SNAKES 337 



so essentially aquatic as the snakes that have 

 just been noticed, and are drowned on exposure 

 to half-an-hour's continuous submersion. They are 

 very common, and are of much use in doing 

 away with large numbers of rats and mice, which, 

 along with frogs and toads, form the normal staple 

 of their diet. Many specimens attain a length of 

 over six feet, and are formidable to handle, owing 

 to their great strength and activity. They certainly 

 are very bold creatures, but, although I have had 

 a very large experience of them in captivity, I 

 never met with any specimens showing signs of 

 the ferocity with which they have been credited 

 by some observers. At one time a large number 

 of dhamins were kept in a pit in the Zoological 

 Garden at Alipur. They were periodically supplied 

 with stores of large toads, and ample opportunities 

 were thus afforded for the study of the processes 

 of capture and deglutition. In those cases in 

 which the prey was dexterously seized from behind, 

 swallowing went on rapidly and smoothly, as, no 

 matter how rapidly and excessively the toad blew 

 itself up, its gaseous contents were gradually but 

 surely forced out. This, however, was by no 

 means so in instances in which the head had been 

 seized, for in such circumstances, the distension, in 

 place of being reduced by the pressure to which 

 the body was exposed, was maintained more and 

 more securely as deglutition advanced, and the 



