172 THE VIVARIUM. 
Many people have an idea that most Snakes, if not all, are 
poisonous, whereas only a little more than a quarter of the 1800 
or so species are able to give any poisonous wounds at all. And 
only a comparatively small proportion of these can give bites 
which are likely to prove fatal to man. There are no poisonous 
Snakes in the island of Madagascar. The Indian region is very 
rich in Snakes, and possesses at least 450 different species, and 
among which the poisonous Snake to the non-poisonous is as one 
to ten, Australia has more poisonous Ophidians than non- 
poisonous. All the Snakes of Tasmania are venomous. All 
the burrowing and freshwater Snakes are innocuous, while all 
the sea Snakes are poisonous. Though India possesses so many 
poisonous Snakes, yet it has been said that there is not a case 
on record of a European suftering death through the bite of a 
Snake. Thousands of the natives, as everybody knows, fall 
victims to the venomous Snakes every year, but much of this 
loss of life may be attributed to imprudence, carelessness, and 
superstition. 
Of course, all Snakes which are non-venomous must not be 
considered as harmless. A large Python, for instance, though 
it has no poison-delivering fangs, can hurt severely with its teeth, 
and crush with its extremely powerful body. But I think it 
may be truly said that no Snake of this kind is likely to constrict 
anything unless it be with the intention of making a meal or in 
trying to escape when captured. An unhealthy man may suffer 
from blood-poisoning after having been bitten by an angry 
Python. I have known of one or two cases. However, it may, 
I believe, be taken for granted that only a few, comparatively, 
of the Ophidians are fatally noxious, and of these none, as a 
rule, go out of their way to attack man. Dr. E. Nicholson 
speaks of Snakes as “some of the most beautiful and harmless 
of God’s creatures,” and he wrote his book on “‘ Indian Snakes ”’ 
‘“‘in the hope of dispelling the lamentable ignorance regarding 
them.”’ 
That Snakes delight to bask in the hot sunshine is another of 
the delusions concerning them. Snakes, like all Reptiles, need 
warmth, and if they cannot get it otherwise, they will venture 
into the sunshine to obtain it there. The very hot rays of the 
