EXPERIMENTS ON THE INELUENCE OF SNAKE-POISON. 
183 
Remarks on certain of the Hydrophidce, and Extracts from Notes on 
them by Mr. Stewart, Civil Surgeon of Rooree. 
“ I Pave been fortunate in getting a number of both these 
specimens {Hydrophis cyanocincta ) lately, but unfortunate again, 
in tliat they perished very soon after I got them; some, in fact, 
were brought nearly dead. Whether it is that the violent surf 
threw them on the shore, or that they are with difficulty kept 
alive when once removed from the sea, I am not sure. The 
fact, however, is the same, that though kept in a gurrah of sea¬ 
water and exposed to the air, the animals are very feeble after 
ten or twelve hours. 
“ I intend to have readier arrangements in future, so as to 
get the snakes to bite as soon after they are caught as possible. 
I am sorry that my attempts to get them to bite lately have 
been a failure from the above cause. 
“ The Pelamis bicolor is called by the Telinga fishermen 
* Kullunder Samp,’ and is looked on by them as a very deadly 
snake. 
“ I got a female Hydrophis cyanocincta brought to me dead. 
It had sixteen eggs in it, each as large as a full-sized hen’s egg. 
The young snakes in each egg were perfectly formed, and 
about six inches long.” 
“ * * * I still experience the same difficulty in getting 
the snakes active enough to bite. When they are freshly 
thrown upon the shore, they are ready to bite; hut by the time 
I get them they are exhausted. 
“ I have tried dissecting out the poison gland, and inserting 
it under the skin of the thigh of a Fowl. The first was from 
a thin-necked, small-headed snake. The Fowl did not appear 
to be affected at the time, but was found all but dead three 
hours after; and by six hours was quite dead. I tried Pelamis 
bicolor this way, but failed. I am not, however, satisfied with 
this, as I was told that the snake was first brought to my house 
while I was out, and had been biting at sticks and other things 
thrust into its mouth. So I think its poison may have been 
exhausted. 
“Sea snakes are at this season (June) very difficult to obtain. 
In the quieter months of the cold weather, when a great deal 
of fishing goes on, I believe numbers are then caught in drag 
nets ; whereas just now, with high sea and fresh breezes, nothing 
is done, and I have great difficulty in getting fresh specimens. 
“ A good plan for keeping the sea snakes alive is to make 
holes in the wet sand near the sea-water. I was thus able to 
keep one alive all day, and able to bite yesterday evening and 
again this morning. So placed, they must be protected from 
kites and crows by a cover of some kind. 
“ From my little experience of the Hydrophidce, I can say 
that I have not yet seen one which did not kill if it bit fairly. 
Three difficulties I have noticed in the way of a fair bite ; first, 
the inertness of the snake after being removed from its native 
element; second, the extreme difficulty in getting its small 
poison fangs to insert in anything like tough skin; third, the 
feeble power of the jaws of some, from natural conformation 
and from want of muscular action, necessary for full closure, 
and expulsion of the poison. Every snake that was found 
active and able to bite of itself, closing its jaws perceptibly, 
inflicted a fatal wound. Mere pressure of the jaws of dead 
and dying snakes over soft parts, with the view to bring out 
the action of the poison, was in nearly every instance followed 
by no result. 
“ The dissection and insertion of the poison gland was tried 
in two instances—in one death followed after some hours, in the 
other case it was a failure. I have been trying to find out from 
fishermen any peculiarities they know of the Hydrophidce, but 
their statements are seldom the same on two occasions. 
“ I have not been able to hear of any fatal bites from sea 
snakes in fishermen, who dabble so freely in the waters, either 
when fishing with small hand nets near the shore, or in cata¬ 
marans further out. As I said before, many snakes are enclosed 
in deep-sea nets, but these men know their deadly properties, 
and lift them away. 
“ The fact of these men plying about so freely in the water- 
near the surf, and withal escaping being bit, should go far to 
remove the fears of sea-bathers, even though it be more gene¬ 
rally known that they are liable in the enjoyment to be in 
proximity to such deadly neighbours. I have inquired of 
several fishermen, but not one can recollect an instance of auy 
man losing his life in this way. 
“Natives declare that Pelamis is the most deadly of all, and 
refer to their Shastras about it. The boatmen believe that this 
snake bit Mahadeb, and the god, to cool the burning effect of 
the venom, dipped himself in the sea, on which account Juggur- 
nauth (or Maha Problia, as he is also called) banished the 
‘ Kullunder Samp’ ( Pelamis ) beyond the seas. Mahadeb is a 
god worshipped under water, and exposed only once a year. I 
have not had an opportunity of inquiring into this fable from 
the Pundits.” 
In addition to these notes, and the collection of Hydrophidce 
which I have previously acknowledged, Mr. Stewart was kind 
enough to send me some fine specimens of Pelamis bicolor> 
Hydrophis cyanocincta, H. jerdonii, II. curta, II. clitoris, and the 
new species which Dr. Anderson, the Curator of the Indian 
Museum, has named II. fciyreriana. The experiments which 
he performed with these snakes I have already recorded. 
On inquiry from Mr. Graliffe, to whom I was indebted for the 
specimens of II. coronata and Hnhydrina bengcdensis, on the 
subject of bites by these snakes, he says: “ I have inquired 
from the fishermen of any fatal case of snake-bite. In one 
instance a fisherman was bitten by one (‘ Gfhanga Berali’), and 
died in one hour and a half. They speak of three other kinds, 
whose bites, however, are easily cured.” 
Mr. Stewart observes, what has been noticed by others, that 
the Hydrophidce are very delicate, and die soon after being 
captured, even if in their native element. I was astonished 
therefore to find that (as I have already noted, page 25) a fine 
specimen of II. coronata lived for eight or ten days, although 
it was only occasionally placed in ajar of fresh water, the rest 
of the time living in an ordinary cage like other snakes. The 
movements were exceedingly graceful in the water, whilst it 
seemed powerless, stupid, and blind on the land. Its head and 
jaws were exceedingly small, and it was with the greatest diffi¬ 
culty it was made to bite, and then only by compressing its jaws ; 
when, however, it did insert its fangs, small as they were, the 
poison was soon fatal to a Fowl. 
TWENTY-THIRD SERIES. 
On Snake-bite, and on the Protective Influence of Certain Articles 
of Clothing. 
August 12>th, 1870. 
Experiment No. 1. 
A Cobra (“ Bans-buniah Keautiah”) was bitten by a large 
Krait, four feet long, at 12.20. The bite was inflicted on the 
edge of the hood. 
August 20th.—The Cobra is not, nor has been affected. 
Experiment No. 2. 
A Fowl had half a drop of poison freshly taken from the 
Krait, mixed with eight parts of water, injected into its thigh 
at 12.28 p.m. 12.29.—Stands in a dejected attitude, feathers 
staring. 12.35.—Has been lethargic for the last few minutes ; 
eyes closed ; crouched ; head fallen forward, with beak resting 
M M 
