ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 243 



those mentioned in the Bible in Isaiah. I think however my forego- 

 ing remarks show the first reference purely metaphorical, and the 

 second though obviously literal, a hyperbolic and unwarrantable 

 misinterpretation. What the snakes are or were which were known 

 tc the Arabians as flying snakes must remain a matter of speculation. 

 None of the genera which furnish the " flying snakes " of the present 

 day that are known as such, occur in Arabia, but I see no reason why 

 similar saltatory feats should not be performed by other tree snakes 

 known to inhabit that region. 



