1862.] LETTER FROM DR. J. SHORTT. 251 
ft. in. tenths. 
Length of foot from the tip of the middle claw 
to. that-of the hind fe, cee ais foie nee 4-60 ing 9 
— of the large or middle toe .......... q.2.0 
of wing from shoulder to end of largest 
primary Quill gacccvsnte can tn eran dt 010 O 
Depth of wing ..... dois how's Sele Sa Wd Ca at a 0 4 2 
Circumference over the crown of the head and 
round the region of the eyes ..........5: 0 5 0 
MEMS OL CONG 6 a 2m 9 vin apis PS TI ee | RR MT 
So PALES ea SR ee ee Pa | Pa 
Perth OL BN os atm anatin nd iene ahd wdicts ci Lan Looe > 
Sir Robert Schomburgk added that Crawfurd’s drawing of the 
male bird alluded to by Mr. Gould in his account of this bird in 
the ‘ Birds of Asia,’ “although stiff, was otherwise good,” and that 
the habitat of this Pheasant was now fully ascertained to be the Shan 
States to the east of Kieng-mai, at Muang Nan, Muang Phi, &c. 
The following letter, addressed to the Secretary by Dr. J. Shortt, 
F.ZS., dated Chingleput, 9th August, 1862, was read to the meet- 
ing :— 
**S1r,—I have much pleasure in sending you a short account of 
the Viper Daboia elegans (Vipera russellii)—the Tamil name 
being ‘ Kunuadi Vyrien,’ or ‘ Kuturee Pamhoo.’ 
** Since sending you the skin, with skull entire, I have succeeded in 
procuring several specimens, alive and dead, both here and on the 
Shervaroy Hills, during a recent stay there of two months. The 
largest specimen in my collection at present measures 5 feet in length, 
and 7 inches in circumference at the thickest part of its body. Its 
head is large, elongate, depressed, rounded on the sides, and covered 
with acutely and regularly-keeled scales; nostrils large, subsupe- 
rior, anterior, and in the centre of a ring-like shield, edged with 
a large scale above ; eyes convex, pupil round ; nasal shield smooth 
in front ; superciliary shield narrow, elongate, and distinct in front ; 
jaws weak, upper toothless, with large, slightly curved, double fangs ; 
lower jaw toothed ; tongue long and forked: colour brown, with three 
rows of oblong (in the young, circular or oval) white-edged brown 
spots ; two brown spots on each side of the occiput, separated by a 
narrow, oblique, yellow temporal streak. Scuta 168, subcaudals 52. 
“From the three rows of white-edged spots being linked to each 
other, it is commonly called the Chain Viper. The Tamil name of 
‘Kunuadi Vyrien’ literally means Glass Viper; that of ‘ Kuturee 
Pamhoo,’ Scissors Snake. This name it receives from having double 
fangs, which are invariably present, of equal length, if not on both, 
on one side at least: these the natives of Southern India fancy re- 
semble a pair of scissors. 
**It is very common in these parts, and also at an elevation of 
4800 feet above the sea (Shervaroy Hills): at the latter place I 
procured two specimens; the largest measured 43, and the other, 
