101 



NOTES ON SNAKES COLLECTED IN FYZABAD. 



By 



Major F. Wall, i.m.s., c.m.z.s. 



Climate. — Fyzabad enjoys a first-rate cold season which may he 

 said to extend proximately between the 1st November and the 28th 

 February. Even at the coldest period, however, the sun shines hotly 

 for many hours in the day, and one would expect sufficiently to 

 entice snakes abroad to bask, and revel in its genial rays. The figures 

 in my table of seasonal abundance show that but few are abroad at all 

 during the cold months, and though when out duck-shooting I 

 occasionally saw a snake, and usually a Tropidonotus piscator in the 

 jheels, the majority that came in to me during that time had been 

 disturbed during some earth work. 



The hot season, which is one of average drought, ended in the year 

 1905 on the 1st of July when heavy rains began. In the year 1906 

 the rains broke on the 18th of June. i 



My residence in Fyzabad covered a somewhat broken period of 23 

 months, but 4 months' absence on leave makes the actual time spent in 

 making my collection 19 months, and of these fully 8 were embraced 

 in two cold seasons. 



My sum total of specimens amounted to 704, but this large total 

 only included 18 different species, one of which proved to be new to 

 science (Bungarus walli). 



With very few exceptions (say a dozen) everyone of these specimens 

 were captured in cantonments or close at hand. Perhaps a diameter 

 of 3 miles would cover the area productive of this total. 



Only 3 species were poisonous, the aggregate amounting to 107. 

 About 2 specimens in 13 therefore were poisonous. 



1 specimen in every 11 was a common krait (Bungarus candidus), 1 

 in every 88 a Wall's krait (Bungarus ivalli), and 1 in every 18 a 

 cobra (Naia tripudians). 



Snakebite. — The only cases of snakebite that came to my know- 

 ledge were five. In these cases I traced the offender, and it proved to 

 be Tropidonotus piscator on three occasions, and Lycodon aulicus 

 on two occasions, both harmless species. 



I saw another case reputed to be one of snakebite in the Cantonment 

 Hospital. The offender had not been captured, and I expressed the 



