irKiii'ETOLoay. 323 



Tlic poisonous vipcrinc snakes arc easily clistinguislicil by thoir long tubular and 

 erectile fangs, by their triangular head, keeled stales, and repulsive physiognomy, 

 their short tails, stout form, and in the majority of Indian species by a pranrbital pit, 

 whence the name of one section of tliem of pit-vipers, the most celebrated of which 

 is the American rattle-snake. Among the ordinary venomous or colubrine snakes, 

 the Hamadnjas is undoubtedly the most formidable, whilst commoner than any are 

 the Cubra, the blue and the banded BiDignrm, the bulk of the other ElapidiB being 

 too small or too rare to merit particular notice. 



To determine a snake it is necessary first to become familiar with the shields 

 which cover the head. The nostril of a snake is either situated between two 

 shields or pierced in one. Tliese shields arc the nanoh, anterior or ])osterior. The 

 eye is bounded on either side by one or more shiehls called respectively the prce- 

 and post-oculars. The shield which is interposed between the nasals and oenlars 

 is the ' loreal,' and tlicre may be several or none. The other shields of the head 

 are the ' rostral ' in front, followed by one or two pair of ^f rentals,' then a 

 ' vertical ' occupying the crown of the head, and two occipitals behind the vertical. 

 Over the eye is the 'superciliary,' and along the jaws the upper and lower 

 'labials' respectively. Below the chin are the 'mental' or 'chin shiehls.' The 

 shields of the belly are tlie ' ventrah,' and below the tail the ' subcaudals,' wliich 

 may be either entire or divided. 



On a snake being brought in, the first point to ascertain is, wliether or no it has 

 a loreal shield, /o/- the rule is absolute, and icithout exception, that every snake possessing 

 a loreal shield is harmless. It no loreal sliicld is present, a very brief inspection will 

 show if it belongs to the Hydrophida; with a flattened tail ; or to the CrotalidiB 

 or Yiperida3 with erectile tubular fangs and rough scales, and if to neither of these 

 groups, it still remains to determine whether it belongs to one of the innocuous 

 species which possess no loreal or to a poisonous species, none of which possess 

 it. The poisonous Elapidoe are all characterized by a small eye with a round pupil, 

 and by the presence of a venom fang, grooved in front, and terminating in a slit. 

 There are only four genera, and if the snake under consideration belongs to none 

 of these, it is harmless, though no loreal is present. The four genera of pois(mous 

 colubriue snakes are: Naja, with 1.") rows of scales round the body; Xenurelaps 

 and Bungarus, with 15 rows also, but the vertebrals are enlarged; and Callophis, with 

 13 rows only. 



The number of poisonous snakes is therefore practically very few, but a great 

 many harmless snakes are equally unprovided with a loreal shield, of which a list 

 is here appended for convenience of reference. 



The snake is harmless though the loreal shield be absent — 



i/" the scales are smooth and the nostril in an undivided shield — Cylindrophis. 

 i/' there are five occipitals — Xenopeltis. 



^the tail is truncated — Fam.Uropeltida;. 



If there are loss than 6 upper labials — Calamaria. 



T/' there arc 8 upper labials — • Macrocalaraus. 



If tlic nostril is in a single shield — Blythea. 



Cyelophis. 



Odontomus. 



Pareas. 



TJlupe. 

 //'the pra^ocular is elongate and the Iiody stout — Geophis. 



J/ there is but a single praefrontal — • Aspidura. 



Oligodon brcvieanda. Fordonia. 

 //"the third upper labial of six forms the lower rim of the orbit — Oligodon modestus. 

 // the scales e.Kceed 15 rows — Gonyosoma frajnatum. Tetragonosoraa. 



if the tail is flattened and the scales exceed 100 rows — Chcrsydrus. 



Jf the pupil is horizontal — Tropidococcyx. Passerita. 



As regards the treatment to be pursued ia cases of snake-bite, it would seem as 

 though the only remedy of the slightest value in the case of the effective bite of 



