Snakes of Victoria. 



Art. III. — Observations on the Microscopical Characters 

 presented by a Mineral (Dysodil) from Tasmania. 

 By Thomas S. Ralph, Esq., M.R.C.S. 



[Abstract of paper, original read 27th May, 1861.] 



The author shewed that the mineral was a kind of shale, 

 containing, besides a bituminous substance, a large amount 

 of Algse, of a spherical form, which were preserved, from 

 their being coated by a resinous substance. 



Art. IV. — On the Snakes of Victoria. By Professor M'Coy. 



[Abstract, original read 17th June, 1861. Original paper lost.] 



In this paper the characters were pointed out of all the 

 snakes known in the colony, and specimens were exhibited 

 of each species to the meeting at which the paper was read. 

 The " Carpet. Snake " {Morelia variegata) was the only 

 harmless species ; its close relation to the " Diamond Snake " 

 {Morelia spilotes) of New South Wales, was referred to, in 

 connection with the term " Diamond Snake " erroneously 

 given to the poisonous forms experimented on some years 

 ago in Tasmania, when the investigations published in the 

 Journal of the Royal Society of Tasmania were in progress, 

 to determine the value of remedies for snake poison. The 

 relation of the carpet snake to the Pythons of India was 

 dwelt upon, and the statement, formerly published by the 

 Society of the existence of a true Boa in Victoria, was shown 

 to rest only on a mistaken identification of the character of 

 the common carpet snake. The rare "Death Adder" 

 {Acanthophis antarctica) was the only venomous snake with 

 isolated fangs found in Victoria, although all the remaining 

 snakes belonging to the Colubridce gave poisonous and some- 

 times fatal bites from the poison fangs mixed with the solid 

 teeth. Numerous examples were exhibited of the large 

 poisonous " Brown Snake " of the colony, and the reasons 

 for referring it to the Pseudonaja nuchalis and to the 

 Pseudoelaps superciliaris were discussed. Hoplocephalus 

 superbus, H. curtus or " Tiger Snake," H. Gouldi, H. coro- 

 noides, and a new species, Hoplocephalus flagellum (M'Coy), 

 were exhibited and their characters pointed out. The latter 



