THE REPORTED OCCURRENCE OF RUSSELL’S VIPER. 207 
“The range of this snake, the largest of the Asiatic vipers, 
embraces India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam and the Malay Penin- 
sula. My friend, Mr. Rudolf Weber, brought several small 
specimens of typical coloration from Sumatra, showing the 
species to occur on at least one of the larger islands.”* 
HK. G. Boulenger (1914) states that :— 
‘Russell’s viper, V. russelli, or Tic-polonga, as this laree and 
justly dreaded snake is known in atid is found in hills, as well 
as in the plains of India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, and Sumatra.” 
He based his record as regards Sumatra on the British Museum 
Catalogue, but in a letter to me dated 20th June, 1921, Mr. 
Boulenger agrees now that this may be regarded as a metal 
In spite, of this very definite assertion by Ditmars I felt that 
the discovery of Russell’s Viper in Sumatra was so remarkable that 
it was worth while making some inquiries in order to obtain con- 
firmation of this interesting record. 
My friend Dr. T. Barbour of the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., at my request interested himself in the 
matter and ascertained from Mr. Ditmars himself the following 
particulars about Mr, Weber,and his Sumatran collections. Dr. 
Barbour writes :— 
“It seems that between 1892 to 1898 he (Mr. Rudolf Weber) 
“was employed as an artist to illustrate publications of the Museum 
of Natural History in New York. During the latter part of this 
period he went on a scientific mission to. Sumatra, but Ditmars 
informs me that now he thinks of it, that all of Weber’s reptiles 
were dumped into large jars and remained lying about the Museum 
uncared for many years.” Dr. Barbour concludes that “there is 
absolutely no reason whatever to suppose that Weber did not collect 
these creatures in India while he was passing through en route to 
Sumatra.” 
The specimens are not to be found in the New York Museum 
now. 
In the British Museum Catalogue of Snakes, the locality for 
one specimen in that Museum is “> Sumatra.” In the British 
Museum Hand-list of Snakes the distribution is given as “ India, 
Burma and Siam; Java and Sumatra ?” | 
In the hight of the above I think one must look with consider- 
able suspicion on the definite assertions by Ditmars and E. G. 
Boulenger as to its positive occurrence in Sumatra. Dr. Malcolm 
Smith gives Bangkok as the southernmost locality for it in Siam, 
and that I think must be regarded, at present, as the nearest point 
to the Malaysian sub-region, this deadly snake has yet reached. 
* The italics are mine. J. C. M. 
ius Ae DOC) NOs OD, O22. 
