THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 45 



Poison. — Writers are not consistent upon this question. Tennent* 

 says emphatically that a fatal issue does sometimes occur, but not 

 invariably. Guntherf says it is exceptionally fatal to man, and then not 

 before the lapse of some days. Dr. Davy knew a dog bitten by one 

 recover after severe sym])toms in 48 hours, but a fowl bitten by the 

 same snake the next day succumbed alter 4 days. These effects on 

 small animals serve to show that the poison is not very virulent. Mr. 

 Drummond Hay has written to me of two cases of bite, both in cooly 

 women. One bitten on the ankle did not suffer in the slightest once 

 she had recovered from her fright, but \^hether she was treated or not 

 I am unable to say. The other bitten in the hand became unconscious 

 and be thought when he saw her the same night would die, but with the 

 aid of stimulants had recovered by the next day. Ferguson J mentions 

 the self-related facts of a Mr. A. F. Stinderson who was bitten by one. 

 The seat of injury was Ihe little toe. Pain was so acute as to prevent 

 sleep, and the limb swelled to the knee for 2 or 3 days, but he recovered 

 He treated himself by ligature above tie knee, cross cuts locally with 

 the application of carbolic acid, and strong potations of brandy. 



Dimensions — Grows to 18 inches, but I have known females adult 

 at 11| inches, as shown by pregnancy. 



Colour. — The prevailing colour is brown, variously mottled or 

 variegated, but a longitudinal series of largish oval dark spots on each 

 side of the back is a constant characteristic. The belly is finely 

 mottled. 



ANOISTRODON MILLAEDI§-Millard's Viper. 



Identification. — Shield? on the top of the head enlarged, scales at 

 midbody 17, supraoculars decidedly broader than the frontal, and 

 as long or longer than the parietals. Ventrals ],H6 to 152. Sub- 

 caudals 30 to 44. The boss on the snout is not so pronounced 

 as in the last, and is covered with larger and fewer scales (4 to 6). 



* Nat. Hist of Ceylon, p. 2ii6. 



t Pept. Brit. Ind., p. 395. 



J Bom Nat. Hist, .lonrn., Vol. X . p. 9. 



§ Described in the Bom. Nat. Hist. Journal, Vol. XVIII, page 792, 



