SECTION IT. 
DEATHS BY SHAKE-BITE IN THE BENGAL PRESIDENCY DURING 1S69. 
On the 3rd of January, 1870, I addressed a letter to the 
Secretaries or Political Agents of the following Governments :* 
Central Provinces 
Bengal 
North-west Provinces 
Punjab 
Oude 
Central India 
Rajpootana 
British Burmali 
soliciting information on the subject of loss of life from snake¬ 
poisoning in their territories. 
To it I have received prompt and ample replies from a 
number of officers ; and the following abstracts show not only 
the great mortality, but attest the interest evinced by these 
gentlemen, and the care and trouble with which, in many 
instances, they have prepared these returns. I feel much 
indebted to all who have so fully complied with my request, 
and take this opportunity of tendering my thanks for the 
valuable information that has thus been placed by Government 
at my disposal. 
The records represent, it is true, only a portion of India ; 
as the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, as well as other 
parts of India, are not included. Had similar information been 
obtained from these Provinces, the list of mortality would doubt¬ 
less have been much larger; as it is, the number of deaths is 
perfectly appalling, and the subject well merits close considera¬ 
tion, with the view of discovering, if possible, some remedy. 
I have roughly classified the deaths under the head of the 
snakes that inflicted the fatal wound, hut the records are rather 
vague on this point, and the information not always available. 
Still they are sufficiently explicit to make it clear, that in order 
of destructiveness, the Cobra occupies the first place on the list; 
the Krait ( Bungarus cceruleus) occupies the second place, 
whilst under the headings of “ Other snakes,” and “ Unknown,” 
must be included many deaths due to Cobra, Bungarus ccsruleus 
Hamadryad, JDaboia, Bungarus fasciatus, Hydropliidce, and 
some perhaps to Bchis carinata and the Trimeresuri; though as 
to the last there is reason to believe that deaths from their 
bites are comparatively very rare. 
It has been suggested by those well qualified to form an 
opinion, that not a few of the deaths, especially of women, 
ascribed to snake-bites, might, if they could he traced to their 
real cause, be referred to a totally different heading. It may 
he so ; but still the indisputably fatal cases of snake-bite are 
terribly numerous, and it is very probable that not all that 
have occurred are recorded. Sir H. Bartle Frere, G.C.S.I., 
K.C.B., .informs me that when he was Commissioner of Sind he 
instituted inquiry into the subject of death from snake-bite in 
that province, and it was no doubt owing to the police returns 
which were thus sent in to Government, that attention was first 
directed to the subject in Rutnagherry, the Punjab, and else¬ 
where. 
The records of the Commissioner of Sind’s office no doubt 
contain interesting information on the subject, hut speaking 
from memory Sir H. B. Frere says that one of the facts es¬ 
tablished by the returns was the enormous increase in the 
mortality from snake-bites during the hot weather. This was 
partly due to the people sleeping more out of doors at that 
season, but still more to the great quantity of inundated land 
which drove the snakes into the grass on the higher land, the 
mortality rising from an average of two or three per week in 
the cold weather to as many as ten or twelve per week in the 
hot weather, in a population of about a million and a quarter. 
The Rutnagherry as well as the Sind returns showed a very 
high mortality. 
No doubt the explanation given by Sir H. B. Frere of what 
occurred in Sind applies to the rest of India, and the mortality 
is greater at certain seasons, not only because the snakes are 
then concentrated in greater numbers in certain places for the 
reason assigned, but because during these seasons, with the 
higher temperature, the activity and vigour of the snakes is 
increased. 
The deadly nature of the bite of the Cobra, Hamadryad, 
Krait, and Viper, is shown in the numerous experiments that I 
have made on the lower animals ; it is equally demonstrated, 
with reference to the human race, by the returns of the year 
1869, and I fear the inefficacy of all the so-called antidotes is 
made equally certain. 
My own impression, and it is derived from many experiments, 
is, that in case of a real bite, by which I mean when a healthy 
and vigorous Cobra, Hamadryad, Bungarus, or Baboia has im¬ 
bedded its fangs and inoculated the poison, there is very little 
chance, if any, of saving life, unless the most immediate and 
vigorous aid he given, and even then, at the best, there is but 
poor chance of safety. No doubt many bites do not prove fatal, 
for the reason that the snake has been altogether or compara¬ 
tively innocent, or that its poison has been weak or defective in 
quantity, or that the bite has been only partially inflicted. 
It is quite’possible too that the most vigorous snake may inflict 
a wound, even draw blood, without fatal poisoning, or indeed 
sometimes without poisoning at all. This is the case when it 
strikes without seizing, as snakes often do, or when they have 
expended their poison by previous biting, or in feeding, or have 
bitten through clothes or leather. The real bite, when the 
fatal hypodermic injection of the poison takes place, is when 
the snake seizes, retains its hold, and thoroughly imbeds its 
fangs in the part. That bites may he inflicted without poison¬ 
ing was well shown in an experiment with a Mongoose, 
which was shut up in a cage with a fresh and vicious Cobra. 
They fought for some time, and when removed from the cage 
they both bore marks of the fray, in bleeding wounds about 
the head. The Mongoose had suffered almost as much as the 
Cobra, hut there were no symptoms of poisoning. It was certain 
that he had been bitten, and yet that he was not poisoned. Shut 
up in a cage, no antidote was available; it appeared either that 
he had some special immunity, or that—most improbable—the 
Cobra was harmless. The reason was soon explained. The 
Cobra was made to close its jaws on the Mongoose’s thigh ; it 
succumbed to the poison and died in a short time. The fact 
was, the wounds in the head had been given, as I have said they 
may be, without injection of poison; they were scratches, and 
not the punctures through which the poison finds rapid and 
fatal entry into the circulation. 
From such injuries, even when a certain amount of poison 
has entered, recovery is no doubt quite possible and probable, 
and much may be done to aid it by medical treatment and 
the use of stimulants. In cases where poisoning has been 
* Tide Appendix, No. 2. 
