A POPULAR TREATISE ON INDIAN SNAKES. 865 



ably a water rat's which the reptile chanced upon, and appropriated to 

 her own use. Notes of this character are of the utmost interest and 

 importance. Information on the habits of snakes is extremely hard 

 to elucidate. 



Eggs. — Those I obtained in Cannanore were all much alike in size, 

 shape, and tension, but those I acquired in Rangoon varied consider- 

 ably. Some were tense, others flaccid, and they varied much in size, 

 as may be inferred from their weights, which ranged from 1 drachm 

 28 grains to 2 drachms 37 grains. These variations were probably 

 the result of impoverished health. Normally they are soft and white 

 without gloss. When voided they are evidently surrounded with a 

 glutinous pellicle, for they adhere firmly at any points where 

 chance has placed them in apposition. The poles are isomorphous, 

 the shape elliptical, and tension much like that of a ripe grape. In 

 length they vary from lf^ to 1^- inches, and in breadth from ^f to 

 1 inch. 



Period of incubation. — How long these eggs take to hatch I have 

 been unable to ascertain, as all attempts to incubate them have proved 

 futile. 



Deposition. — They are laid in the months of January, February and 

 March usually, but Major Evans tells me he has killed some examples 

 egg-bound as late as April in Burma. (See Addenda.) 



Young. — When hatched, the young measure about 7| to 8 inches, 

 or about one-sixth the length of a large adult. 



This is one of the most prolific snakes I know, and ranks with the 

 pythons and the Russell's viper in this respect. 



Blanford describes a pair which he dislodged from beneath a large 

 stone in a stream. They had evidently made their home there, and he 

 remarks that they showed a disinclination to quit the spot. It is re- 

 markable that though they were evidently cohabiting, the female was 

 in an advanced state of egg-bearing, and this is on a par with the case 

 of the two rat snakes alluded to in my last paper. This with other 

 cases of a similar kind leads me to think that snakes possess a mutual 

 love and attachment in no way inferior to that exhibited by many 

 warm-blooded animals which preserve their conjugal relationship long- 

 past the term of sexual gratification. A history of the events known 

 to me relative to the breeding of this snake is herewith appended in 



tabular form. 

 2 



