POISONOUS SNAKES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



By Lawrence E. Griffin. 

 {From the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I ) 



Nearly seventy species of suakes have been described as occurring in 

 the Philippine Islands^, of which thirty species, at least, are poisonous. 

 In view of the large number of species known, it is a matter of some 

 surprise that snakes are so seldom encountered by those whose business 

 leads them into the forest or through the high grass; in fact, the majority 

 of people seem to believe that very few snakes exist here. The finding of 

 two new species in the small collection of the Biological Laboratory, 

 Bureau of Science, leads me to believe that when our Philippine snakes 

 have been carefully collected and studied, a considerable number of 

 species will be added to the herpetological fauna of the Islands.^ As 

 the technical description of these two snakes is uninteresting and is to 

 appear in Section A of the Journal,'' I beg your permission to digress 

 from this subject to that of Philippine poisonous snakes in general. 



Of most general interest is the snake known as the rice-snake, or 

 "dahun-palay" {Dryophis prasinus), of which the natives stand in such 

 fear. An extremely slender snake, generally bright green in color, it is 

 supposed to live among the rice stalks. As a matter of fact, while it 

 may be found occasionally in the rice, it is really a tree snake, living 

 often in the tops of the coconuts, or branches of forest trees. Its bite 

 is supposed to be fatal, death ensuing in from fifteen minutes to half 

 an hour. Many natives believe that the leaves wither upon which its 

 breath has fallen. While undoubtedly poisonous, this snake is one of 

 those in which the fangs are at the back end of the maxilla, so far l)ack 

 that tlie snake would have to stretch its mouth tremendously to bite an 

 object the size of a man's leg. Information as to deaths proven to have 

 been caused by the bite of this snake will be appreciated.* 



' Read at the Sixtli Annual jMeeting of tlie Philippine Tshnuls ^Fedical As- 

 sociation, Febniavy 13, 1909. 



- Since reading this paper, tliere have been found in collection.s of snaices from 

 Palawan, P. 1., alone, four new speenes, and three species not liitherto recorded 

 from the Philippines. 



^This Journal, Sec. A (1909), 4, .5.5. 



* The Director of Health has kindly sent me a copy of a letter relating to two 

 deaths from snake bite, supposed to have been caused by the Dnhun-palay. In 

 neither instance was the snake seen, while tlie nature and place of the attacks 

 leaves the possibility open that cobras were responsible for both deaths. 



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