THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 63 



the Godavery and Son rivers approximately demarcate its bounds in 

 these directions. South of .the Godavery its occurrence in Southern 

 India appears to rest on the single specimen in the British Museum, 

 procured, according to Colonel Beddome, from the Anamallay Hills. I 

 have never seen nor heard of this snake in the Madras Presidency except 

 north of the Godavery, where I found it common in Orissa (Ganjam 

 District). I have lately written to several observers in the South who 

 are familiar with the plains and hills, and all without exception have 

 never heard of, nor seen this snake in that part. It is also very signifi- 

 cant that no Southern Indian example exists in the Museums — in 

 Calcutta, Bombay, or Madras, nor in the Medical College collection, 

 Madras, nor those of Travancore and Bangalore. The Jesuit Fathers at 

 Trichinopoly and at Shambaganur in the Palneys possess no specimen 

 in their collections. 



It occurs plentifully in the plains throughout the area indicated 

 above, and it would be a very striking circumstance if it were restricted 

 to a single isolated upland region of another large tropical area as 

 Colonel Beddome's specimen makes it appear, so that I cannot help 

 thinking there has been some mistake in labelling the habitat of this 

 specimen. 



Poison.— Rogers* estimates the virulence of the poison at about ^ 

 that of the common krait B. candidus. Burmans, who as a race are 

 good observers and not given to romancing like so many of tneir 

 oriental brethren, declare that the bite is not fatal to man, and as the 

 snake is a very common one in their province, and very distinctively 

 coloured, I think this testimony worthy of credence. Fayrerf mentions 

 one case of bite from this snake. A wcman at Tavoy was bitten en 

 the dorsum of the right foot. She suffered tingling, and swelling 

 locally, and some pain in the leg and thigh of that side, but 

 recovered without any constitutional effects. She was treated with 

 ammonia internally, and ipecacuanha, chloroform, and ammonia locally, 

 none of which we know have the slightest beneficial effects in 

 snake bite. 



Russell'sJ experiment on a fowl caused it to die 26 minutes after 

 being bitten. Fayrer § tested its effect on fowls, death being caused 



* " f ancet," February 6th, 1904, p. 349 el seq. 



t " Thanatopbidia,'' p. 45. 



+ Indian Serpents, pp. 4 and 5. 



§ Ibid, pp. 84, Po, 101,120,134. 



