NOTES ON TWO SPECIMENS OP SPITTING-SNAKES FEOM SOUTHKHN lUlODESIA li)i) 



in the ludia cobra (Naia tripitdians). lu this lie is mistaken. It has beeu observed in Asiatic cohibriiies, 

 and yarious vipers too. I have myself on more than one occasion seen a cobra of the species Iripudians strike 

 at an Indian juggler and emit poison. In the Journal of the Huinba;/ Xat;urnl f/iston/ Soncty (vol. xiii., 

 pmie 376} Mr. Goring Jones reported a cobra at Mandalay striking at Lieut. Gibson, who was bending down 

 near the snake. He was not actually struck, but had poison ejected into his ej-e, much swelling and jjaiu 

 following. A hospital assistant of mine in J^'yzabad, United Provinces, India, related to me one morning how 

 he and others had found a cobra (N. triptidiaiis) which had taken refuge in the crevices of some old masonry. 

 In trying to dislodge it a jet of jjoison was propelled towards them. Again the title spulatrU applied to one 

 form of Asiatic cobra now considered but a variety of X. tripudian.s; one can hardly suppose, suggested itself 

 to Boie (Isis, IS'27, pof/e r>o7) unless evidence had been forthcoming of its capability to discharge its jioison 

 forcibly. 



In 1905, Father Dreekman, S. J., an enthusiastic ophiologist, wrote to me that a gravid Russell's viper 

 (Vipcra russcUii), which he had in captivity, had struck at him and ejected venom into his eye. The wire 

 netting guarded him from a more dangerous result. He suffered acute pain, and had a red eye for a week, 

 though he immediately washed the part as thoroughly as he could. 



Miss Hopley, in her book on suakes {pcu/e 351), says of the Indian saw-scaled viper, " When the poison 

 gland is full, and the snake angry, you may see the venom exuding from the point of the fang, and by a 

 forcible expiration the reptile can eject it. I have seen this in the little Echis carimUa." 



So much for Indian vipers, but the evidence does not stop here. I notice in Cassell's Xdlaml l/islni/ 

 (vol. iv., page GG), Audubon is iiuoted to the effect that he saw a rattlesnake in a wire cage strike at the 

 bars, and the poison was sent several feet towards him. 



From these reports there can bo little doubt that vipers eject their poison like their colubriue allies, 

 and it seems to me probable that all the Toxicophidia have this power, though some appear to manifest it 

 more frequently than others. I have for many years supposed this to be the case, so much so that I refrained 

 from entering into my notebook several other incidents of the kind that have beeu reported to me by 

 various observers. 



Personally, I think the term ''sjiitting" a misnomer. Spitting implies a labial or lingual .'ictiou, and as 

 far as I am aware snakes have no labial muscles ; certaiuly they can neither purse nor pout the lips. The 

 tongue, too, with its bifurcation and tiuely-pointed tips, is not a suitable organ for performing such an office. 

 The word " spitting " is no more applicable than the word " coughing " venom ; in fact, the latter is less 

 wide of the mark. Until Mr. H. Lyster Jameson's letter in the Field oE Jan. 11, I had always regarded 

 the so-called " spitting " of snakes as the outcome of the sudden check offered to the forward thrust in 

 striking when the snake had reached its full power of extension. Any poison hanging on the fangs is shaken 

 oft' by the check, and carried forward by the vehemence of the forward thrust. I still believe that this 

 accounts for some of the poison ejected, but it now occurs to mo that a spray of 150 minute drops such as 

 Mr. Lyster .Jameson observed is more likely to be caused by a sudden blast of air expelled from the rima 

 glottis. This orifice lies well behind the fangs, and during excitement snakes inflate and deflate their lungs 

 with great vigour. " Ejection " of venom appears to me to fit the actual facts better. 



P. Wall, C.M.Z.S., Major, Indian Medical Service. 

 Dilirupark, Assam, March 1'2. 



As a slight contribution to the geographical distribution of "Spitting-Snakes" in Uesirafjility of 

 Africa, the following extracts from the works of Cameron, Stanley and Johnston may be 

 of some interest. With regard to Sir Harry Johirston's statements it may be said that 

 Mr. Boulenger does not agree that the Gansus viper should be included in the category 

 of spitting-snakes. Such divergent views on the part of distinguished experts and 

 travellers indicate the desirability of further records of first-hand and scientifically 

 accurate reports. 



Commander V. Lovett Cameron, R.N., C.B., D.C.L. — Speaking of the littoral region 

 met with between Bagamoya (on the East coast, just opposite Zanzibar) and the Useghara 

 mountains, the dividing range between the lowlands and the interior, the writer says' : — 



"Snakes are not numerous, and the greater part are not venomous, though the Cobra capella exists and 

 is much dreaded. There is also a snake which is said to be able to project its saliva to a distance of two 

 or three feet, and when that saliva falls on man or beast a lingering and painful wound results." 



Sir H. M. Stanley, G.C.B., says,'- under date April 10, 1880, Mgangila:— 



"Snakes are frequently met with in this road-making. In the neighbourhood of the Congo the slate- 

 coloured spitting snakes are mo,st numerous. Vivi platform was at first infested with a large number of 

 these. They robbed us of our laying hens, and devoured the chicks, and then coiled themselves under the 

 lower shelves of the magazine and menaced our store-men with their venom, which they ejected in a stream 

 from a distance of six feet. The poison must lie exceedingly powerful, and especially painful to the eyes, 

 judging from its ill-effects, which lasted eight or ten days." 



' Across Africa, 1885 Edn., p. 503 



- T/u; Conyo and the Foandimj of its Free Slate, 1885, Vol. I., p. "204 



observations 



