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PREFACE. 



The First Edition of this treatise was published under the 

 disadvantageous circumstances of my being stationed in 

 Burma at the time. Since my return to the Madras Pre- 

 sidency I have had but little leisure for collecting further 

 materials and I had expected that some abler hand than 

 mine would have taken up the subject. But as my very 

 elementary treatise remains the only Manual of Indian 

 Ophiology available, I have determined to diminish as much 

 as possible the imperfections of my first attempt at famili- 

 arizinof Eno-lish residents in India with an interestino- 

 branch of zoology, and at clearing away the haze of fiction 

 which still obscures it. In carrying out this purpose I have 

 been seconded by the enterprise of the publishers ; the 

 remainder of the first edition has been withdrawn in order 

 to make way for the present revised issue. 



Whilst I have endeavoured to render this treatise as 

 complete as possible for non-scientific readers, those desirous 

 of stud^dng the subject thoroughly will, I hope, find it an 

 eSicient introduction to the zoological and medical literature 

 of the subject. The student should certainly follow up this 

 introduction to Dr. Gunther's splendid work on the 

 Reptiles of British India, and, if desirous of extending his 

 information, he may consult with advantage the following 

 books : — Professor Owen's Comparative Anatomy and 

 Physiology of Vertebrates, (first volume) ; Schlegel's Essai 

 sur la Physionomie des Serpents, (La Haye, 1837) ; Gerard 

 Krefft's Snakes of Australia, (Sydne}^ and London, 1869) ; 



