ORDER OPHIDIA. 3q5 



negroes of Surinam, whose poison is very active. Stedman 

 relates that a slave having been bitten in the foot by one of 

 these animals, had the leg swelled in less than a minute, ex- 

 perienced the most acute pain, and soon fell into convulsions, 

 which preceded his death. The same traveller relates that 

 the gall of this serpent is regarded as a specific against its 

 bite ; but he never witnessed the success of this remedy. He 

 also remarks that, in general, the smaller the serpent is, the 

 more is its bite to be feared. He thinks that this elaps is 

 the same animal as the small laharra mentioned by Dr. Ban- 

 crost in his History of Guiana, and which, according to him, 

 is, fourteen feet m length, which appears, however, asDaudin 

 well observes, to be a typographical error, for which we 

 should read fourteen inches. He assures us that the violence 

 of its poison is so great, that it causes death in less than five 

 minutes, in the midst of convulsions, accompanied by a dis- 

 charge of blood through the natural apertures of the body. 



The subdivisions immediately following Elaps, presents no 

 materials for any observations here — and of Bungarus or 

 PsEUDOBOA we can add nothing of any interest to the text. 



Of the genus Hydrus, the species of Hydrophis, which 

 are known, are tolerably numerous. Tlieir name suffi- 

 ciently indicates their singular habit of living in the water, 

 and by Linnseus they are classed with anguis. They seem 

 to have been partly known by the ancients. Elian informs us, 

 that hydri with flat tails were found in the Indian seas, and 

 that they also existed in the marshes. He also tells us that 

 those reptiles had very sharp teeth, and appeared to be veno- 

 mous. According to Ctesias, the serpents of the river Ar- 

 gada, in the province of Sittacene, remain concealed at the 

 bottom of the waters during the day, and by night that they 

 attack persons who go to bathe, or wash linen. In the Peri- 

 plus, or circumnavigation of the Erythrean sea, Arrian 



VOL. IX. 2 c 



