4 
6 JOURNAL, NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY OF SIAM. Vol. I. 
Soziely upon the reptiles of Siam. It included notes upon those he 
had met with himself together with a list of all the species that had 
been found in the country up to that date. It is needless to say that 
with such a valuable work to refer to, the task of drawing up the 
present list has been much simplified. 
The number of snakes recorded by him from Siam was not great. 
It comprised only 56 different species, of which 26 had been met with 
in Bangkok. To this latter number 12 more may now be added, 
making a total of 38, a fair number for a tropical locahty. It 
is interesting to compare his list made fourteen years ago with the 
presont one, and to note how certain kinds, at that time apparently 
rare, have since become common. These particular ones will be referred 
to in due course. 
Bangkok is fortunate in being peculiarly free from poisonous 
snakes. By the Siamese who might be expected to know something 
about the matter, the majority are considered poisonous, This is not 
so. Only four species are to be met with, and of these but two, Nav 
tripudians, the Cobra, and Bunyarus fusriatus, the Banded Krait, need 
be reckoned with. The third, }ipera russelli, Russell’s Viper, has 
so far only ones been recorded,* while the forrth, Lachesis gramineus, 
the Green Tree Viper, although plentiful everywhere, does not possess 
a poison which is fatal to human beings. 
Authentic records of bites fron poisonous snakes in Bangkok 
are, in fact, if we except the last named, extremely rare, anc fatal 
records almost unknown. In eleven years of medical practice | have 
not seen a single case resulting in death, neither after enquiry among 
my fellow practitioners have [ been able to gather more than one. 
This immunity is possibly due to two causes, partly to the reason that 
the two species already mentioned are far from common, but also 
because both of them are well known for their marked disinclination 
to bite, even under provocation, In this latter respect the Banded 
Krait is remarkable. 
The inhabitants of the country districts are not quite so fortunate 
as those in Bangkok, but Siam as a whole compares extremely favorably 
* It is more common in the North, 
