1900 The Zoologist — November, 18G9. 



quiescent; bntcanbe raised at the will of the animal, and is perfo- 

 rated for the passage of venom. The head is large, flattened, and 

 usually covered with small scales ; the neck is thin, the bod}' thick 

 and massive, and the tail is short ; the scales are usually ridged or 

 keeled. 



3. Daboia elegans. Vipera Russellii, Shaw. Bora and chokera 



bora (Bengali) ; katroU of some Calcutta snake-men ; khasa 



bora of some ; dhiyur (Hinduslhani) in some parts ; cnotij 



chart at Sangor; cobra monil of the Portuguese. Figured by 



Russell, part 1, plale 7. 



This viper is what every one would, at first sight, call an ugly-looking 



snake. The head is large and somewhat triangular, covered with 



small scales; the neck is a good deal thinner than the head or body, 



which last is thick and massive; the tail is short; its fangs arc of 



great length. The colour of the adult is a dirty olive-brown, with a 



triple series of dark rings, the centre one on the median line of the 



bark joined together like the links of a chain ; hence called cobra monil 



(Latin, wio;n7f') by the Portuguese. When young the colours are more 



vivid, the brown richer and more chestnut in tint, and the dark rings 



more distinct: it has twenty -nine to thirty-one rows of keeled scales 



on the body; the abdominal i)1ates vary in number from 160 to 170, 



more or less; and those under the tail from fifty to sixty: it grows to 



the size of four and a half feet and upwards. 



4. EcHis Gaumina. Figured in Russell's " Indian Serpents," part 1, 



plate 2, and called katrool by the snake-men. 

 This is a second species of viper, very similar in form to the last; 

 common in Madras, in Central India, and ihe North- West Provinces, 

 but has not yet been found in Lower Bengal. It is a small snake, 

 rarely exceeding eighteen or twenty inches, of a pale brown colour 

 with some white rings: its abdominal shields number about one hun- 

 dred and fifty, and its subcaudal about ihiity, more or less. I have 

 never heard of this venomous snake causing death to any one bitten, 

 and I have known dogs to recover from its bite. 



Experiments on the Injlueuce of Snake-Poison — made by J. Fayrer, 

 M.D., chiefly with reference to Professor Halford's remarks, based 

 upon his experiments in Australia relative to the eff"ect on the blood- 

 corpuscle. This paper had not been seen by me when 1 wrote the 

 note which is appended to Professor Halford's remarks, and which 

 was suggested as there stated by a paper on the subject of blood- 



