THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 43 



Poison. — Writers are not consistent upon this question. Ten- 

 nent* says emphatically that a fatal issue does sometimes occur, 

 but not invariably. Guntherf says it is exceptionally fatal to man, 

 and then not before the lapse of some days. Dr. Davy knew a 

 dog bitten by one recover after severe symptoms in 48 hours, but 

 a fowl bitten by the same snake the next day succumbed after 4 

 days. These effects on small animals serve to show that the poison 

 is not very virulent. Mr. Drummond Hay has written to me of 

 two cases of bite, both in cooly women. One bitten on the ankle 

 did not suffer in the slightest once she had recovered from her 

 fright, but whether she was treated or not I am unable to say. The 

 other bitten in the hand became unconscious and he thought when 

 he saw her the same night would die, but with the aid of stimu- 

 lants had recovered by the next day. Ferguson;]: mentions the 

 self-related facts of a Mr. A. F. Sanderson who was bitten by one. 

 The seat of injury was the little toe. Pain was so acute as to pre- 

 vent sleep, and the limb swelled to t^e knee for 2 or 3 days, but he 

 recovered. He treated himself by ligature above the knee, cross 

 cuts locally with the application of carbolic acid, and strong pota- 

 tions of brandy. 



Dimensions. — Grows to 18 inches, but I have known females 

 adult at 11-^ inches, as shown by pregnancy. 



Colour. — The prevailing colour is brown, variously mottled or 

 variegated, but a longitudinal series of largish oval dark spots on 

 each side of the back is a constant characteristic. The belly is 

 finely mottled. 



ANCISTRODON MILLARDI§-Miliard's Viper. 



Identification. — Shields on the top of the head enlarged, scales 

 at midbody 17, supraoculars decidedly broader than the frontal, 

 and as long or longer than the parietals. Ventrals 136 to 152. 

 Subcaudals 30 to 44. The boss on the snout is not so pronounced 

 as in the last, and is covered with larger and fewer scales (4 to 6). 



* Nat. Hist, of Ceylon, p. 296. 



t Kept. Brit. Ind., p. 395. 



I Bom. Nat. Hist. Journ. Vol. X, p. 9. 



§ Described in the Bom. Nat. Hist. Journal, Vol. XVXII, ['age 792 



