THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 89- 



Theobald (Cat. Eept. Brit. Burma, 1868, p. 61) saw a snake- 

 charmer bitten by one in Ikirmah die within a few minutes. Evans 

 (Bombay, Nat. Hist. Jourl., Vol. XIV, p. 413) mentions a case 

 of a foolhardy Burman, believing himself snake poison proof, teasing 

 one belonging to a Shan snake charmer, he was bitten in the 

 hand, and soon afterwards died. The same observer also records 

 another instance of a Burman being bitten by one in the base of the 

 index finger, with the result that he died ''shortly afterwards. He 

 also furnishes another case in which this time the victim was a 

 bullock, which was bitten by a hamadryad, which the bullock cart 

 passed over. The animal died soon afterwards. 



Eaby Noble (Bombay. Nat. Hist. Jourl., Vol. XV, p. 358) men- 

 tions one 10 feet 1 inch in length (identified by Mr. Phipson) making- 

 an unprovoked assault on a cooly woman in Assam, seizing her by 

 the leg, and maintaining its hold for at least 8 minutes, when it was 

 beaten off. She was treated by a " Doctor Babu " (treatment not 

 specified), but succumbed in about 20 minutes. The symptoms 

 were local pain and swelling, vomiting, laboured breathing and 

 prostration. Theobald (Cat. Kept. Brit. Burma, 1868, p. 61) 

 records, on the information of a Burman, an elephant being bitten on 

 the trunk by a hamadryad whilst browsing on some foliage, with the 

 i-esnlt that death ensued in about three hours. 



It is interesting to note that Dr. Nicholson reported a case 

 where a Burman snake-catcher was bitten by a ten-foot specimen 

 in good condition. He chewed some vegetable pulp and applied 

 it to the wound, and " was none the worse for the bite." 



THE COMMON KRAIT (BUKGAEUS CjEBULEUS). 



The Toxins of C^ruleus Venom. 



These are in the main identical with those enumerated under 

 cobra venom. 



Lamb by experiment on rabbits estimated the virulence of the 

 venom as four to five times greater than that of cobra venom , 

 Eogers operating on pigeons fixes the virulence as twice that ot 

 cobra venom. With some doubt the latter estimated that an adult 

 is capable of injecting three lethal doses (for man ?) at a bite. 



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