324 NATURAL HISTORY. 



The snake-charmers, Fayrer states, handle poisonous Snakes freely, and without fear, even when 

 in possession of their fangs. The Cobras are their favourites, and occasionally the Ophiophagus, as 

 these Snakes present a very striking appearance when they erect their heads and dilate their hoods. 

 Those they exhibit generally have their fangs removed. This is done by cutting out their teeth, and 

 with them the mucous capsule with the reserve fangs. They are exceedingly dexterous, and the sleight 

 of hand with which they appear to catch a Snake in any patch of grass, or even from the ground, is 

 such as to deceive the closest observer. The Snake is, of course, concealed about the person, but is 

 with great rapidity and dexterity placed in the secluded spot, and as quickly abstracted. They are 

 well aware of the danger, and know perfectly well that no antidote has any effect, though they 

 pretend to prevent or cui*e bites by roots and snake-stones. With venomous they exhibit innocent 

 Snakes, and their exhibition is always accompanied by the music of a rude pipe made of a gourd. 



SUB-ORDER COLUBRIFORMES. THE INNOCUOUS COLUBRIFORM SNAKES. 



This great sub-order includes the non-poisonous Snakes, whose jaws are armed with numerous solid, 

 curved teeth. The body is clothed with rows of large scales, and the head has plates. Their negative 

 character is the absence of a decided venom gland. Nevertheless, it is found that in some the last 

 tooth of the upper maxilla is grooved, and may have a small special, but not necessarily venomous 

 gland. Or no gland may be present. In two families, the Rough Tails and the Rollers, the jaws 

 are not extensible, and the prey is small, but in the rest there is much movement possible amongst the 

 bones of the face and side of the head. There are many families of them. 



FAMILY ACROCHORDID^E. THE WART SNAKES. 



These Snakes from Japan and British India are peculiar, for the body and head are covered with 

 small wart-like tubercular or spiny scales, which do not overlap. The tail is short and prehensile ; 

 the eye is small ; the nostrils are close together at the top of the snout ; and the short teeth are strong 

 and unequal in size on the jaws and palate. They are viviparous Snakes. 



One of them,* found in Japan and in Singapore, is very rare. Its habits are terrestrial. Carter 

 compares its head to that of a bull-dog, and a female in his possession brought forth twenty-seven 

 young ones, all alive and anxious to bite. Undigested fruit has been found in the stomach, but 

 the Snake looks as if it fed on prey. 



Another species is aquatic, and has a broad compressed tail. It is not venomous, and lives in 

 the rivers and shallow seas of the Indian Archipelago, t 



FAMILY DRYIOPHID^E. THE WHIP SNAKES. 



These can usually be readily distinguished by their excessively slender back and tail, the head 

 being narrow and long, ending in a protruding rostral shield, or sometimes in a flexible end to 

 the snout. The scales are narrow and overlap much, and the species have the hinder tooth grooved. 

 The body has been compared to the thong of a whip. They are usually of a green colour, and the 

 Asiatic kinds have a horizontal pupil, and prey by night. They move with great grace in the trees, 

 but awkwardly on the ground. Whilst on a branch they can retain their hold with a few coils of the 

 tail, and then their long bodies shoot forth to seize the birds and lizards which for the most part form 

 their food. Some attain a length of seven to ten feet. An Indian Snake (Passerita mycterizans) 

 feeds on birds and lizards, and has a long and more or less movable snout. Oocybelis fulgidus, 

 from South America; has also this appendage. An offshoot of this family has species which ai - e 

 also nocturnal, with a short broad head, short snout, and vertical pupil. These are the Dipsa- 

 didae, and they are found in India, Africa, and Australia. They live on warm-blooded animals, some 

 attacking birds only, and others mammals. Their colours are more varied than the common Tree 

 Snakes. The Brown Tree Snake is a type, and is found in Eastern Australia, and it is nocturnal in 

 its habits, preying on birds and eggs.| The Ularburong of the Malays (Dipsas dendrophila) is one 

 of them. 



Some other Indian and African Snakes have a body of a moderate length, and a flat 

 muzzle, the small eye having a vertical pupil. They are ground Snakes, and those of India live 

 * Acrochordus javanicus. f Chersydrus granulatus. + Dipsas fusca. Family Lycodontidce. 



