gi^pjutuUx, 



ON THE MEANS OF DISCRIMINATING 



BETWEEN 



I 



POISONOUS AND HARMLESS SNAKES, 



AND 



THE TREATMENT OF SNAKE BITP:. 



There are few subjects, respecting which more profound igno- 

 rance prevails, than the means of determining whether a snake 

 is poisonous or not ; for the question is eminently a special one, 

 thouo-li neither difficult or obscure when once the few facts and 

 rules are mastered, which are necessary for the purpose. With the 

 exception of a few well known and justly dreaded snakes, like the 

 Cobra, the banded Bungarus, the blue Bungarus, or krait, or the 

 Russell's viper, no native testimony in regard to the poisonous 

 or nonpoisonous character of a snake can be relied on, as natives 

 generally attribute poisonous powers to all snakes with which 

 they are unfamiliar, or which have bright colours, or a repugnant 

 physiogQomy, and are as wholly guiltless of any accurate know- 

 ledge of the subject as the bulk of Europeans. 



Practically, as regards poisonous snakes which are dangerous to 

 man, the question is narrowed to the consideration of a limited 



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