of which we may now proceed to consider.

ORDER OPHIDIA, OR SERPENTS Adder.—Vipera berus (Fig. 1) Belongs to the Family Viperidæ, the whole of the members of which are poisonous. It is believed that all the species included in this Family produce their young alive. The Adder is found in various English Counties, and is commoner in Scotland than the Grass Snake. It is well distributed in certain parts of Wales, but is curiously absent from others. As already indicated, Snakes are not found in Ireland, although the species now under review occurs on one, or more, of the islands off the western seaboard of Scotland. The Adder is particularly plentiful in the New Forest, Hampshire. It haunts dry moors 9