REPTILIA 



319 



snakes. Apparently tamable, it Is most treacherous. Cobras are 

 oviparous. In 1927, there were 19,069 deaths from snake-bite in 

 India. Cobras and kraits were chiefly responsible. 



The Ringhals {Sepedon hue 7n achates), a South African cobra, 

 reaches a length of five feet. It feeds on amphibians, birds and 

 their eggs, and small rodents. It ejects jets of poison six feet. 

 The krait {Bungarus coeruleus) is an extremely dangerous snake 

 found in Asia and the Malay Archipelago. It has no hood. It 

 reaches a length of 4 feet. 



The Australian black snake {Pseudechis porphyriacus), an ex- 

 tremely venomous snake, is sometimes called the purple death 

 adder. (See p. 328, Snake Venoms.) 



Fig. 176. Body rings of false coral snake and true coral snake. (Courtesy of Anti- 



venin Institute of America.) 



Several species of Doliophis are found in Southeastern Asia. 

 The venom-secreting glands are not confined to the head but extend 

 through the anterior one-third of the body. Due to this strange 

 variation, the heart is located more posteriorly than in other snakes. 



About 26 species of the New World Elapine snakes are known, 

 two of them being found in Southern United States. The two 



