Present Fosltlon of the Snakc-hite Controversy/. 183 



It will be seen that in this period, in the three colonies, 

 snakes were unable to kill more than 125 persons. 



In order to determine the relative frequency of death 

 from snake-bite, I next append a table showing the popula- 

 tion (actual and average) of the colonies during the same 

 period. 



Table II. 

 JlJeaa Populations of the Australasian Colonies, 1881 to 1890. 



Therefore, the proportion of fatal cases of snake-bite to the 

 average number of persons alive during the period is shown 

 by the following table, which gives : — 



Table III. 



The Ratio of Deaths from SnaJce-hite in each Goloiiy during the 

 Decade to the average Population. 



Victoria 



New South Wales 

 Queensland 

 Avorase 



1 to 25,852 



1 to 19,980 



1 to 7,826 



1 to 17,886 



The death-rate from snake-bite in Queensland seams very 

 much hioher than in the other two colonies. The following 



