234 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



threw out its head from the folds and with distended neck 

 shewed fight ; however a noose at the end of a long* stick was 

 cleverly slipped over the neck whilst one of the men got 

 hold of the tail ; so we had him all fast without a blemish. 



" The snake was then taken to the Godown and its veno- 

 mous powers tested on three dogs. 



"The first dog was slightly bitten in the shoulder at lOh. 

 34m., and an antidote believed in by the Chinese was applied. 

 I enclose a specimen of the plant. The second dog was 

 bitten very severely at 10.55, the snake holding on to the 

 animal like a bull-dog to his dog. A strong solution of 

 Chloral Hydrate was injected by the hypodermic Syringe, 

 but without effect as the animal died in 15 minutes. The 

 first dog not appearing much worse for the first bite, he was 

 bitten again at 11.21 very severely in the nose and foot, the 

 snake fastening on the latter place very tenaciously. The 

 Chinese antidote was again applied ; the plant was braised 

 in a small portion of water, the solution poured down the 

 dog's throat, and the benised leaves well rubbed into the 

 wounds, but the dog sunk at once and died at 12.20, 1 hour 

 46 minutes after the first bite and 59 minutes after the 

 second. 



"The third dog was bitten at 11.19, at first very slightly and 

 then severely in the foot ; no antidote was used in this case, 

 and this animal lived, some Chinaman having applied the 

 actual centery to the wound in the foot ; but the poor brute 

 suffered very severely and 1 do not think it will recover. The 

 Sclano-or Natives recognise the Snake as the most dangerous 

 known ; they term it the " Tedong Sclah." 



" They all say it moves with the head lifted off the ground, 

 and that it will not only attack, but pursue. An instance of 

 this occured some time ago ; one of the European Officers in 

 riding along one of the roads came on a very large Snake 

 and it followed him, and he had to put his pony into a 

 gallop to escape ; he described it simply as a Cobra, but since 

 reading of your paper in the first Number of the Straits Asia- 

 tic Society's Journal he considers it was a specimen of the 

 Ophophiagus Elaps of about 6 or 7 feet long. The perusal of 

 the paper by you, and my seeing the two specimens here, 

 proves beyond a doubt that the Oph. Elaps exists. In 

 Northern Australia one about 7 feet in length bit a fine re- 

 liever of mine. I was then Government .Resident of Port 



