100 VENOMS 



belly ; head black, with a broad white band across the occiput, and 

 another narrower and irregular one across the snout ; nose black. 



Total length, 590 millimetres ; tail 36. 



Habitat : Australia. 



There are no poisonous snakes in New Zealand. In New 

 Caledonia no terrestrial poisonous snakes are known, but Hydro- 

 phiidcB abound on its shores, as on those of the majority of the 

 islands of the Pacific. 



In Australia, especially in New South Wales and farther to the 

 north, fatalities due to the bites of poisonous snakes are not rare. 

 The most dangerous species are : Acanthophis antarcticus (the 

 Death Adder), Diemenia textilis (the Brown Snake), Pseudechis 

 porphyriactis (the Black Snake), and Notechis scutatus or Hoplo- 

 cephalus curtus (the Tiger Snake). 



The health authorities of this country have accordingly taken 

 the wise precaution of circulating very widely among the public 

 coloured placards bearing illustrations of these four species, with 

 a description of the essential anatomical details by w"hich they may 

 be recognised. Similar placards are exhibited in all the schools, 

 and a generous distribution is made of instructions, printed on 

 handkerchiefs, indicating the most effective method of treating 

 poisonous bites. 



In Queensland, according to information furnished to me by 

 Mr. C. W. De Vis, late Director of the Queensland Museum, Bris- 

 bane, the number of deaths resulting from the bites of poisonous 

 snakes has been only twenty-seven in ten years. 



S.—AMEBICA. 



The fauna of the New World includes only a very small number 

 of poisonous snakes belonging to the family Colubrid.e. The 

 Genus Elaps alone is represented there by twenty-eight species, 

 scattered over Mexico, Central America, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, 

 Colombia, and Brazil. 



