382 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



The several representatives are viviparous ; liave their scales smooth and aiTanged 

 in from fifteen to twenty-one rows ; the head not separated from the neck ; and the 

 sub-caudal scales entire. IT. curtis, the brown-banded snake, is the most dangerous 

 Australian reptile, its bite being known to kill an animal the size of a goat in about 

 an hour's time. There is a peculiar fact worthy of mention in regard to this animal. 

 Though its bite proves so immediately fatal to animals generally, to itself or to any 

 other highly venomous serpent the poison has no effect. If the reptile could be 

 poisoned by its own venom, the slightest scar in its mouth would soon become inocu- 

 lated, and death would result, the animal soon becoming extinct. Experiments of a 

 similar nature on other venomous -snakes would reveal many interesting facts. The 

 brown-banded snake is very widely distributed over Australia and the neighboring 

 islands, and sometimes grows to be of considerable size, specimens five or six feet in 

 length being sometimes captured. The coloring is variable, ranging from gray to 

 black and with or without distinct bands ; the abdomen is ordinarily of a yellow color. 

 The younger forms have the bands much more distinct than the adults, and the Tas- 

 manian specimens have the belly spotted or clouded with gray. Thirty or even more 

 young are brought forth in a season by a single pair, the young presenting as much 

 variety of marking among themselves as do the adults. At the beginning of cold 

 weather all retire into the ground, from which they do not emerge until, the tempera- 

 ture is once more suitable. This reptile, together with other large and venomous 

 Australian snakes, has the peculiar habit, when excited or irritated, of raising the ante- 

 rior portion of its body and spreading its neck, thus assuming the appearance of the 

 cobra of India. Other species which have this habit are S. superbus ; the black- 

 snake, Pseiidechis porphyriaciis ; and the orange-bellied snake JP. australis. 



The large-scaled snake, Hoplocephalus sxiperbus, is easily distinguished from its 

 congener, H. curtis, the only form which equals it in size, by the shape of the middle 

 cervical plate, which is oblong, that of the jjrevious species being almost square. The 

 present species, moreover, has the scales of the back and sides in a less number of rows, 

 there being but fifteen, while H. curtis may have even nineteen. Specimens have 

 been captured which had markings on the back of the distensible neck which strongly 

 resembled those of the cobra, though ordinarily the snake is unornamented, being of a 

 plain copjjer color. Like the previous species, the large-scaled snake prefers marshy 

 localities, frequenting extensive reedy swamps or river banks, where it captures frogs, 

 lizards, and small mammals. It inhabits Tasmania, as well as southern Australia, on 

 the island being known as the diamond snake, a fact that has been mentioned in con- 

 nection with the Australian ' diamond,' Morelia spilotes. H. variegatus is extremely 

 limited in its distribution, being only found in the immediate neighborhood of Sydney 

 where it is known as the broad-headed snake and reaches a length of three feet. 

 Being a nocturnal form, it is, though abundant, seldom met with by the collector, 

 except under flat stones, where they hybernate during the cold season. It frequents the 

 open scrubby country and is also quite abundant along the coast line of the south-east. ■ 

 Its poison is not of a sufficiently virulent character to produce any serious results to 

 larger animals. Mr. Gerard Krefft, who has done more to elucidate the study of the 

 Australian reptiles than any other naturalist, says : " If a jjerson be bitten by one of 

 them, the simple act of sucking the wound is sufficient to avert any unpleasant sensa- 

 tion ; but should nothing be done, a violent headache, a certain stiffness in the spine, 

 and some local swelling is generally the consequence. It takes from thirty minutes 

 to an hour before these symptoms set in." Closely resembling this species, but differ- 



