126 



they generally elude notice ; unless a European has sharp 

 siorht and habits of unconscious observation of what is pfoino" 

 on around him as he walks, he may live for ten years in 

 Indian stations without seeing ten live snakes otherwise than 

 in the hands of the juggler. My own experience is hardly 

 a fair criterion as I am very short-sighted ; I cannot, there- 

 fore, attach much importance to the fact that I do not once 

 a year come across a snake accidentally ; although, if I go 

 out snake-hunting, keeping a sharp look-out, I rarely fail 

 to bag a specimen of some sort. But cross-examination 

 of persons long resident in India leads me to conclude that 

 one snake per annum is a fair average estimate of the number 

 seen accidentally by Europeans living habitually in stations ; 



4 



s^Dortmen, of course, have a much larger field of observation.. 



The rainy season is the time when snakes are most lively; 

 in the hot and dry weather they retire to cool and moist 

 places. Season does not, as far as I have observed, affect 

 the casting of the skin in Indian snakes ; with regard to 

 the laying of eggs, its effect is variable. Young are pro- 

 duced once a year ; the period between the impregnation of 

 the female and the birth of her young is uncertain, but it 

 would appear to be from four to five months. In the 

 majority of snakes the eggs are extruded after about three 

 months gestation, the development of the embryo taking 

 place, as in birds, in the period between laying and hatching. 

 But while most snakes are consequently oviparous, certain 

 of them do not extrude the eggs with the embryo unde- 

 veloped, but retain them until maturity more or less perfect. 

 Between the strictly oviparous snakes and the ovoviviparous 

 snakes which extrude the foetus perfectly developed, there 

 are various gradations. The name ' viper was applied 

 originally to all venomous snakes under the idea that this 

 class was distinguished by its viviparous habit ; this has 

 been, however, proved to be quite erroneous, for though 

 most of the viperine snakes arc viviparous so are many 



