yi4 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AND PRODUCTIONS. 



T. Andeesoxi, Theobald. 



Scales keeled, in 25 rows. The second uppii- liiliial sometimes undivided. Colour 

 rich hrown. Holly and sides conspicuously white-spotted, or greenish on sides and 

 belly, spotted and barred with brown. Inhabits the Andanians. 



These last seven snakes arc essentially tree snakes, and coolies and others engaged 

 in clearing jungle or in gardens are frequently bitten by them. The bite, however, 

 of the Indian Trimeresuri is not usually (if ever) fatal to an adult, though it occasions 

 pain, swelling, and great local and constitutional disturbance. Dr. Mason remarks : 

 " These snakes may often be seen in trees, and their colouring so much resembles the 

 foliage that I have had my hand drawn back by a native when about to lay it on 

 one, that I was looking for among the branches, but with no intention of touching 

 the reptile. They appear to bite more frequently than any other venomous terres- 

 trial serpents in the provinces ; but although the limb that is bitten always swells up 

 to a monstrous size, and much pain ensues, yet I never heard of a case proving fatal. 

 It is a popular idea that snakes have a fascinating power, but I have certainly seen 

 a Trimeresurus fascinated by a light. It wound itself round a post, and then extended 

 its head towards a candle, at whicli it gazed steadily for some ten minutes, and when 

 eonsidcrablc noise was made, it attempted no movement, but allowed the end of 

 a bamboo to be thrust do^n upon it in front, without making the slightest effort to 

 escape." The following account of the teeth in different poisonous snakes is from the 

 pen of Dr. Nicholson and will be read with interest : 



" The simplest form of poison apparatus is that of the sea snakes {Ui/dfophiihe), 

 where the addition of a poison gland with duct, and of a canal through the front 

 tooth of the maxilla, is attended with but little of the modification in the shape of 

 the maxilla which is seen in the more highly developed venomous snakes. The 

 Bungarus genus (and probably the genus Callophis) have the same structure of 

 apparatus as that which will be described of the cobra, but on a smaller scale, and 

 though the maxillary teeth arc reduced in number from the shortening of the bone, 

 yet there remain two or three of them behind the poison fang. 



" On examining the mouth of the cobra, we find a very marked departure from the 

 arrangement seen in that of a harmless snake. The palatine and mandibulary teeth 

 ai'e unchanged, but a considerable modification has taken place in the upper jaw. 

 Instead of a row of teeth, the maxilla shows a single tooth, of which the point is 

 barely visible until a fold of mucous membrane which sui'i'ounds it is pulled up. 

 Slit up tliis gingival fold and the fang will then be exposed ; it will be seen to be 

 fixed in very much the same position as a dog's fang, though curving more backwards, 

 and to fit into a depression in the lower lip. Now dissect the skin off the cheek of 

 the cobra, from the nostril in front, to the angle of the mouth behind. A large flask- 

 shaped gland will be exposed on the cheek, extending for half an inch or more 

 behind the eye. It is continued by a duct along the lower edge of the orbit as far 

 forwards as the nostril ; a dense fibrous sheath covers the gland and forms a point of 

 attachment to many fibres of the maxillary muscles. Cut through the duet at its 

 beginning just behind the eye, and a canal of very small calibre will be seen in its 

 axis ; -[lass a fine bristle down the canal and by careful manipulation this probe will 

 be seen to go to the end of the maxilla, turn downwards over it, and enter the mouth 

 inside the gingival envelope of the fang, and in front of an orifice in the base of the 

 fang. If we now dissect away the soft ])arts and reopen the maxilla, we shall see 

 a groat modification in its form, compared with the noi'uial type. It baiely reaches 

 as fai- hack as the hinder part of the orbit, its shortness being comjiensatcd by increased 

 length of the external pterygoid. A short tooth is found at its hinder part, but this 

 is rarely perceptible until dissected down to, and ap])ears to be rudimentary. The 

 rest of the maxilla is flat and occupied on the lower surface by the matrix of the 

 fang ; in front, in line with the fore part of the orbit, is the socket for the fang. 

 This part of the bone is thick and wide, and it bears, side by side, depressions for 

 two fangs ; one, the inner socket, is generally occupied by the fang in use, the other 

 by the fang in course of growth. The now fang is generally found not yet set and 

 then the outer socket is often open, at other times it is occu]>icd by the newly set 

 fang whilst the inner socket is vacant, and remains so until the new fang has worked 



