400 SURG. J. C. THOMPSON ON THE 
Specimen.—California Acad. Sci. No. 15340. Butuan, Min- 
danao, Philippine Islands. Head and neck of an adult. 
A native was bitten by this beast at noon and died at seven in 
the evening. In conformity with the local folk-lore the serpent 
was decapitated, and the brain scooped out and applied to the 
wound as an antidote. 
The anatomy of this form has been made the subject of a most 
interesting paper by Dr. F. KE. Beddard*, who discovered the 
existence of the remarkable system of air-chambers connected 
with the trachea. This specimen contributes a couple of minor 
details to the description. The cartilaginous portion of the 
trachea is U-shaped, with the interrupted ends to the right. The 
tracheal membrane begins close to the glottis and runs along the 
right side as far as the 16th gastrostege ; at this point it is tense, 
parallel to the sagittal plane, and 6°5 mm. wide. The transverse 
diameter of the trachea is also 6°5 mm. at this point. The air- 
chambers are to the right of the trachea. The first compartment 
is 55 mm. long and reaches from the level of the 2nd gastrostege 
to the 11th g.; it has one foramen, 1°7 mm. in diameter, at the 
6th g., and another, 2°7 mm. in diameter; these are situated on 
the tracheal membrane and communicate with the lumen of the 
windpipe. The second compartment, 12 mm. long, extends 
from the 11th g. to the 13th g.; it has one foramen, 1°3 mm. in 
diameter, near the posterior wall. At the middle of this chamber 
there is an oval thin spot on the tracheal membrane. These thin 
spots have been observed and referred to by Dr. Beddard as 
‘imperforate foramina.” The third compartment, 9:5 mm. long, 
extends from the 13th to the 15th g.; near the anterior wall is 
a foramen 2°3 mm. in diameter, and near the posterior wall an 
imperforate foramen. 
The only other serpents known to possess a similar system of 
air-chambers are Psewdoxenodon chinensis and Coluber oxycephalus. 
The latter has in addition one of the longest right lungs recorded 
in a Colubrine. To complete the data for the Hamadryad it is 
necessary to ascertain the distance the anangious portion of the 
right lung enters the celum. In the ordinary museum specimen 
this is not easy to determine. A useful procedure is to suspend 
_the specimen and to inject into the trachea a little 95 per cent. 
alcohol, tinged with eosin, and allow it to trickle down into the 
lung. With the least bit of luck the fluid will reach quite to 
the end and stain the lung, so that it stands out in fair contrast. 
The main point in the technique is to employ an extremely weak 
staining solution. 
DOLIOPHIS BIVIRGATUS Bole. 
Specimen.—California Acad. Sci. No. 33059. Sarawak, Borneo. 
Adult male: total length 1319, tail 128 mm. 
The tracheal membrane in this species is of large dimension. 
* P.Z.S. 1903, vol. ii. p. 319. 
