42 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 







Fig 42— Dr. Smith's native assistant with a female fish-snake {Homalopsis 

 buccata) which was captured in the garden at Bangkok. This mdividual is 

 the largest one of its species of which we have any record ; it measures 54 

 inches from snout to tail tip. The distention in the posterior part of the body 

 is caused by the unhatched young of which there were about 16 embryos. 

 The Siamese believe that this species is poisonous only when about to nave 

 young, but it is harmless, of course, at all times. 



