MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 203 



lying torpid. We proceeded to shoot it, and as it was lying half coiled up, 

 its body was naturally a good deal injured in the process. Seeing a fea- 

 ther sticking out of a wound, we told one of our men to extract the 

 bird to which it belonged. He pulled a duck out of the wound, and took 

 out live others one after the other, six duck in all. They were all quite, 

 or recently fresh, their feathers being complete, and none far gone in 

 digestion. They looked as if they had all been swallowed at about the 

 same time. There were gad\vaLl and spotbill among the dvick, but we did 

 not note the description of all the duck. All had been swallowed head fore- 

 most. The python, when stretched out and roughly measured was fully 

 eight feet long. Is not this an unusually heavy meal for a python to 

 make ? 



Shortly after, while wading in the water after a wounded duck, I saw 

 a snake swimming near me. It made little attempt to avoid me, and I 

 shot it through the head. It was a python about six feet in length. 



Bombay, P. R. CADELL, i.c.s. 



nth December 1912. 



No. XXVIII.— EFFECT OF A BITE FROM SCHNEIDER'S 

 WATER SNAKE {HYFSIRSINA ENHYDRIS.) 



The subject, a healthy man of about 36, while attempting to catch the 

 snake, which had previously been irritated, was bitten on the back of the 

 right hand between the thumb and forefinger. There were two distinct 

 punctures and the parts got inflamed at once though scarcely two drops 

 of blood were shed. Fifteen minutes later the hand began to throb and 

 the throbbing lasted for about an hour, after which no ill effects were felt. 

 The snake was a little over a foot in length, and the place of occurrence 

 was Parbatipur, Bengal. 



This snake was dealt with in the last journal, but as nothing seems to 

 have been recorded of the effect of its bite, I thought this case might be of 

 interest. 



Central Museum, Nagpur, E. A. D'ABREU, f.z.s. 



237-d September 1912. 



No. XXIX.— RUPTURE OF THE EGG-SHELL IN THE 

 GENUS CALOTES, 



On page 1099, Vol. XXI, No. 3, of the Society's Journal referring to the 

 method adopted by the young Calotes to rupture its egg-shell. Dr. Annan- 

 dale expresses the opinion that the young lizard's claws are used for the 

 purpose, a suggestion which is on the face of it so probable that it must be 

 accepted in the absence of evidence to the contrary. My own note on the 

 subject was certainly much too positive, and I am glad Dr. Annandale has 

 drawn my attention to a careless piece of writing. It is obvious that no 

 reliance can be placed on a hurried examination of a living specimen, and I 

 ought to have stated expressly that no dissection was made and that I had 

 no opportunity of extracting the " white point" which I took to be the 

 foetal tooth. I had intended to make a further examination of the spirit 

 specimens, but on my transfer from Haka my specimens were lost. 



The whole subject is one of absorbing interest closely connected with 

 the evolution of the Reptilia. Perhaps one of our members can tell us what 

 data are available or supply answers to the following questions : In what 

 species or genera is a foetal tooth known to exist ? Major Wall has 

 reported its existence in Ophisaurus gracilis* and one would expect it to 



• Vol. XVIII, p. 504, B. N. H. S. J. 



