404 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



sacs are 64 mm. (2-i inches) in length, and the dam with a 

 brood of nine is necessarily very considerably distended. 



Growth. — (a) Intraoval Life : The genitals in males are 

 extruded in the later stages of development, but some time 

 shortly before birth they are retracted Mitliin their sheaths, 

 and are no longer Adsible when born. The heart in unborn 

 young was found to beat about 26 times per minute. 



(6) The Young : The young at birth measure about 254 to 

 279 mm. (10 to 11 inches). Gunther mentions a young 

 specimen that measured 2G6 nmi. (10 ^ inches), and I have 

 extracted embryos that measured 279 mm. (11 inches). 



(c) Early Life : The young double their length in the first 

 year of life, and are then about 608 to 610 mm. (20 to 24 

 inches) long. At the end of the second year of life they appear 

 (from very meagre figures) to be alsout 7G2 mm. (30 inches). 

 Further observations are necessary to clear up this point. 



(d) Maturity : My smallest mother measured 965 mm. (3 

 feet 2 inches) in January, a length "which indicates that she 

 was not more than three years old. 



(e) Maxitiium, Length : Average adults range from915 to 1 .220 

 mm. (3 and 4 feet). I have had larger examples, viz., a female 

 1,310 mm. (4 feet 3 J- inches), and a male 1,308 ram. (4 feet 7 

 inches). 



Poison. — (a) Physical Characters : Fraser and Elliot report 

 that in its dried state it consists of " thin scales of a ^'^■ry pale 

 yellow colour." 



(6) Yield : Dt. Pinto, who collected the venom used by 

 Fraser and Elliot for their experiments, obtained -28 grammes 

 of an impure dried poison from 60 dry glands, or an average 

 of -0045 per gland, or -00!) grammes of poison per snake. 



(c) Amount injected during a Bile : Rogers estimated that the 

 average amount injected at one bite represented '01 grammes 

 of dried residue. It is difficult to reconcile this estimate \\'ith 

 Dr. Pinto's average yield. Fraser and Elliot's estimate is 

 much lower, but could not be exactly stated owing to an 

 accident. 



(d) Toxicity : Russell caused one to bite a fowl, and the bird 

 succumbed in five minutes ! Rogers, experimenting on pigeons, 

 found that Enhydrina venom was ten times more potent than 



