94 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



but the statement needs confirmation. 1 Mr. Ridley 2 states 

 that D. intestinalis [referred to as CallophisE. B. P.] 

 beats its tail upon the ground when annoyed, like Bun- 

 garus fasciatus. Both species of Doliophis are remarkable 

 for the enormous development of the poison glands, 

 which extend down the anterior third of the body, 

 displacing backwards the heart arid other internal 

 organs ; but though these snakes must have a bigger 

 supply of poison than other Colubrines they are by 

 no means vicious, and there is no record of men 

 having ever been bitten by either of them. 



The Vipers are represented in Borneo by five species 

 of the genus Lachesis, but only two of these, 

 L. wagleri and L. borneensis, are at all common. 

 Museum specimens of L. sumatranus, one of the rarer 

 species, are brightly coloured, but I am not acquainted 

 with it in a state of nature, and would not be sur- 

 prised to learn that in its natural surroundings it is as 

 inconspicuous as its congeners. The Vipers differ 

 from the poisonous Colubrines not only in important 

 anatomical details, and in their sluggish habits, but 

 also in the character of their poison. If an animal be 

 bitten by a Cobra the first symptom that manifests 

 itself is a pronounced lethargy, then the hind-quarters 

 became paralysed, the paratysis spreads slowly over 

 the body, there is great difficulty in breathing, and 

 finally death ensues through the paralysis of the 

 respiratory centre in the brain. The heart, however, 

 is not affected, and is found to be still beating in 

 animals that have recently succumbed to the action 

 of the poison. An examination of the blood of such 



1 Annandale, Fasciculi Malayenses, Zoology, Pt. I. (1903), p. 169. 



2 Journ. Roy. As. Soc. S. Br., No. 32 (1899), p. 195. 



