THe INDEAN CENSUS OF 1911 933 
THE RATTLESNAKE AND FER-DE-LANCE 
The most dangerous snake of the New 
World is the big bushmaster of tropical 
America. This pit viper appears to rep- 
resent the ancestral stock of the rattle- 
snakes. It grows to be 12 feet long and 
the tail is armed with a long spine. 
Other species of the genus to which it 
belongs, Lachesis, are very deadly. Best 
known among them is the fer-de-lance, 
common on the mainland of South Amer- 
ica, but also abundant in some of the 
islands of the Lesser Antilles. While 
this serpent is alleged to posses a dia- 
bolical temper, it is not particularly 
vicious, and captive examples become 
far more docile than many other poison- 
ous snakes. 
The most dangerous North American 
serpent is the big diamond-back rattle- 
snake of the southeastern United States. 
INH 
Fight-foot specimens are not rare, and, 
armed as‘it 1s with fangs that with a 
six- Or seven-foot specimen are an inch 
long, this burly brute must be rated as 
among the most dangerous snakes of 
the world. ‘Thirteen distinct species of 
rattlesnakes inhabit the United States 
proper. If they are all considered under 
the general head of ‘rattlesnakes,’ we 
may say that four “kinds” of poisonous 
serpents inhabit this country, thus: The 
water moccasin, copperhead snake, rat- 
tlesnake, and coral snake. ‘The latter is 
an elapine species, an ally of the Old 
World cobras. 
As poisonous snakes are not at all par- 
tial to cultivated areas, and the human 
inhabitants of this continent don't go 
about bare-legged, accidents from snake- 
bite in the United States are exceedingly 
iret 
fae INDIAN CENSUS OF 1911 
By Joun J. Banninca, Pasumatat, Souru InpIA 
© COUNT 300,000,000 people 
inside of five hours is a task 
worthy of any government; yet 
it was done, and done well, by the gov- 
ernment of India on the evening of 
March 10, 1911. From Cape Comorin 
on the south to the rugged hills and 
valleys of the Himalayas on the north, 
and from the mountains and deltas of 
Burma to the slopes of the western 
Ghats, every man, woman, and child was 
carefully counted and tabulated by an 
army of more than two million enumer- 
ators. To say that no mistakes were 
made would be assuming too much, but 
that the record is as accurate as that of 
any other country, even though the latter 
take months for the work, is not saying 
too much. 
That this work could be done by men 
unprepared for their work and without 
instruction must not be supposed. In 
fact, for many months beforehand the 
government set apart men of experience 
who p anned carefully for all the details 
involv 1. They traveled all over the 
country, made careful investigation into 
minute caste distinctions and religious 
differences, heard all manner of peti- 
tions from all classes of people, and ap- 
pointed their army of superintendents, 
supervisors, and enumerators. 
The country. was divided into more 
than two million “blocks,” and an enu- 
merator was appointed for each block. 
Groups of “blocks” were called “circles.” 
and several circles made a “charge.” 
Each “block” contained not less than 
twenty-five houses nor more than fiity. 
Some weeks before the actual date of 
the census every house was numbered, 
and then the enumerator went around 
and made the preliminary census by 
making out a list of the names of all 
the persons ordinarily residing in the 
houses of his block. This list was care- 
fully revised by the supervisor of the 
circle, and his lists were all checked by 
