SNAKES OF CEYLON. 551 



(b) Method of Reproduction : It is viviparous. 



(c) Season: My breeding events throw no light on this 

 question. 



(d) Period of Gestation : Not known. 



Growth. — (a) The Young : The length of the young when 

 born is not accurately known. Gunther extracted embryos 

 from a gravid female that measured 127 mm. (5 inches) in 

 length, and remarked that they were perfectly developed. 

 The brood varies from four to ten. I have had many gravid 

 specimens. 



(b) Early Life : I am unable to follow the growth of my 

 specimens as no dates of capture were given. My smallest 

 specimen was 158 mm. (6J inches) long. 



(c) Maturity : My smallest gravid females were both 285 

 mm. (HJ inches) long. 



(d) Maximum Length : It does not often attain to 380 mm. 

 (15 inches) in length. The largest known to me is that 

 recorded by Gunther, viz., 483 mm. (19 inches). 



Poison. — The venom is probably never fatal to man, in 

 spite of what Tennent says to the contrary. It is more than 

 likely cases may end fatally, however, from emotional causes, 

 as in the case of harmless snakes, where the bitten subjects 

 die of fright. Mr. Green has told me that every year Ceylon 

 statistics show one or more deaths from the harmless little 

 lizard, Mabuia carinata, and this is in consonance with what 

 one knows in India. 



I have several records of casualties in the human subject 

 from this little viper, and in all the local signs were but 

 moderate, and probably as much to be attributed to the 

 treatment, as to the poison. 



Dr. Davy experimented on the lower animals with the 

 following results : — 



(1) A pup two months old was bitten. In less than two 

 minutes there was local swelling and oozing of blood from the 

 wounds. The swelling increased, and the pup grew very sick. 

 Forty-eight hours later symptoms had abated, but the wound 

 sloughed badly. 



(2) Another pup was bitten the same day by the same snake. 

 There was immediate swelling, and ichorous discharge from 



