2 THE LAND-MAEKS OF 



original, but rather a rhchauffage of the materials 

 which practical acquaintance with the subject 

 has enabled me to gather, collate, and estimate 

 the value of. We learn from the pages of Sir 

 Joseph Fayrer's magnificent work, " The Thana- 

 tophia of India," that of the twenty-one families 

 of Indian Ophidia, only four are venomous, 

 namely, the Elapidse and Hydrophid8e(sea-snakes) 

 constituting the colubrine sub-order; and the 

 Veperidse and Crotalidse (pit-vipers) forming the 

 viperine sub-order. Of the colubrine snakes, 

 the Cobra, Ophiophagus or Hamadryad, Krait 

 (BungarusOoeruleus), andtheBungarus Fasciatus; 

 and of the viperine snakes, the Daboia Uusselli 

 are the most commonly met with, and the most 

 Cobra, destructive of human life.* The Cobra is found 

 all over Hindustan, and is too well known to 

 need, description. The different species vary 

 considerably in their markings on the hood, and 



* In the course of an analysis of the snake-bite 

 returns received from Bengal, Behar; Orissa, Assam, 

 and Cachar, ia 1873-74, I found that the cobra was 

 credited with having caused the injury in 1660 cases, 

 the krait in 166, the daboia in 205, and unknown and 

 inuoceut Buakes in 2129 cases. 



