550 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI. 



extract from this gland, and they sum up the results of their experi- 

 ments in the following words. " No one who has experimented with 

 minimal lethal doses of Cobra venom can fail to be struck with the close 

 resemblance of the symptoms caused by it with those recorded in the 

 above experiments with the parotid secretion of Dryophis and its Opis- 

 thoglyphous allies. 



The gradual quickening of the respiration, the drowsiness and nod- 

 ding of the head, with jerky recovery every now and then, followed by 

 gradually increasing-paralysis, and a rapid failure of the respirations 

 after they have become laboured in character, by convulsions, and finally 

 by stoppage of the heart some little time after the breathing has ceased, 

 form a sequence of events that except for a difference in intensity, are 

 common to both, as also is the post-mortem picture of subcutaneous 

 extravasation." 



Distribution : 



(a) Geographical. — India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam. 



(b) Local. — It is essentially an inhabitant of the plains and low up- 

 lands but I have records of its occurrence at an altitude above 3,000 ft. 

 (Salween, Burma). It frequents gardens and groves in populated 

 quarters, as well as jungles far removed from habitations. 



(c) Numerical. — Its frequency varies much in different localities. It is 

 a common snake about Colombo, and a very common one in Travancore 

 (Ferguson). It is extremely common about Cannanore, more so I think 

 than is usual in other Southern Indian parts. It was by no means so 

 plentiful about Trichinopoly. Russell* says " this snake is very common 

 about Vizagapatam, and 1 believe, in the Circars, as well as in the 

 Carnatic." Sclaterf says this " snake, like many other Southern Indian 

 species, extends north-westwards as far as Mount Aboo in Rajputana." 

 In Burma it is hardly to be considered a common snake. Captain 

 Evans and I procured 14 specimens out of a total of 694. One was 

 found in Rangoon, and nine others came from other parts of Lower 

 Burmah, two reached us from Upper Burma, and two from East 

 Salween. Mr. Hampton writing from Mogok, Upper Burma, saya : " I 

 do not think it is found about here. Its place is taken by D. prasinus." 

 Flower J mentions having seen five specimens from Bangkok. The brown 



* Ind. Serp., p. 17. 



t Joum. As. Soc. Ben., Vol. LX., Pt. II, 1891. 



X Proc. Zool. Soc, Lond., 1899, p. 682. 



