302 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



4 infralabials. Posterior sublinguals touch the 4th and 5th infralabials. 

 Infralabials. — The 4th and 5th are the largest of the series, and about 



&et*u r f$ 



Val jOosidls 



Fig. 17. — A. Scales on back of Lycr.don aulicus. 

 B. „ „ Nai*t tri,iudiaua. 



subequal. Scales. — 2 heads lengths behind the head 19-27 ; midbody 

 19 to 27 ; 2 heads lengths in front of the vent 15 usually ("rarely 17). 

 Anal entire. Subcaudals divided throughout. 



Distribution. — It occurs in one or other of its many colour varieties 

 throughout the whole of our Indian possessions fromBurmah in the east 

 to Sind in the west and from the Himalayas to Ceylon and is always a 

 fairly common snake. It is an inhabitant of the plains, but it has been 

 recorded at altitudes up to 6,000 feet. 



Poison. — Undoubtedly fatal to man, but by no means every case of 

 cobra bite necessarily will prove fatal ; on the contrary a percentage, hard 

 to determine, escapes with moderate or very severe symptoms, the dose in- 

 jected being less than the lethal. Fayrer records many fatal cases. In 

 8 of these cases stated to be due without doubt to the bite of a cobra, in all 

 of which no treitment was tried, the victims died in from \ to 3 hours. 



Dimensions. — Grows to 6 feet b\ inches, but 6 feet is a very excep- 

 tional length. 



Colour. — Very variable. It may be any shade, from buff or wheat 

 colour to olivaceous, brown, or tarry black. These hues are uniform, 



