JOURNAL, NATURAL IILST. SOOIF.TY OF 8IAM. Vol. 1. 



Sozietif upon tlie reptiles of .Si.iui. It luclndvd notes upon those he 

 had met with himself together with a hst of all tlie species that had 

 been fonnrl in the country up to that date. It is needless to say that 

 with such a valuable work to refer to, the task of drawing up the 

 present list has been ranch simplifit-d. 



Tiie number of snakes recorded by him from Siam was not great. 

 It comprised only 5G different species, of which 26 had been met with 

 in Bangkok. To this latter number 12 more may now be added, 

 making a tofal of 38, a fair ni'mber for a troi»ical Icn^ality. It 

 is interesting to compaie his list made fourteen years ago with the 

 presL^nt one, and to note how certain kinds, at that time apparently 

 rare, have sinca become cjmmon. These particular ones will be referred 

 to in dne course. 



Bangkok is fortunate in being pe(;uliarly free from poisonous 

 snakes. By the Siamese who might be expected to know something 

 about the matter, tlie majority are considered j)oisonon-^. This is not 

 so. Only four species are to hd met with, and of these but two, Naiu 

 t rq^ lid i'.ins, the Cobra, and Biinjanc?! fnsdatas, the Banded Krait, need 

 be reckoned v/ith. The third, Vipera russelli, Russell's Viper, has 

 so far only once been recordei,* while th^' fourth, L'tyhesi? (framineus, 

 the Green Tree Viper, although plentiful everywh.ere, does not possess 

 a poison which is fatal to human beings. 



Authentic recotTJs ot loites from [poisonous snakes in Bangkok 

 are, in fact, if we except the last named, exfcrem'-ly car.:', and fatal 

 records almost unknown. In eleven years ot medical practice 1 haver 

 not seen a single case resulting in death, ueirher after enquiry amojig 

 my fellow -practitioners liavn 1 be^Mi able to gather mort; than one. 

 This immunity is possibh' due to t wo causes, partly- to the reason that 

 the two species already mentioned are far fron> common, but also 

 because both of them are well kimwii Im" their marked disinclination 

 to bite, even under provocation. In this latter respect the Banded 

 Xrait is remarkable. 



The inhabitants of the country districts a-'e not quite so fortunate 

 as those in Bangkok, but tSiani: as a whole e(nn])ari^;* ext remely favorably 



It is moro conuimn in tlu' North. 



