THE PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF POISONOUS SNAKES 45 
(4) V. russeliii (Daboia, or Russell’s Viper). (Fig. 28.) — This 
viper, which may attain a length of as much as 2,000 millimetres, 
is magnificently coloured. Its dorsal surface is brownish-yellow, 
Fic. 28.— Vipera russellii (Syn. Vipera elegans. Daboia, or Russell’s Viper). India. 
(After Sir Joseph Fayrer.) 
marked with large oval spots of blackish-brown, edged with yellow 
or white. The belly is covered with transverse bands, with beautiful 
triangular black spots, bordered with white. The head, which is 
long, ends in front in a thick, rounded snout; it 1s covered above 
