284 



NA TURE 



{July 19, 1888 



utterly destroyed with their contemporaries by the same cause, 

 but merely migrated to regions more suited to them, as the 

 climate and other conditions of this country changed. 



Exhibits.- — Bones, teeth, and part of the tusks of mammoth, 

 and associated flint implements from Southall. A flint imple- 

 ment from the lacustrine (?) bed at the Mount, Ealing (190 to 200 

 O.D.) (See the author's paper, Proceedings Geologists' Associa- 

 tion, vol. x. No. 4). A flint apparently worked by man from 

 the Weybourn Crag, beneath the "Forest bed" near Cromer. 

 A Palaeolithic scraper found on the beach near Cromer, &c. 



THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF THE BOMB A Y 

 PRESIDENCY. 



ATa recent meeting of the Bombay Natural History Society, 

 "^ a paper was read by the Honorary Secretary, Mr. H. M. 

 Phipson, on the " Poisonous Snakes of the Bombay Presidency." 

 He produced for inspection specimens of the following poisonous 

 snakes, all of them having been killed in the Presidency of 

 Bombay. 



Colubrine. — (1) Ophiophagus daps; (2) Naga tripudians ; 

 (3) Bungarus arcuatus ; (4) Callophis trimaculatus ; (5) Callophis 

 nigrescens. 



Viperine. — (6) Daboia elegans ; (7) Echis carinata ; (8) Trime- 

 resurus anamallenis ; (9) Hypnale nepa. 



With regard to the first species, the Ophiophagtis elaps, it is 

 perhaps the largest poisonous snake in the world, sometimes 

 measuring over 15 feet. It is also called the "king cobra" 

 or "hamadryad," and is not very common, though widely 

 diffused, being found in the Andamans, the Philippines, Borneo, 

 Java, and Sumatra. On account of expanding a "hood," it is 

 frequently mistaken for the cobra, but the head-shields of the 

 hamadryad differ very much from those of the cobra. The 

 second species, Naga tripudians, or cobra, is found all over India, 

 and up to the height of 8coo feet in the Himalayas. There are 

 many varieties, differing in colour and marking, to which the 

 natives give different names, thinking them distinct species ; but 

 in such matters the native l<nowledge is not very extensive. 

 Thus they believe that all the hooded cobras are females, and 

 that the males are harmless. What they call the male is in 

 reality only the common Indian rat snake {Ptyas mucosus). 

 They also state that the rat snake is proof against the poison of 

 the cobra. But this is not the case. Last year the young ones 

 hatched in the Society's rooms attacked a small Malay python 

 put into their cage, when they were only a few days old, and bit 

 at it viciously, and the python died in a few hours after its re- 

 moval to another cage. Once a year, during the rainy season, 

 the cobra lays from twelve to twenty eggs. In one specimen 

 shown by Mr. Phipson, the young one is seen just as it is 

 emerging from the egg. The tooth with which it cuts its way out is 

 shed as soon as it has served its purpose. When born, the young 

 cobras measured about 7^ inches long, and were very fat ; but at 

 the end of a few months they were about 9 inches in length, but 

 had lost all their plumpness. It is very remarkable that the 

 original nutriment got out of the egg should be able to sustain 

 them so long. On account of its timidity and the great ease with 

 which it can be tamed, it is the only snake with which the snake- 

 charmers will have anything to do. By attracting its attention with 

 one hand, it may be easily seized round the body with the other ; 

 and so long as the hand or any other object is kept moving 

 before its eyes, it will never turn to bite the hand that holds it. 

 This is the simple fact the knowledge of which the charmers 

 turn to such advantage in their well-known performances. The 

 snake is taken from its basket, and a slight stroke across the back 

 brings it at once into a defensive attitude. The constant motion 

 of the musical instrument before the snake keeps it watchful and 

 erect, and not the music produced. As a matter of fact, snakes 

 have no external ears, and it is extremely doubtful whether the 

 cobra hears the music at all. The charmers say that the adder 

 of the East, the Daboia, has no ear for music, because they can- 

 not operate on it as they do on the cobra. It is rather in- 

 teresting to note that this has been the belief since David's time 

 at least — " like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear ; which will 

 not hearken to the voice of charmers." (3) The krait {Bun- 

 garus arcuatus) is an exceedingly poisonous snake, and is quite 

 common in nearly every part of India. One specimen taken in 

 the Bombay Presidency contained a "brown tree snake" {Dipsas 

 gokool) and in another specimen was found a Ptyas mucosus, thus 

 showing that this species eats snakes. The common Lycodon 



aulicus, one of the non-poisonous snakes, is very much like the 

 krait, but they can be distinguished by the presence in the 

 krait of large hexagonal scales down the centre of the back. 

 (4) The Callophis trimaculatus has no popular name. It is 

 undoubtedly poisonous, and lives on other snakes, very likely the 

 Calamarise. (5) Callophis nigrescens, which grows to about 

 4 feet in length, is black in the upper parts and red in the 

 lower. 



(6) The first class of the Viperine snakes is the Daboia clegans 

 called by Europeans in India the Chain Viper and in Ceylon the 

 Tic Polonga. The fangs are very long, and for this reason, 

 together with its fierceness, it is the most dreaded snake in 

 India. Its poison acts differently from that of the cobra. Its 

 tenacity of life is really wonderful, it having been known to live 

 for a whole year without food. The length of this snake rarely 

 exceeds 5 feet. (7) The Echis carinata and the last-named class 

 are the only true vipers in India. The harmless " brown tree 

 snake " {Dipsas gokool) is frequently confused with the Echis 

 carinata, but they are easily distinguished by the scales on the 

 head of the latter, while the Dipsas gokool has plates or shields. 

 (8) The green tree viper ( Tritneresurus anamallcnsis) is one of 

 the family of Crotalidae or pit vipers, so named from the pit or 

 cavity beneath the eye and the nostril, of which family the terrible 

 rattlesnake of America is a member. In India there are eight 

 species of Trimeresuri, but up to the present only one has been 

 found in Bombay, though it has been stated that another species, 

 T. strigatus has been seen far up the country. (9) The head- 

 quarters of the Hypnale nepa, or Carawala, are in Ceylon, but it 

 is commonly found along the Malabar coast. 



These classes include all the poisonous land-sr.akes. All the 

 true sea-snakes are poisonous, and of these, amongst others, the 

 following are in the Bombay collection : Hydrophis diadema, 

 Hydrophis robusta, Hydrophis curta, Hydrophis au>ifasciatus, 

 Hydrophis Phipsoni, Hydrophis Guntheri, Hydrophis Lindsayt, 

 Hydrophis chloris, Enrhydrina bcngalensis, Pelamis bicolor. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Kendiconti del Reale Instituto Lombardo, May. — Foraminifera 

 of Mount S. Colombano Lodigiano, by Dr. Ernesto Mariani. 

 A classified list is given of these organisms, collected chiefly by 

 Profs. Maggi and Balsamo Cuvelli in the district stretching from 

 the right bank of the Lambro to within a few miles of the Po. 

 The prevalence of Miliolidse and allied forms shows that this 

 fauna, which mostly still survives in the surrounding seas, 

 flourished in the warm shallow waters which at a remote epoch 

 flooded the plains of Lombardy. — On the use of the lucimeter 

 in agriculture, by Prof. Giovanni Cantoni. The author's recent 

 experiments with this instrument, first designed by Bellani, show 

 that it is calculated to render great service to husbandry in 

 combination with the thermometer and psycrometer. — Alberto 

 Brambilla continues his paper on a certain class of algebraic 

 surfaces ; and Prof. A. Scarenzio has some remarks on the 

 therapeutic properties of the arsenical thermal waters of 

 Acquarossa, near Biasca, on the old St. Gothard road in the 

 Canton of Ticino. 



June 7. — On the normal curves of genus/ of various spaces, 

 by Prof. E. Bertini. Clifford's fundamental theorem is here 

 established by a more synthetic method than any hitherto 

 published demonstrations. The theorem itself (Philosophic 

 Transactions, 1878, p. 681) is here announced in the following 

 modified form : — A curve of genus p and order n > 2p - 2 cannot 

 belong to a space of more than n - p dimensions. — On the pro- 

 posed sanitary legislation for Italy, by D. C. Zucchi. A 

 calculation is made that by the adoption of such measures as are 

 enforced by the Local Government Boards in Great Britain, the 

 average mortality of the population might be reduced from over 

 27 to under 20 per thousand. This is shown to be equivalent to 

 the rescue of 100,000 lives, whose labour for 300 working days 

 represents an annual sum of nearly ^5,01:0,000 at present lost 

 to the nation. — Meteorological observations made at the Royal 

 Observatory of Brera, Milan, for the month of May. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Royal Society, June 14. — "The Minimum-point of Change 

 of Potential of a Voltaic Couple." By Dr. G. Gore, F.R.S. 



In this communication is described the following very simple 

 method of detecting the influence of the minimum proportion of 





