14 VENOMOUS SNAKES AND THE PHENOMENA OF THEIR VENOMS 



of more than 3 feet. This was primarily stated by the African natives, who believe 

 that if the venom gets into the eye the sight will be lost. This seems to be partly 

 corroborated by subsequent observations of some European travelers and settlers. 

 It seems quite conceivable that if the projected venom gets into the eye there will 

 be severe conjunctivitis. Calmette states, however, that he never observed such 

 faculty in Sepedon during its captivity in his laboratory. 



Boers call it Spy-slange or spitting snake, meaning that it spits out its saliva 

 when excited. 



Genus BUWGARUS Daudin. 



Bungarus Daudin, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, 1803, 187. 



The two large, grooved poison fangs are followed by one or two smaller teeth. 

 Eyes small, with round or vertical pupils. Head not distinct from neck. Dorsal 

 ridge prominent and covered with a row of much-enlarged scales. Scales in 13 

 to 17 rows. Body moderately thick, with comparatively short tail. Subcaudal 

 in one or two series. Bungarus is closely allied to Naja, but has an undilatable 

 neck. About half a dozen species inhabit southeastern Asia. 



Biingarus candidus 1 s. caeruleus. (Plate 3, d, e; plate 6, a.) 



Bungarus candidus var. cceruleus, or often B. cceruleus so called, is one of the 

 most dreaded venomous snakes of the whole of India and adjacent regions. It is 

 known as common krait; has a habit of invading houses in search of rats. It is 

 comparatively small in size, reaching about 3 feet; lives on lizards, rats, and young 

 snakes. It is known to penetrate to a veranda, bathroom, or even a pillow, but 

 usually hides in old trees or walls. Scales smooth, dark brown or bluish-black 

 with narrow crossbars or white specks, or alternately barred brown and yellow; 

 under part uniform white. Kxait is the next most dangerous snake to the cobra. 

 Bungarus fasciatus. (Plate 6, b.) 



General color bright yellow, alternating with blackish bands. About 5 feet 

 long. Fangs comparatively small. Known in northwestern India under the name 

 Koclia-krait, it inhabits Bengal, Coromandel, and Burma. A bite of this species, 

 also called the banded krait, is fatal to a dog within a few hours. 



Other species of Bungarus are muUicinctus^ which reaches 3 to 4 feet in length 

 and inhabits South China, lower Burma and Formosa; ceylonicus, the Ceylon krait, 

 and lividus, which has less-pronounced median dorsal scales and inhabits Assam. 



Genus HEMIBUNGARUS Peters. 



Hemibungarus Peters, Mon. Ber. Berliner Akad. Wiss., 1862, 637. 



In contradistinction to the genus Callophis, this one has several small solid teeth 

 behind the poison fang. The pupil is round. Head and neck less distinct. Body 

 rather slender and cylindrical. The poison extends sometimes down to the ab- 

 dominal cavity. Scales in 15 rows. Tail short. Subcaudals in two rows. 

 Hemibimgarus colligaster. 



Head purplish with black crossbars separated with narrow white bands; ab- 

 dominal surface and tip of tail red; nose yellow, with black band around the upper 

 lip near eyes. Grows to a length less than 2 feet. Philippine Islands. 

 Hemibimgarus collaris. 



Black on back; black and red bands on belly; yellowish collar on back part of 

 head. Philippine Islands. 



iBoulenger divided Bungarus candidus into two varieties, caruleus and muUicinctus . Stejneger is 

 inclined to consider Bungarus candidus s. cceruleus as not so closely allied as to be ranked as 

 subspecies, but deserving full specific rank as Bungarus muUicinctus — not as Bungarus caruleus 

 multicinctus. 



* Boulenger's subspecies of Bungarus candidus, and corresponds to Bungarus semifasciatus Giinther, 

 not of Boie, 1827. 



