562 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



Breeding. — {a) The Sexes .- In a brood of 26 fostuses there 

 ia a slight disparity in length in the sexes in favour of the male. 

 The average of 15 males being 166 mm. (6| inches), while that 

 of 11 females is 162 mm. (6^ inches). Males in the same 

 brood are more numerous. The claspers in the male are bifid 

 organs, as in all the other vipers I know. 



(6) Method of Reproduction : It is viviparous. In the 

 Colombo Museum there are two unborn broods which I have 

 critically examined. 



(c) Season : This evidently covers a long period of the year. 

 Both broods just referred to were in about the same stage of 

 development, the foetuses in each exceeding 150 mm. (6 inches) 

 in length. One dam was killed at Neboda on January 12, 

 1911, and the other at Matale on July 1, 1904. 



(d) Period of Gestation : Not known. 



(e) The Brood : In one brood there are five foetuses (2 males, 

 2 females, and one so damaged that the sex is not apparent). 

 In the other there are twenty-six foetuses (15 males and 11 

 females). 



Growth, — (a) The Young : The newly-born snakeling will 

 probably prove to be about 175 to 190 mm. (7 to 8 inches) 

 long. Unborn foetuses with the male genitalia still extruded, 

 but evidently close to the day of their birth, measured from 

 156 to 175 mm. (6^ to 7 inches). 



(b) Maturity : The measurements of the two prospective 

 dams alluded to are unfortunately not on record. 



(c) Maximum Length : Mr. Green recorded one 1,015 mm. 

 (3 feet 4 inches) in length. Abercromby reports one the skin 

 of which measured 1,320 mm. (4 feet 4 inches). 



Poison. — Mr. Drummond-Hay wrote to me that a Burgher 

 conductor on his estate was bitten in the hand by a well- 

 grown specimen. The hand swelled up at once, but by evening 

 the swelling was already subsiding, and the following day had 

 nearly disappeared. Mi'. Fearless wrote to me that a villager 

 at Badulla was bitten by a green-tic through the finger, and 

 was treated by a native doctor with poor results, as he was 

 getting worse. Three days later, when Mr. Fearless saw him. 



