76 
The occurrence of the few faded specimens in collections 
from the Loo Choo Islands may readily be accounted for if the 
gastromomic use to which they are put is taken into consid- 
eration. There is an oriental proverb to the effect that what 
cannot be eaten may still be made into medicine. The peas- 
ants of China credit this serpent with valuable therapeutic 
properties, and it has even been seen for sale in the Chinatown 
of San Francisco. Among the Japanese it is extensively used 
as an alterative, especially by the young men in the spring 
time. It is to be seen dried or preserved in sake, the national 
wine, on the counter of any chemist shop, especially inland 
and away from the Treaty Ports. It is therefore logical to 
assume that these specimens were invoiced to the Loo Choo 
{slands as a part of a consignment of drugs, and subsequently 
were gathered in by a native collector. Furthermore, there 
are over two thousand specimens of Reptiles and Batrachians 
from the Loo Choo Islands in museums; these are known to 
include fifteen species of serpents, all of which with one ex- 
ception are strictly endemic. This exception is Typhlops 
braminus (Daudin) 1803, an archaic form and distinguished 
by having the widest distribution of any of the Typhlophidae, 
it being found from Persia in the west to Guam in the east. 
U.S. NAVY RECRUITING STATION 
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, May 26, 1916 
