VIPERA DABOIA RUSSELLII. 91 
Dr. Fayrer kept one in a box for a year without food or 
water. Dr. Russell’s description is as follows : 
Abdominal scuta 168, subeaudal squame 59 — 227. Length 4/ 2/7. 
Tail tapers to a point. Head much broader than neck, gibbous or swell- 
ing behind, depressed above, compressed at sides, and narrowing from 
the eyes terminates in an obtuse rostrum faced with a pyramidal emar- 
ginate rostral; the labial and subjugular squame are large and smooth, 
but the rest of the head is covered with small, ovate, highly carinated 
scales without any shields. Mouth very large; jaws of nearly an equal 
length; anterior teeth in lower jaw are long, slender, and very nearly 
upright, the others shorter, few, reflex ; a maxillary and palatal series of 
teeth in upper jaw; fangs longer and stouter than those of any of the 
Cobras. Eyes iarge, placed high up, and not prominent. Trunk round, 
thick, and beautifully marked, covered with oblong, oval, carinated 
scales excepting those adjacent to the scuta, which are smooth, broad, 
ovate, larger, and not carinated. Color of head and trunk a yellowish- 
brown; the back marked with twenty-two or more large, oblong, oval 
spots, brown in the middle, borders black, and edged with white; some 
of these spots are separated, but most of them are joined by a narrow 
neck, or run waving into each other; small black dots, single or two or 
three together, are sometimes interspersed ; a second row of spots adorns 
the sides similar in color to the first, but smaller and more orbicular in 
form, each of those on the trunk having a short stem tending obliquely 
toward the abdomen, and made up of smooth black scales; in the inter- 
stices angular black spots are disposed along the verge of the scuta; all 
these spots become more and more obscure as they approach the tail. 
The scuta are white, glossy, with a membranous striated margin, and 
many of them are marked with one or two dusky semicircular spots 
hardly visible near the tail. The swbcaudal squame are a dusky yellow, 
but not spotted. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
The color varies in different individuals, fading perceptibly 
while in captivity. The number of scuta varies inconsidera- 
bly in the different varieties. 
This is a rarer species than the Cobra, and much less known. 
