A POPULAR TREA T1SE ON THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 69 



finding one quartered in company with an equally common black 

 scorpion. So many of my brown Himalayan vipers had recently fed 

 on this lizard, that it is evident, that they must contribute largely to 

 checking their numbers. I have found as many as three Lygosoma in 

 the stomach of a single Ancistrodon. In other parts of the Himalayas 

 I have usually found this same lizard taken, but in Kumaon I have 

 on four occasions known mice devoured. 



Breeding. — I do not know the exact, mating seasou, but it is pro- 

 bably in the spring — April or May. The period of gestation is also 

 not known. Like most other vipers this species is vivipnrous izi bf*h''t 

 and the young are launched forth probably in August and September. 

 Several specimens I had in July were gravid and contained immature 

 embryos. These were seen to be coiled spirally, in a bath of transpa- 

 rent fluid, which occupied the upper part of the yolk. The investing 

 membrane covering this oval shaped bath was transparent^ so that 

 the contained foetus could be seen clearly in every detail, before the 

 egg investment was ruptured. The embryos I unravelled in July were 

 about two or three inches in length. What the length of the 

 embryo at birth is I cannot exactly state, but it is probably about 5 

 inches. The species is not very prolific, only from 5 to 7 embryos 

 having been observed in a single brood. 



Poison. — Nothing is known about the qualities of the poison and 

 I have never been able to hear of a casualty in the human subject, 

 except that of a cooly employed by Mr. P. W. Mackinnon near 

 Mussoorie who was scratched in the thumb when attempting to 

 capture one. The fact that the injury sustained was very slight 

 and superficial and no ill effects of any sort were evoked makes 

 it fairly certain that no venom had been injected in this case. 

 A dog bitten on the nose this year at Binsar (Kumaon) suffered 

 considerably. The whole muzzle swelled, and the animal was very 

 distressed and affected constitutionally. The wound was not incised, 

 but permanganate of potash was applied locally. One may assume 

 that this reagent had little if any effect in neutralising any poison 

 injected below the surface skin. After one day's serious illness, the 

 dog improved, and in two more days was quite well again. There 

 were no haemorrhages reported. I did not see the dog, but the snake 

 was referred to me and I learnt the details of the casualty later. 



It would seem from this case that the poison is not very virulent, 



