MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 565 



No. XVI.— THE RUSSELL'S VIPER. 



I think it may be worth putting on record that on the 4th January, 1888, 

 two very large specimens (male and female) of the Daboia russellii were killed 

 in my garden at Cuddalore, North Arcot. The male measured 5' 6" and the 

 female 5' 3". Again, at Vellore, in November, 1890, I killed a specimen of 

 the same snake in my verandah, which measured 5' 6". 



F. G. BROOK-FOX, 



Executive Engineer. 



Mult an, 25th March, 1894. 



[Dr. Gunther, in his "Reptiles of British India," states that the Daboia attains 

 the length of 50", and Mr. Boulenger in the " Fauna of British India " gives 

 48" as a full measurement, but it is evident that both of these excellent autho- 

 rities have considerably understated the maximum length of this snake. We 

 have a specimen in the Bombay Natural History Society's Collection killed at 

 Hurda in the Central Provinces by Mr. J. C. Anderson, which measured 62". 

 — Editor.] 



No. XVII.— THE NUX- VOMICA TREE. 



All lovers of Natural History will be grateful to " Eha " for the many 

 valuable and interesting observations published from time to time in the 

 columns of the Times of India. In his latest article of March 23rd — " Leaves 

 from a Naturalist's Scrap Book " — he criticises Dr. Kirtikar's paper, published 

 in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society on the nux- vomica tree, 

 or, by-the-bye, plant, for anything vegetable from a microscopic yeast cell to a 

 giant eucalypt is a plant in botanical language, but u Eha" is a facetious writer, 

 and my correction is perhaps hardly apt. It is to be regretted that Dr. Kirti- 

 kar has not availed himself of the latest and most valuable literature on the 

 subject, especially as all the recent researches are summarized or noted in a 

 Bombay work, Pharmacographia Indica, by one of his distinguished confreres 

 of the I. M. S., and a past President of the Bombay Natural History Society, 

 the late Dr. William Dymock. I refer chiefly to the laborious researches of 

 Dunstan and Short. These writers, after describing the statements of leading 

 Indian botanical authorities as to the harmlessness of the pulp of the fruit, say 

 that these statements are rendered quite unintelligible by the experiments of 

 Fluckiger and Hanbury, who found both the fresh and inspissated pulp con- 

 tained strychnia. In view of these conflicting statements the following physio- 

 logical experiments were made by Dr. Ondaatje at the Hambaulota Hospital, 

 Ceylon : — 



Experiment I. — The pulp of a large fruit mixed with about half an ounce of 

 water was given to a large cat. In five minutes tetanic convulsions set in, and 

 the animal died within ten minutes of the administration of the pulp. 



Experiment II. — 5-6 grammes of the fresh pulp mixed with half an ounce 

 of water was given to a dog about two months old. After eight minutes 

 the posterior extremities became stiff, tetanic convulsions supervened , and the 

 dog died eighteen minutes after the administration of the pulp. In both these 

 cases the toxic action of the pulp was proved, the animals exhibiting the usual 

 symptoms of poisoning by strychnine. Post mortem and other details are given 

 in the paper, but it is not necessary to reproduce them here. As, however, 

 the pulp was stated to have no poisonous action on birds, further experiments 

 were made. 



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