Venomous Caf ó 
Although the west coast ( 
York Peninsula was the first part of 
Australia, as far as we know, to be 
¿Seen by white men, the country behind | 
‚it is even to-day one of the least known | 
` regions of Australia, 
! A huge venomous snake, far big- | 
ger than any venomous snake hitherto 
j known in Australia has just been 
given to the Australian Museum by 
| Mr. H. L. White, of Belltrees, Scone 
(N. S. W.), for whom it was obtained at 
¡Coen by Mr. W. McLennan. It will be 
named after Mr. McLennan, 
This snake, which will be described 
for the first time in the records of the 
| museum, is not only A new species, 
but belongs to à new genus. It 
| raw in color. and at Coen is called 
the brown snake, but is mot closely 
related to the mouse-catching brown 
snake of New South Wales. Its near- 
est relation is probably the black 
| snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus), But 
it has him beaten, both in size and in 
venom, 
"WORST IN. AUSTRALIA” 
The specimen which Mr. McLennan 
secured is 9 feet 6 inches long, but 
inhabitants of Coen talk of snakes 
:10 or 11 feet long The fangs are 
‘nearly twice as long as those of the 
largest death adder. Nothing is known 
about. the nature of its venom, but 
it has an extra large supply, and Mr. 
J. R. Kinghorn, the Museum's snake. 
expert, considers that it is probably 
‚the worst snake in Australia. 
There are, of course, larger 
venomous snakes in other parts of the 
world, such as the king cobra of 
India, the  bushmaster of South 
jAmerica, and some of the banded sea | 
‘snakes. These may grow to 12 or 13 
fcet, but MeLennan's find is &bout half 
as big again as Australia’s previous 
record 
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/ .سس 
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| V^ 
