30 VENOMS 



B.—ASIA, DUTCH INDIES, AND PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



The species of snakes luost dangerous to man are found in the 

 warmer regions of Asia. India especially is infested by the famous 

 Cobra-di-Capello (Naja tripudians), which possesses the highly 

 remarkable faculty of dilating its neck in the form of a hood 

 when irritated, and whose sculptured image appears on almost 

 all the Hindu monuments. 



We shall describe in a separate section (see below, F.) the 

 Hydrophiin^, or Sea-snakes, a large number of species of which 

 frequent the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Malacca, 

 the China Sea, the Moluccas, Celebes, and North Australia. 

 In the case of certain species the area of distribution includes 

 the whole of the tropical and sub-tropical zones of the Pacific 

 Ocean, as far as the West Coast of America. It is therefore 

 preferable to group them together for the purpose of comprehensive 

 study. 



Besides the above, the continent of Asia harbours a multitude of 

 poisonous snakes belonging to the two Families Colubrid^ and 



VlPERID^. 



The genera and species belonging to these are so diverse, that 

 we must confine ourselves to mentioning the essential characters 

 of those that present most interest. 



I. — Family Colubrid^. 



( (a) Bu)if/(inis. 

 I (b) Naja. 

 Subfamily Elapin.?-: : Genera J (c) Hemihungaras. 



(d) Callofhis. 

 \ (e) DoUopliis. 



(a) Bungarus. 

 Head hardly distinct from the neck; eyes small, with round or 

 vertically elliptic pupils ; nostril between two nasal shields. Two 

 large poison-fangs followed by one or two small, slightly grooved 



