148 



the snake was a Bungarus is that haemorrhage from the 

 mucous membranes was a prominent feature in the case. 



Bungarus fasciatus is said by Dr. Fayrer to be some- 

 what less venomous than B. arcuatus. It is a much larger 

 snake ; nothing is known about the effects of its bite on 

 man, as it belongs to the Malayan fauna and is very rare out 



of Burma and Chittagong. 

 > 

 Ophiophagus elaps is so rare, even in Burma, that 

 accidents from it are not often recorded. According to the 

 available accounts it is as venomous as a cobra ; it is said that 

 an elephant bitten by it died in about three hours. I have 

 seen a Burman snake-catcher get bitten when playing 

 with one (fighting is the more correct expression as this 

 splendid snake was above 10 feet long and reared its 

 head at least a yard off the ground). He used his 

 ordinary remedy, chewing a dried vegetable pulp and 

 applying the quid to the wound and was none the worse 

 for the bite.* I may observe that this class of Burmans 

 are little affected by these accidents, and I believe th^ 

 have a remedy against them. The nature of this I could 

 not find out ; it is ascribed to the drug chewed, but I believe 

 that gradual inoculation of cobra-poison is the secretf 

 This man, though quite careless about the bite of the cobra 



* The snake was in perfect condition. I kept it for some time 

 but had to kill it on my departure from Burma ; its head is now in 

 my collection, 



t In the Madras Medical Journal for November 1870, 1 pointed 

 out the possibility of careful inoculation with the poison of a snake 

 being an antidote against the effects of a bite from a snake of the 

 same family. Since then, March to July 1871, Dr. Shortt appears to 

 have madejan experiment on this point. A dog was inoculated^— on 

 18th March with one-sixth grain dry cobra-poison — on 13th May with 

 one-twelfth grains — on 18th May with one-seventh grain. No ill 

 effect was produced. On 4th July half grain was inoculated, and the 



