rOISOX OF SOME INDIAN VENOMOUS SNAKES. 3 



always very reliable. Still they are sufficiently explicit to 

 make it clear that, in order of destructiveness, the cobra {Naja 

 trijmdians) occupies the first place on the list ; the krait 

 {Bungarus cccrulcvs) the second place ; whilst under the 

 headings of " other snakes " and " unknown " must be included 

 many deaths due to cobra, Bungarus ccerideiis, Opliiophagus, 

 Dahoia, Echis carinata, Bungarus fasciatus, Hydropliidm, and 

 some perhaps to the Triiiieresuri, though, as to the last, there is 

 reason to believe that deaths from their bites are comparatively 

 very rare. 



The total number of deaths recorded therefore stands thus : — 



Bengal, including Assam and Orissa 6,645 



North-west Provinces 1,995 



Punjaub 755 



Oude 1,205, 



Central Provinces 606 



Central India 90 



British Burmah 120 



Total 11,416 



of a population (according to Dr. Hunter) of 120,972,263, or, 

 in round numbers, about one person in every 10,000. 



This total, large as it is, we fear cannot be regarded as the 

 real mortality in these provinces, nor may the numbers be 

 accepted as an absolutely true indication of the relative 

 frequency of deaths in each. 



The information from which these records were framed was, 

 though official, probably only partial and imperfect. Dr. Fayrer 

 believes that if systematic returns could be kept, as he has 

 suggested that they should be, by the police in every district, 

 subdivision, and municipality, the number of deaths would be, 

 excluding all doubtful cases, much larger. He believes also 

 that were such information collected throughout the whole of 

 Hindoostan, it would be found that more than 20,000 persons 

 die annually from snake-bite. 



The result of his investigations in India has been, we think, 

 to show that, so far, no agent or antidote, as that term is 

 (95) B 2 



