26 



INTR on UCTION. 



far as possible, and this I hope may commend them to the 

 reader. 



There are few English persons who have not relatives in 

 India, Australia, America, and Africa, and from whom they 

 are continually hearing of escapes or accidents from snakes. 

 Many letters from these friends beyond the seas find place in 

 the columns of the daily journals. Whether, therefore, 

 naturalists or not, a very large class of the intelligent public 

 claims an anxious interest in the Serpent race, and to all of 

 whom my Ophidiana or snake gossip is hopefully addressed. 



CATHERINE C. HOPLEY. 



London, October 1882. 



