2 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI II. 



research work in India, both in its zoological and toxicological aspects. 

 He was born in Edinburgh in 1726, and came out to India in 1781. 

 Four years later the Honourable the East India Company appointed 

 him their naturalist. He is responsible for a monumental work on the 

 Indian snakes with excellent coloured plates, in two volumes published 

 in 1796 and 1801. 



The association of his name with this common snake, renowned as 

 much for the beauty of its colour and ornamentation as for the deadly 

 cha r acter of its bite, is a fitting tribute to his classical work.* 



English. - The usual name among the Anglo-Indians is Russell's 

 viper, but Daboia is almost as frequently in use. It is also occasionally 

 called the Chain viper. 



Vernacular.— \i would be a matter of surprise if so well known, and 

 justly dreaded, a creature had not been christened in almost every 

 vernacular. That mysterious creature the "Cobra monil'' of the natives, 

 whose indentity, if ever appreciated by them, has become obscured 

 by the lapse of time, is probably this snake as suggested by Jerdon.f 

 The name probably originated with the Portuguese, "monil" or 

 "rr^iilla" in their tongue signifying a necklace, and " cobra " or 

 " copra'' a snake. 



In Ceylon it is universally known as " Tic polonga," which means, 

 I am informed, " spotted snake." In Southern India it is known as 

 " Mandalli " and '• Kanardi virian. " The former, Nicholson says, im- 

 plies a ringed or decorated pattern. The latter, which 1 have heard 

 used chiefly about Madras, is from " Kanardi," glass, and the allusion, 

 I think, is to the spots which suggest to the fanciful native mind the 

 appearance of the small mirrors used by them in their tawdry de- 

 corations, and frequently seen attached to cloths used as curtains, etc. 



On the Malabar Coast (Cannanore) " Mandali" and " Rutheram 

 mandalli" are in use, the former being also applied to the sand snake 

 (Eryx conicus), and the hitter used to discriminate between these 

 species. " Rutheram " meaning " bloody" emphasises one of the most 

 obvious effects of its bite, viz., bloody di charges. 



* It ma. be of intf-r m* to note here that an eld r brother of his, Alexander, has also left 

 bis name in this conntrv to be hinged down to posterity. The beautiful little garden shrnb, 

 Rusxc'lia iuncca, with its curious foliage like cisnarina and its vermilion flowers, which 

 scarcely any L.dian garden is without, is named in his honour. 



t Journal, Asiatic -cciety, Bengal, Vol. XXII, p. 524. 



