514 iiESSK?. MOLE AND FKiCH OX THE [June 19, 



catus, and was swallowed by 9.24| p.ir. At 9.27 auother one 

 9 inches long was introduced, and then directly it was caught 

 just above the vent. At 9.59 the Coral got its victim's muzzle in 

 its mouth, and swallowed it by 10.5|. JN^either of these snakes, 

 nor mauy more besides which we have seen swallowed, were dead 

 when their tails disappeared down the Coral's throat. These little 

 snakes resist the Coral vigorously to the very last, twining their 

 bodies round their devourer's head in almost inextricable knots and 

 doing everything in their power to hinder the gorging process. 



ElAPS LEMJflSCATUS. 



This snake sometimes reaches the length of 4 feet, but 

 specimens of this size are not at all common. Opinions in 

 Trinidad are divided as to their being poisonous, owing probably 

 to the fact that they have been frequently handled without 

 disastrous consequences. There are, however, cases on record of 

 persons having lost their lives through the bites of these reptiles 

 when they have been inadvertently trodden upon. They usually 

 lie dormant during the day under the dead leaves on sugar estates, 

 but they are more frequently found in cocoa plantations. At night 

 they are exceedingly lively and quick in their movements. The 

 species feeds, so far as we can find out, exclusively upon other 

 snakes, all efforts to induce E. lemniscatus and E. riisei to take frogs 

 and lizards having been failures. E. lemniscatus wanders about at 

 night searching in holes and crevices for the small diurnal Ophidia, 

 and catches them when they are asleep. Being possessed of a com- 

 paratively solid head and, for a snake, very small mouth, in which 

 are two short fangs (situated further back thau those of the vipers), 

 it is very difficult indeed for them to bite anything large. 

 Xaturalists, we understand, are divided in their opinious as to 

 the use of the poison in these serpent-devouring Ophidia, and it 

 is asserted that the Indian Ophiophagus does not use his venom 

 to kill his pre3^ Though this may be the case with other snakes, 

 it is certain that the Trinidad Elaps lemniscatus relies upon its 

 poison very considerably in overcoming its victims : otherwise it 

 would not be able to secure its active prey even when surprised 

 asleep. A snake of this species 33 inches long, brouglit to us in 

 the first week of May 1893, was placed in a small glass-fronted 

 box with a jar of water and a wet pad of blottmg-paper — it being 

 an absolute condition for the well-being of these creatures that 

 they should be kept damp. On May 15 we introduced a Liophis 

 mchmotus. The next day it had disappeared, and there was a 

 slight increase in the Coral's circumference. On the night of 

 May 23rd a Coluber boddaerti similarly vanished. Three days later 

 another L. melanotus was disposed of. All these snakes manifested 

 the greatest uneasiness and even terror of the Coral, giving it the 

 largest berth possible, although, so long as daylight lasted, the 

 Coral paid no attention to them. 



On the night of June 11th we gave a L. melanotus {^7^ inches 

 long) to the Coral. The moment it entered the box the Coral 



