384 Zoological Society : — 



F.Z.S., dated Chingleput, 9th August, 1862, was read to the meet- 

 ing :— 



" Sir, — I have much pleasure in sending you a short account of 

 the Viper Daboia elegans {Vipera Russellii) — the Tamil name 

 being ' Kunuadi Vyrien,' or ' Kuturee Pamhoo.' 



" Since sending you the skin, with skull entire, I have succeeded in 

 procuring several specimens, alive and dead, both here and on the 

 Shervaroy Hills, during a recent stay there of two months. The 

 largest specimen in my collection at present measures 5 feet in length, 

 and 7 inches in circumference at the thickest part of its body. Its 

 head is large, elongate, depressed, rounded on the sides, and covered 

 with acutely and regularly-keeled scales ; nostrils large, subsupe- 

 rior, anterior, and in the centre of a ring-like shield, edged with 

 a large scale above ; eyes convex, pupil round ; nasal shield smooth 

 in front ; superciliary shield narrow, elongate, and distinct in front ; 

 jaws weak, upper toothless, with large, slightly curved, double fangs ; 

 lower jaw toothed ; tongue long and forked : colour brown, with three 

 rows of oblong (in the young, circular or oval) white-edged brown 

 spots ; two brown spots on each side of the occiput, separated by a 

 narrow, oblique, yellow temporal streak. Scuta 168, subcaudals 52. 



" From the three rows of white-edged spots being linked to each 

 other, it is commonly called the Chain Viper. The Tamil name of 

 ' Kunuadi Vyrien ' literally means Glass Viper ; that of ' Kuturee 

 Pamhoo,' Scissors Snake. This name it receives from having double 

 fangs, which are invariably present, of equal length, if not on both, 

 on one side at least : these the natives of Southern India fancy re- 

 semble a pair of scissors. 



" It is very common in these parts, and also at an elevation of 

 4800 feet above the sea (Shervaroy Hills) : at the latter place I 

 procured two specimens ; the largest measured A\, and the other, 

 which was young, was I foot in length. These reptiles are generally 

 found under stones and in rocky places ; frequently in the low country 

 it is found in prickly-pear bushes {Opuntia vulgaris). 



" In their habits they are extremely active for their size, and live 

 on frogs, mice, birds, &c. On opening the Viper I procured on the 

 Shervaroy Hills, I removed from its inside a Mynah{ Indian Grackle), 

 from a second in this place a field-rat, and from a third an immense 

 toad was taken. These Vipers are readily killed by the slightest 

 blow ; on one occasion I had one caught alive by fixing a noose 

 round its body, but raising it from the ground and suspending it by 

 the noose for a few seconds killed it. 



" The natives dread these snakes greatly, as their bite is said to 

 prove rapidly fatal. Although they are common in this district, I 

 have not heard of an instance of this occurring during a residence of 

 five years at this place. Dr. A. Hunter, of our service, tells me that 

 when he was Zillah Surgeon here, some years ago, a sepoy was bitten 

 by one, and that the man's life was saved by his sucking out the wound. 

 During my stay on the Shervaroys, the first specimen that was brought 

 to me was immediately recognized by my friend B. A. Daly, Esq., 



