MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1339 



In all, 21 eggs were placed in the flower pot. Two were opened to see 

 what progress the embryos had made ; four were found shrivelled (on 4th 

 June) and proved on dissection to be infertilised and quite solid. Of the 

 15 remaining eggs, 14 hatched out at full time, and one was dead in the 

 egg but appeared fully developed. 



W. B. BANNERMAN, I.M.S., 

 Surgeon-General. 



J. P. POCHA, LM. & s.. 



Senior Assistant Surgeon. 

 Bombay Bacteriological Labobatory, 

 Parel, imh July 1912. 



No. XXV.— BREEDING OF THE COMMON GREEN VIPER 

 {LA CRESIS OR AMINE US) . 



On 30th June a female Common Green Viper which was said to have 

 come from Khandalla gave birth to fifteen young in our Museum. They 

 sloughed first on 24th July. The brood vary considerably in colour, some 

 being much darker than others and nearly all show the blackish markings 

 on the back, though in the light colotired ones it is very faint. The 

 mother belongs to the variety which has a yellow line along the side of 

 the body, but in the young this line is hardly discernable. It has been 

 found impossible to get the young snakes to feed naturally, though they 

 have been tried with earth worms, young frogs, grasshoppers, young 

 cockroaches and other insects. They have however been fed twice with 

 raw meat and the nine which are still alive look well and are beginnin 

 to grow. 



N. B. KINNEAR. 



Bombay, September 1912. 



No. XXVI.— SAW-SCALED VIPER (ECHIS CARINATA) 

 AS A TREE SNAKE. 



Some time ago a note appeared in the Journal stating that the phoorsa 

 very rarely climbs trees. At the time I doubted the correctness of this 

 as regards the habits of this snake in North Gujarat, as ten years ago I 

 frequently found a snake, which I believed to be of this species, on cactus 

 hedges and in bushes and small trees a few feet from the ground. I 

 presumed however that I might possibly have been mistaken in my 

 identification of the species, though I did not think it likely. I have now 

 returned to the same part of the country and find that my original belief 

 was correct. In confirmation I am sending you a specimen of Echis 

 craintita which I found this week and killed in the outer branches of a 



