SNAKES 101 



of the majority of snakes, but which Martin and Lamb were 

 able to show was merely specific, and useless for poisonous 

 snakes generally, the serum prepared from the Indian 

 Cobra, for instance, having no neutralizing effects on that 

 of the closely allied Hamadryad. The practical use of 

 these anti-serums is, therefore, beset with much difficulty, 

 for the person bitten often sees but a glimpse of the snake 

 which has inflicted the bite, and even should he be able to 

 do so, he is generally unable to identify the species. 



Among the measures recommended in the State of Sao 

 Paulo for the destruction of poisonous snakes is the pro- 

 tection of a recently discovered, seven-foot-long Opistho- 

 glyph, but practically harmless, snake, Rhachidelus brazili, 

 which feeds entirely on other snakes, and which has been 

 found to be immune to the poison of the dangerous 

 species of that country. As it devours the largest rattle- 

 snakes and fer de lances, notices are issued all over the 

 country recommending its protection. Although all snakes 

 are to a certain extent immune to their own poison, I 

 have on more than one occasion observed captive speci- 

 mens in ill-health to succumb to the bite inflicted by 

 companions of their own kind. 



Snake charmers are to be met with in many parts of the 

 world, and especially in India, where the Cobra, with its 

 spectacle-shape marking on its hood, is commonly kept by 

 these people. Sometimes the fangs of the snakes have been 

 previously extracted, in other cases not, and the immunity 

 of the best snake men is attributed to successive and 

 graduated inoculations. 



Snakes vary greatly in form and habits in accordance 

 with their mode of life. They may be roughly divided 



