NOTES ON THE HABITS OP THE GREEN WHIP-SNAKE. 37 



is first shed in a single piece. The remainder comes away in small 

 fragments during the next few weeks. Patches of the earlier skin 

 may even remain until the next moulting period. This failure 

 to completely to divest itself is probably due to the unnatural 

 conditions of captivity. 



The Tamil name for the Dryophis is " kannu-kuttu pambu " 

 (literally, the " eye-stabbing snake "), and the natives believe that 

 it strikes at the eyes of persons or cattle.* It is curious that this 

 same myth recurs with regard to the American whip-snakes. 

 Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his novel " Elsie Venner," speaking of 

 American snakes, writes : — " There is something frightful in the 

 disposition of certain ojihidians, as the whip-snake, which darts 

 at the eyes of cattle without any apparent provocation or other 

 motive." I do not know whether the American whip-snakes are 

 allied to the Indian forms or not. Boulenger states that the 

 genus Dryophis is confined to the East Indies. As regards 

 Dryophis, I think that the native name must have been suggested, 

 partly by the lance-like form of the head, and partly by its habit of 

 coilingitself and facing any intruder upon its privacy — apparently 

 following every movement of his eyes. When pressed, it will 

 strike out blindly, often in the direction of the face of its opponent ; 

 but seemingly more with the object of scaring than of attacking 

 its assailant. 



Y'lg, 14. — Head of Dryophis myeterizaiis in side view, showing the horizontal 

 pupil of the eye and the rostral lobe. Natural size. 



[* The Sinhalese name for this snake is ehetulla or esgulla (ehe, plural es = eye) . 

 The belief that it deliberately strikes at the eye is also common in India, and a 

 curious confirmation has been published by Mr. Frank Finn. (Note on the Long- 

 snouted Whip-snake, Bryophi.t niyctei-izans, by F. Finn, B.A., F.Z.S., Deputy 

 Superintendent, Indian Museum. J. Asiat. Soc, Bengal, vol. LXVII., 1898, pp. 

 66 and 67). 



Mr. Finn tells us that he was holding a couple of these snakes in his hands, 

 knowing them to be harmless, when the larger specimen suddenly darted at his 

 eye inflicting a bite, which resulted in some small punctures on the eyelids, two 

 on the upper and one on the lower eyelid. On rubbing his eye a few hours later 

 Mr. Finn removed a tooth about 1,20 inch long from the puncture in the lower 

 eyelid. — Ed.] 



