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AN

ACCOUNT

O F

INDIAN SERPENTS,

COLLECTED ON THE

COAST OF COROMANDEL;

CONTAINING

DESCRIPTIONS AND DRAWINGS

OF EACH SPECIES;

TOGETHER WITH

EXPERIMENTS AND REMARKS

ON THEIR SEVERAL POISONS.

PATRICK RUSSELL, M. D. F. R. S.

PRESENTED TO

THE HON. THE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE

EAST INDIA COMP ANT

AND PUBLISHED BY THEIR ORDER, UNDER THE
SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE AUTHOR.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY W. BULMER AND CO. SHAKSPEARE-PRESS ;

FOR GEORGE NICOL, BOOKSELLER TO HIS MAJESTY,

PALL-MALL.

1796.

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TO

THE HON. THE COURT OF DIRECTORS

OF THE

EAST INDIA COMPANY,

SIR STEPHEN LUSHINGTON, BART. CHAIRMAN,
DAVID SCOTT, ESO. DEPUTY,

SIR FRANCIS BARING, BART.

JACOB BOSANOUET, ESO.

JOSEPH COTTON, ESO.

ARCH. MONTGOMERY CAMPBELL, ESO.
SIR LIONEL DARELL, BART.

WILLIAM DEVAYNES, ESO.

THOMAS FITZHUGH, ESO.

SIMON FRASER, ESO.

CHARLES GRANT, ESO.

HUGH INGLIS, ESO.

JAMES IRWIN, ESQ.

P. LE MESURIER, ESQ. AND ALDERMAN.
JOHN MANSHIP, ESQ.

THOMAS THEOPH. METCALFE, ESQ.
CHARLES MILLS, ESO.

THOMAS PARRY, ESO.

ABRAHAM ROBARTS, ESQ.

JOHN ROBERTS, ESQ.

GEORGE SMITH, ESO.

GEORGE TATEM, ESO.

ROBERT THORNTON, ESQ.

JOHN TOWNSON, ESQ.

LHE FOLLOWING WORK,

INTENDED PRINCIPALLY FOR THE USE AND BENEFIT OF

THE COMPANY’S ESTABLISHMENTS IN INDIA,

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THEIR

MOST OBEDIENT, AND

MOST HUMBLE SERVANT,

London ,
April 2 , 1 7 9 6.

PATRICK RUSSELL,

PREFACE

Few branches of the Natural History of the East Indies, have been less cultivated in the
Company’s establishments abroad, than that of Serpents. It must be acknowledged, that it offers
no attractive allurements; and that those who, from other avocations, can only spare transient
attention to subjects of Natural History, are more likely to prefer objects less disgusting, and
experiments accompanied with less cruelty, and personal danger. Even the eager and resolute
Naturalist has to contend with many difficulties in this path of research. He cannot, at once,
divest himself of the abhorrence, next to innate, of these reptiles; nor can he soon acquire a dex¬
terity in handling them, with that calmness requisite for his own safety. The search for plants,
for birds, or even insects, is comparatively pastime, or pleasurable occupation; but in the ac¬
tual pursuit of the disgusting race of serpents, he stands in need of assistants who are not, at all
times, to be procured; and if he relies solely on the diligence of such as he may employ, he
will find himself exposed to the chagrin of incessant disappointment. Nor is this all: to a
stranger not acquainted with the languages of Hindostan, the difficulty of obtaining local in¬
formation, is often increased by the stupidity of menial interpreters; the curiosity, at the same
time, of the Gentoos, extends little beyond the limits of their ordinary concerns; they are na¬
turally credulous; and have a strong propensity to the marvellous.

That less ardent, or mere casual curiosity, should have been damped amid so many discou¬
ragements, will not appear surprising; nor that their influence should have extended even to
the province of the medical gentlemen abroad, to which researches into physiology more pecu¬
liarly belong. The effect of such influence, however, will hardly be doubted, when, after the
opportunities of observation in a course of two Centuries, the medical history of symptoms
consequent to the bite of serpents, remains in a state not less defective, than the natural history
of the reptiles themselves.

Yet, it is not to be supposed that a subject of such interesting importance in that country,
has been altogether neglected. There are many of the gentlemen long resident abroad, who re¬
collect (however imperfectly,) circumstances attending accidents, which happened within their
own knowledge; and I heard, when in India, of several who had formerly dedicated some lei¬
sure hours to experiments on serpents. But it is to be lamented that the scattered information
has never been collected; and that the result of experiments, together with accidental disco¬
veries, have not been recorded in a manner to preserve them for the benefit of posterity.

When allowance is made for those who return to their native country, and for those who find
their graves in India, the European inhabitants of the British settlements may be said to undergo
a total change once in twenty-five years: that is, very few, at the termination of such a period,
shall be found remaining in the country, who lived in it at the beginning. The change, it is true,
though completed periodically, is produced gradually; and other sorts of knowledge, as well as
commercial, may be maintained by oral communication: but Natural History is, at best, very
imperfectly transmitted by tradition. What finds its way from one era to another, usually arrives
encumbered with accumulated errors; while corrections, or discoveries, if not committed to
writing, perish with the individuals by whom they were made: hence each era has, as it were,
to set out anew, deriving little, if any, advantage from the experience of preceding times.

This, and similar considerations, first suggested the idea of collecting and describing the
serpents found on the coast of Coromandel.

The terror occasioned by those numerous reptiles, is immoderately aggravated by the indis¬
criminate apprehension of all being poisonous. To distinguish, therefore, those that are really
so, from such (by far the greater number,) as are harmless, becomes a matter next in import¬
ance to the discovery of a remedy against their poison.

When it is determined whether the reptile be poisonous or innocuous, the next requisite is,
that it should be so defined, as to obviate the chance of being confounded with any other
species, under whatsoever name that species may be known in different places; and the most

VI

PREFACE.

likely mode of effecting this, is by accurate drawings and descriptions, taken from living, or
from recent subjects.

The identity of the species being properly ascertained, it naturally follows to make trials on
various animals, in order to discover the effect of its bite. Experiments of this kind chiefly
respect poisonous serpents; though they ought not to be confined to such only: mischievous
qualities are, by the natives, imputed to snakes, which anatomical inspection demonstrates to
be not furnished with a poisonous apparatus; yet the imputation had better be opposed by
experiment, than by theoretical reasoning, however specious. The poisonous serpents, never¬
theless, are the principal subjects of experiment, as from the effects of their poison on brutes,
probable conjectures may be formed concerning their effects on the human species; and it is
also probable that the same remedies may be nearly of equal service to both. But an object, of
all others the most important, was to collect a medical account of the disease, arising from the
poison of serpents, as it appears in the human subject; and of the most effectual remedies em¬
ployed in the cure.

The successful prosecution of a scheme in its nature so extensive, required more than the
exertions of a private individual. Information was to be solicited from those to whom I was a
stranger; for I had the honour to be known to a few only of the gentlemen resident at the
different settlements. It was therefore judged advisable, in the first instance, to communicate
the design to the Governor of Madras. This being accordingly done in an explanatory Memoir,
the design met with entire approbation ; the Memoir was ordered to be printed, and, together
with the recommendation of the Board, to be transmitted to the several subordinate settlements.

It is but justice, on this occasion, to acknowledge, that the willingness to lend assistance,
expressed in return from all quarters, proved a powerful incitement to prosecute my design;
while specimens received from different parts, enriched my collection with some that were
unknown in the Vizagapatam district.

As to accurate information concerning the morbid appearances consequent to the bite of ser¬
pents, as well as regarding the manifest effects of remedies, what it was in my power to glean,
fell far short of expectation; and showed clearly, that little improvement in either respect was
to be looked for, until these reptiles were better distinguished, and more universally known.
Nor is it to be wondered, if imperfect descriptions, and the vague application of vulgar names,
should occasion frequent mistakes. A harmless snake is often supposed to be one highly noxious;
the person bitten is tortured by imaginary terrors; and frivolous remedies, gaining credit for
cures, where no malady existed, are unhappily relied on in cases of real danger. It may further
be remarked, that unless the usual course of the disease be ascertained, from close and extensive
observation, the effects of medicines are in perpetual hazard of being confounded with the mor¬
bid symptoms in their natural progression ; the degree of danger indicated by any combination
of symptoms must remain doubtful; and, consequently, the merit of remedies can never be
justly estimated.

The present work contains Descriptions of Forty-three Serpents, illustrated with coloured
Engravings.—Experiments on the effects of their bites;—Experiments on several remedies;—
Miscellaneous Experiments and Remarks; with a few Observations on the apparatus provided
by Nature for preparing and instilling the poisons. The experiments are distributed in eight
Sections, under their respective titles. The descriptions being calculated less for the professed
naturalist, than for the service of gentlemen in India, not conversant in such matters, a few
preliminary explanations will not be deemed impertinent.

Serpents, according to the Linnsean arrangement, are placed in the second order of amphi¬
bious animals; but of the six genera of which that class consists, three only are to be found in
the present collection, viz. the Boa, Coluber, and Anguis.

The Boa is distinguished by scuta on the under part of the tail, as well as on the belly; that

PREFACE.

vn

is, by sub-caudal and abdominal scuta. The Coluber, like the Boa, is furnished with abdomi¬
nal scuta; but on the under part of the tail, instead of scuta, it has sub-caudal squamae, which
resemble scuta divided in the middle, and, in reckoning their number, are counted by pairs.
In distinction to ordinary scales, the sub-caudal squamae have, by some, not unaptly, been
termed scutellae. The Anguis has neither scuta nor scutellae; being, in general, covered uni¬
versally with uniform scales.

These three genera are readily distinguished by their respective characters; but manv diffe¬
rent serpents are so exactly alike in their shape and form, that it is very difficult to define the
specific differences with tolerable precision.

I have, throughout the descriptions, adhered to the usual practice of counting the scuta and
squamae separately, as well as jointly; though not unaware how considerably the number
varies in subjects of the same species: in the Cobra cle Capello, for example, the variation is
found to be eighteen or twenty.

The shape of the head; the shape and site of the eyes and nostrils; the form and dimensions
of the trunk and the tail; the size, form, and arrangement of the scales; have all been parti¬
cularly mentioned in the descriptions, though in a number of different species, very little, if
any, variation is observable.

The number of laminae of the head, in the species, is constantly the same, and the variation
in shape not considerable; but the number, as well as shape, are so exactly the same in many
different species, as renders both, at best, only vague marks of distinction.

Colour, spots, bands, and fillets, in living, or recent subjects, appear to be distinctive marks
the least subject to variation. The difficulty, however, of describing these precisely, in words,
leaves it always desirable to have coloured drawings from the living reptile: for it should be
remarked, that the colours of snakes (though not so rapidly as in fish) are very apt to fade soon
after death, and in time to suffer great change from the spirits employed for the preservation of
specimens.

The poisonous serpents are sufficiently distinguished by their fangs; which, in the living
animal, when held properly by the neck, or irritated, are readily enough discerned; though
not always so easily, in their recumbent state, or in the dead subject. But the want of a row of
teeth in the upper jaw, found in that of all harmless serpents, serves also as a criterion, even
where the fangs have purposely been eradicated, or lost by accident.

The ordinary teeth, or holders, common to all serpents, are nearly of the same shape ; curve,
reflex, and sharp: but they vary in size and number, in different species.

In serpents not venomous, there are three rows of common teeth in the upper jaw; one ex¬
terior, and two interior: the former, I have, in the descriptions, termed marginal; the latter,
though in reality fixed in the jaw bone, I have, from their apparent situation in the undissected
head, termed palatal.

The palatal teeth, in a venomous serpent, are exhibited in the anatomical PlateXLV.; where
the space occupied by the marginal row in the jaw of a harmless serpent, appears to be filled
up by the poisonous fangs, and the sacs which envelop them.

As the marginal row is invariably found in serpents not venomous, and the palatal rows are
found in all serpents whatever, the constant repetition in the descriptions, respecting the teeth,
might have been obviated by a general remark. But the subjects were examined at different
times, while I was ignorant that poisonous serpents had no marginal row: for it was not till
after my return from India, that I had the pleasure of finding the result, on a comparison with
my own descriptions, accord exactly with the discovery communicated to the Royal Society in
1 7 88 , by Dr. Gray, who had examined above one hundred and fifty specimens of serpents in the
British Museum. The only exception I have met with to the general rule, was in a poisonous
Bt>a, in which three ordinary teeth are found placed singularly in the upper jaw: and this ano¬
maly, as it prevented my making alteration in transcribing my own original descriptions, has
led me to wish that the common teeth should be particularly attended to, in the future exami¬
nation of Indian serpents.

PREFACE.

« • e

Vlll

In regard to the experiments, little need be added in way of preface, to what will be found
in the respective Sections.

The sixth Section contains some experiments on caustics, and other remedies applied to brutes:
as also an account of an Indian remedy, in high credit in the Carnatic. Mention is made
likewise of remedies, in which, not having tried them myself, I have done little more than re¬
fer to the authors by whom they have been recommended.

The seventh Section treats of the effects of poisonous bites on the human species. Qualified,
on this head, to offer very little from my own experience, it would have been satisfactory to
have had it in my power to collect more from the experience of others. The few cases I have
produced, and for which I am indebted to friends, will, I trust, be deemed valuable ; and it is
hoped may prove an inducement to future communications. A complete medical description
of the disease, in the human body, consequent to the bite of serpents, is a long lamented deside¬
ratum in physic, which gentlemen in India have it much in their power to assist in supplying.
What I have, in this Section, taken the liberty of suggesting on the subject, to the Faculty in that
country, I am persuaded runs no risk of being construed, in any degree, as presuming to dictate.

The eighth Section contains miscellaneous experiments on serpents; together with some
remarks on their poisonous organs. But a more scientific description of these organs, is reserved
for the Explanation of the Anatomical Plates, by Mr. Everard Home, to whose friendship I am
indebted for the dissection (in a manner I was unequal to) of several snakes’ heads, brought on
purpose from India; and who enhanced the obligation, by taking upon himself the care of
correcting the drawings, as well as the engravings of both Plates.

From the Prospectus now given of the present publication, it will appear, that a part only of
the projected design has been executed. It would have been very flattering to the Author, to
have had it in his power to offer the work in a more complete state ; yet, as a first essay towards
the improvement of a branch of Zoology, peculiarly interesting to the country where the expe¬
riments were made, he flatters himself that, so far as he has been able to execute, will be received
with indulgence. Errors, whether in the construction of the plan, or in the mode hitherto of
conducting it, will admit of correction in future; for he indulges the hope, that the plan will not
only continue to be prosecuted on the coast of Coromandel, but, in time, will be so extended
as to comprehend the entire tribe of Indian serpents.

Arrived at an age which admits only of a faint prospect of living to see his wish fulfilled,
the Author still retains sufficient vigour of mind, not to despair of its future accomplishment.
The universal inclination to contribute assistance which he experienced abroad, he regards as
a strong ground of confidence; the propitious disposition of the Direction at home, as a still
stronger. For not to mention instances of prior date, in respect to History, Geography, Astro¬
nomy, and Philology, the present Work is the second on Natural History, which, within these
eighteen months, owes its public appearance to the liberality of the Court of Directors: and
there is no reason to doubt the continuation of the same favourable disposition.

In the mean time, while a prosperous state of the Company’s affairs, ensures the national re¬
spect for the administration by which their commercial concerns have been so successfully con¬
ducted ; the Literary world will pay its tribute of gratitude for the attention spared to the concerns
of Science. A certain prospect of meeting with approbation at home, must naturally conduce to
invigorate that active spirit for research, already disseminated in the Company’s territories; and
it is to be hoped, that the Asiatic Society of Bengal, though lately depressed by the irreparable
loss of its much lamented founder, will persist in emulating the example he set, of indefatigable
application to a variety of liberal pursuits, for the instruction of the Western world: all circum¬
stances conspiring, by a fortunate combination, to distinguish the latter half of the eighteenth
Century, as a splendid era in the annals of the East India Company.

April 2 d, 1796.

MEMOIR

OF

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS

OF

PATRICK RUSSELL,

M.D. F.R.S.

Dr. Russell having died while the publication of his Account of Indian Serpents was
going forward, the following short Account of his Life has, in compliance with the
wishes of some of his intimate friends, been drawn up from the most authentic sources,
to accompany the last fasciculus of that work.

Dr. Patrick Russell was a younger son of John Russell, Esq.* of Braidshaw in Mid
Lothian, a writer to the Signet, by his third wife, Mary, daughter of the Reverend Mr.
Anderson, minister at West Calder. He was born at Edinburgh on the 6th of February,
1726 (0. S.). He received the rudiments of his classical education at the High School of
that city ; and he studied at the University there several years.*

* Dr. Fothergill, in an “ Essay on the Character of the late Alexander Russell, M. D. of which a few copies were
printed in London in 1770, and subjoined to a collection of his works, Lond. 1782, mentions that Mr. John Russell, his
father, was a person of great eminence as a lawyer in the city of Edinburgh, and singularly happy in having seven of
his sons, that lived to be men, not one of whom, by misbehaving, ever gave him cause of a moment’s disquietude ; but,
on the contrary, by the just reputation they acquired, made all good men rejoice that he had such a family, and so emi¬
nently distinguished by so many good qualities.” In a note upon this passage, written by Mr. William Russell, it is
added, that “ so judicious was the plan of education adopted by Mr. John Russell, that in bringing up a large family of
boys, he never, even in one instance, found it necessary to inflict a punishment, or even to use a harsh expression. He
was never seen to be angry. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-six, retaining his cheerfulness and faculties to
the last.”

All the children of the first marriage died in infancy; their mother died in 1705 ; and of nine, the issue by the
second wife, three only arrived at manhood: I. John , of Roseburn, writer to the Signet, F. R. S. Edin. (one of the ori¬
ginal members and founders of that society. See Prof.Dug Stewart’s Life of Robertson), author of “ the Forms of Process
in the Court of Session and Court of Teinds,” Edinb. 1768 ; and of “ the Theory of Conveyancing,” Edin. 1788.—
II. William , secretary to the Levant Company, F. R. S. Treasurer to the R. S. (Mulgrave’s Voyage to the North Pole,
p. 97. Bruce’s Travels, Introd. pp. vii. lix. Ixii.) and III Alexander , M.D F.R.S. (Lettsom’s Memoirs of Fothergill.
Fothergill’s “ Essay on the Character of Alexander Russell,” 4to. 1770.), author of the Natural History of ALppo,
4to. 1756.

The seven children ol the third marriage were all sons. The eldest of those who reached manhood were, IV. David ,
solicitor and accomptant in Edinburgh. V. Patrick, the subject of this Memoir. VI. Claud , chief at Vizagapatam, in
the Honourable East India Company Civil-Service (Dalrymple’s Oriental Repertory, Vol. I. pp. 49. 96, 255.). And VII.
Baljour , M.D. who was appointed physician to the factory of Algiers, but died before he could reach his destination.

X

MEMOIR OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF

Dr. Alexander Russell, an elder brother, had been for a considerable time in Turkey,
as physician to the English factory at Aleppo. Dr. Patrick joined him there in 17 50,
and lived with him for several years. During this time, he applied himself with great
diligence, and with remarkable success, to the acquisition of the different languages of
Syria.

In 1 7 5 5 Dr. Alexander Russell left Aleppo on his return to Britain, and his brother
Patrick succeeded him as physician to the British factory.

In this situation, Dr. Patrick Russell’s affable and engaging disposition soon rendered
him as much beloved as his predecessor had been. It endeared him not less to the Turks,
than to the resident Europeans. Flis medical attentions were equally as conspicuous to
the natives of all ranks, as to the gentlemen belonging to the English factory. Such was
the esteem he was held in by the Bashaw of Aleppo, that he was honoured with the
privilege of wearing a turban ; there considered as a signal mark of distinction to an
European, and one which is seldom conferred.

Although his professional labours occupied much of his time, and were attended, in
that climate, with great personal fatigue, his ardent attachment to the study of natural
history incited him to snatch every opportunity for such investigations. Fie occasionally
transmitted communications on their results to his friends in Britain,

Dr. Alexander having, in 1 7 56, published his Natural History of Aleppo, sent a copy
to his successor, with an earnest request that he would collect and send home additional
information. To Dr. Patrick’s own predilection for such studies, was thus superadded the
powerful motive of gratifying a brother, to whom he was bound by ties of esteem and
gratitude, as well as affection. For many years, therefore, did he continue regularly to
correspond with his brother on scientific subjects connected with the history of Syria, and
to collect and transmit authentic information on a great variety of topics/in the view of
correcting and enlarging a second edition of the Natural History of Aleppo.

In 17 59 several remarkable shocks of an earthquake occurred in Syria. Of the phe¬
nomena attending these, and of their consequences, Dr. Russell gave a particular account
in letters to his brother Alexander. These letters were published in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1760.*

Aleppo, it is well known, is liable to that calamitous epidemic, the plague. When the
first symptoms of that scourge of human nature at any time appeared, far from shutting
himself up, as was customary with Europeans, Dr. Russell remained calm and collected, and
displayed a steady perseverance in the discharge of his duty, which could result only from
the guidance of a beneficent, courageous, and well regulated mind. After communicating
to the English Consul instructions in writing for the observance of those attached to the
English factory, he used to take leave of all his friends, who, at his express desire, shut
themselves up within the limits of the factory, and did not suffer the least intercourse to
be had with them. At the most imminent risk did Dr. Russell then apply himself to the
treatment of the diseased. If he was not able to arrest the progress of the malady, he had
thus at least the best opportunities of investigating its nature, watching its symptoms, and
trying the effects of various powerful medicines, and different modes of treatment. The
correct and extensive information which he acquired by experience in this most hazard¬
ous manner, during several successive visitations of the plague in 1760, 61, and 63, qua¬
lified h im in a peculiar manner for writing a history of that direful distemper ; an advan¬
tage of which he happily survived long afterwards to avail himself.

* Vol. LI. Part II. p. 529 .

PATRICK RUSSELL, M. D.

xi

After a residence of about twenty years at Aleppo, he resolved to revisit his native
country. He travelled chiefly over land ; and he rendered his journey through Italy and
France interesting and useful, not only to himself, but eventually to his countrymen, by
minutely examining all the principal lazarettos in those countries, and inquiring into
their regulations, and general management. The proper care of the sick in all public hos¬
pitals was always a subject he had much at heart.

Soon after his return to England in 17 72, he went to Edinburgh, where he remained
some time, having views of settling as a physician in that city. Afterwards, however, by
the advice of the late Dr. Fothergill, (who was always in habits of intimate friendship
with him, as well as with his elder brother,) he removed to London, on account of the
wider sphere it offered for professional exertion.

In London he remained till the latter end of the year 17 81, when affection for his bro¬
ther, Mr. Claud Russell, whose precarious state of health at that time required constant
and particular attention, induced him to sacrifice his flattering prospects in the capital, and
accompany his brother to the East Indies.

There he resided principally at Vizagapatam, his brother having been appointed to the
highest office in that settlement. His time and attention were, in a great measure, devoted to
the natural history of that country, which had been hitherto little explored. Dr. Koenig, in¬
deed, (whom Dr. Russell met in June, 1 7 82, atTranquebar, on the Coast of Coromandel), had
for some year? been employed by the Honourable the East India Company in the botanical
department: and Dr. Russell has, in a Preface which he wrote to the first fasciculus of
Coromandel Plants, born ample testimony to the zeal and success of that botanist.* On
Dr. Koenig’s death at Jagrenatporum, in June, 1 7 85, the Governor of Madras communi¬
cated to Dr. Russell, in very flattering terms, his wish that he should accept of the ap¬
pointment of Botanist or Naturalist to the Company. Fortunately for science, the Doctor
accepted the offer, through the persuasion of his brother, Mr. Claud Russell. This was in
November, 1 7 85. During the three following years Dr. Russell was indefatigable in his
researches, turning to the best account the facilities afforded by his appointment, not con¬
fining his attention to the vegetable kingdom, but eagerly collecting, figuring, and de¬
scribing the Fishes and the Serpents of the country.

In the botanical department, he began by submitting to the Governor of Madras an
extensive plan for acquiring information concerning such plants of the country as are put
to any economical use. He proposed that letters should issue from the highest authority,
inviting the gentlemen, particularly of the medical department, resident at the different
stations, to transmit every information in their power concerning such useful plants,
accompanied with specimens of each plant, including the leaf, flower, and fruit, with a
view to publication. This plan having met with the sanction both of the Madras Go¬
vernment and of the Medical Board, was immediately commenced.

It is well known that serpents are numerous in the East Indies, and that the bite of
some species produces the most direful effects. With the humane view of enabling any
one, though not a naturalist, to distinguish a poisonous from a harmless serpent, and
thereby relieve the anxious doubts and fears of many who might happen to be bitten, he,
in the end of the year 1 7 87, drew up a distinct description of the peculiar organs to be
observed in the mouth of a poisonous serpent, illustrated with figures. These descriptions
and figures were published by order of the Government of Madras, and copies transmitted

* John Gerard Koenig was, it is believed, a native of Courland. He was a pupil of the illustrious Linnaeus. He visited
Iceland in 1765 ; and Linnaeus named a curious little plant discovered in that remote island, in honour of him, Koenigm
Icelandica.

Xll

MEMOIR OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF

to the subordinate settlements and military stations, to be dispersed for general informa¬
tion. One of the most obvious marks of discrimination is, that a poisonous serpent has
no row of teeth in the upper jaw, which, on the other hand, a harmless serpent invariably
possesses.

It may not be improper to retention here, that about this time, the secret of a remedy
long in use among the natives for the bite of venomous and rabid animals, and generally
known by the name of the Tanjore pill , was purchased by the Madras Government from
a Brahmin. Besides arsenic and mercury, the medicine was found, upon analysis, to
contain one or two unknown ingredients. Having procured parcels of these last, under
the Malabar and Gentoo names, Dr. Russell himself made up a considerable quantity of
the pills, carefully employing the prescribed proportions of each ingredient. These
pills were distributed to the different settlements, with directions to the medical gentlemen,
to report their effects, as occasions should occur. From Dr. Russell’s own experience,
as well as from some interesting communications by Mr. Duffin, then surgeon at Vellore,
it appears that this remedy has often proved fallacious, both in cases of the bite of snakes
and of mad dogs : still however Dr. Russell, while he admitted that its “ efficacy was a
matter of difficult discussion,” was inclined to think favourably of it, and to encourage
hopes that further experience might confirm its good character.

Dr. Russell occasionally employed himself, while in India, in arranging the ample
and valuable materials concerning the plague, which he had long before collected in
Syria. In 1 7 87 he sent home a fair copy of his labours, and solicited the friendly revisal
of his eminent literary cotemporaries, Dr. William Robertson, Dr. Adam Ferguson, Dr.
Adam Smith.

Among various incidental communications transmitted to Britain, we shall only
mention that, in 1 7 88, he sent to Sir Joseph Banks an account of the Tabasheer , or gritty
matter found in the hollow stem of the bamboo, and which is supposed in India to be
possessed of extraordinary virtues. He sent also specimens of this substance, which
were laid before the Royal Society in March, 1 790. It was analyzed by Mr. Made, F. R. S.
and found to consist nearly of pure silex.*

In January, 1 7 89, Dr. Russell embarked for England with his brother and family.
He at this time deposited his collection of specimens of fishes, and his Indian herbarium,
in the Company’s Museum at Madras.

In 1791 his Treatise on the Plague appeared in two volumes quarto. In this valuable
work, he first gives an account of the plagues at Aleppo, in the years 1 7 60, 1 761, and
17 62 ; then a medical account of the disease ; this is followed by essays on pestilential
contagion, on quarantines, and on lazarettos ; with remarks on the police to be observed
in the time of the plague: several interesting cases of patients labouring under the disease
are given in detail; and a register of the weather during the pestilential season is sub-

It has already been mentioned that Dr. Alexander Russell had projected a new edition
of his History of Aleppo, and had applied to Dr. Patrick Russell for information on
various topics. Dr. Alexander died, however, in 1 768, without having accomplished
this intention, although he had collected a considerable quantity of new, and valuable
materials. “ The prosecution of his brother’s plan forcibly struck Dr. Patrick Russell,

“ i n the light of a debt due to friendship; ”+ on this delicate principle he declined to
follow the advice of Dr. Robertson, and some other eminent literary friends, who wished

* Phil. Trans. 1791.

+ Preface to 2d. Edit. p. vi.

PATRICK RUSSELL, M.D.

Xlll

him to make a separate publication of his own observations in Syria. In 1794, there¬
fore, he published in two volumes quarto, “ the Natural History of Aleppo, by Alex-
“ ander Russell, M. D, the second edition ; revised, enlarged, and illustrated with notes, by
“ Patrick Russell, M. D. F.R. S.” The truth however is, that the book was not only
‘'new modelled,” as mentioned by Dr. Patrick himself, in the Preface, but many emenda¬
tions were made, and very large additions were introduced by him, under the modest
title of “ Editor.”

It was above stated, that Dr. Russell had received the sanction of the Government of
Madras, to his favourite undertaking of preparing drawings and descriptions of the useful
plants of Coromandel. His plan, with a list of the plants he had selected to begin with,
was not only honoured with the approbation of the Honourable Court of Directors at
home, but (with a liberality becoming the first mercantile Company in the world, and
which has at all times induced them to encourage whatever has appeared calculated to
promote science in the East) they resolved to provide for the publictiaon, in the most
splendid style, of such figures and descriptions as should be sent home ; and at the same
time requested the Right Honourable Sir Joseph Banks, to take the general superinten¬
dance of the whole: this gentleman, with his well known zeal in all matters of science,
kindly undertook the task. Before advice of this favourable disposition of the Court of
Directors could reach India, Dr. Russell had embarked (as already mentioned) on his re¬
turn to Britain. “ The task, however,” as he himself observes in the Preface, “ fell for¬
tunately into hands well qualified for carrying it into execution.” He here alludes to
Dr. William Roxburgh. Between the years 1790 and 1 795, that gentleman transmitted
about five hundred specimens, with drawings and descriptions, from India. Dr. Russell,
according to his own very modest account, “ lent his assistance in correcting the letter-
press of the Descriptions.” The Preface was from his own pen. Eight fasciculi have
been already published, under the title of “ Plants of the Coast of Coromandel, from
Drawings and Descriptions presented to the Honourable Court of Directors by William
Roxburgh, M.D. published by their Order, under the Direction of Sir Joseph Banks,
Bart. P. R. S.

In 1 799, the Privy Council of Great Britain, alarmed by reports that the Plague had
broke out in the Levant, resolved to adopt measures to prevent the infection being
brought into this country. They appointed a Committee to draw up quarantine regula¬
tions, and to report their opinion and advice as to the permanent measures of precaution
which ought in future to be adopted. The celebrity of Dr. Russell’s Treatise on the
Plague naturally led to his being asked to lend his assistance to the Committee. This he
cheerfully granted; and in his attention to this piece of public business he was indefati¬
gable. The regulations approved of by a majority of the Committee did not, in Dr.
Russell’s opinion, go far enough: he judged more strict and rigorous prophylactic mea¬
sures to be necessary; and he was not singular in his opinion : his reasons of dissent were

signed also by Sir Lucas Pepys, and, with the exception of one paragraph, by--

Boone, Esq. This dissent accompanied the final Report of the Committee in March, 1 800,
and was printed along with it. It may be considered as a valuable document, highly
interesting to this country. By some strange oversight, the important and solicited ser¬
vices which Dr. Russell at this time gratuitously rendered to his country, were never
acknowledged even by a letter of thanks, although the Doctor was the only member of
the Committee who did not hold some official situation under Government.

Previous to his appointment as Naturalist to the India Company, Dr. Russell, as before

XIV

MEMOIR OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF

observed, had made considerable progress in collecting snakes, and making experiments
on the effects of their bites :—a branch of natural history hitherto little understood or
attended to, and to many, from the appearance of the animals, exceedingly disgusting and
terrific. He continued his researches with unwearied zeal; and after his return home, the
Honourable Court of Directors took upon themselves the expense of publishing coloured
figures of the Snakes, accompanied with descriptions by Dr. Russell. The first volume
was completed and published in 1 796, under the title of “ An Account of Indian Serpents
collected on the Coast of Coromandel, containing Descriptions and Drawings of each
species; together with Experiments and Remarks on their several Poisons, by Patrick
Russell, M. D. F. R. S. presented to the Honourable Court of Directors of the India Com¬
pany, and published by their Order, under the Superintendance of the Author.” The
first and second fasciculus of the second volume were published under the Doctor’s eye,
in 1801 and 1802.

It was before stated, that when on the Coast of Coromandel, Dr. Russell had paid par¬
ticular attention to the fishes caught there, and had deposited his collection of specimens
in the Company’s Museum at Madras. The drawings and descriptions of these he carried
with him to Britain, and presented to the Court of Directors ; and in 1803 there appeared,
in two large and elegant volumes folio, “ Descriptions and Figures of Two Hundred
Fishes, collected at Vizagapatam, by Patrick Russell, M. D. and published by Order of
the Court of Directors, under the Superintendance of the Author.”

In 1804, he had laid before the Royal Society, " “ Remarks on the voluntary expansion
of the skin of the neck of the Cobra de Capella, or Hooded Snake.” His friend, Everard
Home, Esq. surgeon, added a description of the structure of the parts which perform the
office of expansion.+

Dr. Russell died in London on the 2d ofjuly. 1805, after a short illness of three days.

Dr. Russell was never married. He named Sir Hugh Inglis, Bart, and Josias Dupree
Porcher, Esq. along with his brother Claud, to be his executors. In a paper addressed to
them, he gave particular instructions as to his funeral, which, as exhibiting a trait of his
character, is here inserted : “ It is my request to be interred in the nearest burial ground,
in the most private manner that custom will permit, but not be deposited within the walls
of any place dedicated to public worship.”

In strict conformity with these directions, he was interred 6th July, in Mary-le-bone
burying-ground, in presence of a few of his intimate friends. It may be remarked, that
Dr. Russell having taken many opportunities of reprobating the practice of burying in
churches, as useless to the dead, and prejudicial to the living, thus gave a last practical
testimony against the custom ; and in the privacy which he requested, may be traced the
habitual humility of his mind.

In his library the Executors found a sealed parcel, containing books directed for the
British Museum, which was accordingly sent unopened to that national repository. In
obedience to special instructions, a Botanical Cabinet, consisting chiefly of Indian plants,
was transmitted to the University of Edinburgh ; and a considerable collection of speci¬
mens of serpents, including all those received from India after his return home (many
of which his sudden death prevented him from describing), was deposited in the Honour¬
able Company’s Museum at the India House.

* Phil. Trans, for 1805.

+ The only other works of Dr. Russell, not here enumerated, are, a paper in the Transactions of a Society for the
improvement of Medical and Chirurgical Knowledge, London, 1800, giving an account of two cases ot Small-pox and
Measles existing in the same person at the same time; and one of an ague in a child in utero.

PATRICK RUSSELL, M. D.

xv

The reputation of Dr. Russell in the literary and scientific world has been established
by the various publications which have been mentioned. In zeal for the advancement of
natural knowledge he could not be surpassed. While he paid due attention to the descrip¬
tion and nomenclature of plants and of animals, he never failed to attend also to their
peculiar habits, and to the useful purposes, if any, to which they might be applied. The
discrimination of noxious from harmless serpents, was a service done, not merely to
science in general, but to every individual who has occasion to visit tropical climates.
Dr. Russell’s writings are remarkable for perspicuity of style, and unaffected simplicity.
His unassuming manner of expressing himself, serves only to engage the reader to rely
more implicitly on what he says, and convince him of his scrupulous integrity.

In private life he was a most affectionate relative ; and many still alive can testify the
warmth and zeal of his friendship. He was a lively and agreeable companion, gentle in
his manners, and liberal in his ideas ; close in argument, and occasionally strong in cen¬
sure. In his person he was rather above the middle stature, with a very expressive coun¬
tenance, and an uncommonly penetrating eye." In his address he was polite ; and in his
ordinary conversation he displayed a pleasant vivacity. He was remarkable for cheer¬
fulness of temper; and this happy disposition continued to the last, although a defect in
hearing had unluckily for some years encreased so much as to deprive him in a great
measure of the enjoyment of society. Many of his familiar letters written from abroad,
and in possession of his relations in Scotland, are highly interesting and amusing : they
are pictures of his conversation; often exhibiting a lively imagination, with a witty play¬
fulness of thought and expression.

Since Dr. Russell’s death, the third fasciculus of the second volume on Indian Serpents
has been published (1807) from manuscripts prepared for the press by himself. The
fourth fasciculus, which completes the second volume, derived chiefly from the same
source, is now presented to the public.

November, 1809.

• The Portrait which accompanies this account, is taken from a picture by Mr. Vartlet of Bath, when the Doctor was
in his 55th year, and now in the possession of his brother, Mr. Claud Russell.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

No. L
BOA.

A bdomincd Scuta 2 0 9 'I

[256.

Sub-caudal Scuta 47 J

Called by the natives Gedi Paragoodoo, and Pakta Poola.

The head , a very little broader than the neck, small, ovate, roundish, depressed above;
the rostrum compressed, obtuse. The principal laminae, or plates, covering the head, are
ten in number, besides some smaller behind. The lamina, in front of the rostrum, triangular;
the anterior pair (between the nostrils,) roundish; the next pair nearly of the same form,
but larger; of the three between the eyes, the central, broad shield-form; the lateral, oblong-
lunulate; the large posterior pair, semi-cordate, bordered by four small laminae: the scales
on the occiput, small, orbicular.

The mouth middle size; the lower jaw shorter than the upper. The teeth in the lower
jaw fewer than in the upper, small, sharp, reflex; in the upper, two interior, or palatal
rows, regular, numerous, equal, but (as constantly observed in venomous serpents,) no
exterior, or marginal row." The fangs, or poisoning teeth, remarkably slender and short,
one on each side emergent from the sac: there sometimes are two ; but always small, in pro¬
portion to the size of the animal.

The eyes lateral, small, orbicular. The nostrils close to the point of the rostrum, large,
open.

The trunk , round, nearly of equal thickness from the neck to within four or five inches
of the tail; circumference, where thickest, about two inches and a half. Scales ovate, close,
imbricate; but on the middle of the back and the tail, they are orbicular, and larger.

The length , from the point of the rostrum to the end of the tail, two feet five inches.f The
tail, tapering gradually, ends in a sharp point, and measures only four inches.

It should be recollected that serpents not venomous, have three rows of common teeth, or holders, in the upper jaw; one
exterior, or marginal, and two interior, situated, seemingly, in the palate: but in venomous serpents, this marginal row is
wanting. Wherever, therefore, a marginal row of teeth is found in the upper jaw, it is in vain to search for fangs: on the
other hand, where the two interior rows can only be discovered, it is a strong presumption of the existence of poisoning organs,
although fangs are absent, (which may happen by accident,) or cannot easily be detected without dissection.

+ In order to avoid repetition, it may be proper to observe here, that in speaking of the length of the animal, the tail is
always included : though in general, the length of the tail is mentioned separately afterwards.

2

DESCRIPTION OF

The colour, a very dark blue, brightening a little in certain lights, while in others it
appears almost black: but the trunk and part of the tail, are variegated by cross, curve,
dotted, white, lines, at unequal distances; varying, however, in number, in different sub¬
jects, from forty-two to fifty. The squamae, towards the abdomen, are of a dun colour; the
scuta, abdominal as well as sub-caudal, of a yellowish white.

OBSERVATIONS.

The Gedi Paragoodoo is not uncommon at Vizagapatam: I have met with it also at Boni;
and young ones were sent to me from Masulapatam, under the name of Cobra Monil.

The natives of India, who commonly exaggerate the noxious properties of their snakes,
assert that its bite produces immediate death; the truth of which I was led to suspect, from
finding, on repeated trials, that it seldom killed chickens in less than half an hour, and dogs
in less than one hour and ten minutes.

A more particular account of experiments on its poison, will be given hereafter, among
those on the poisons of other venomous serpents. It need only be remarked here, that
it appeared to be slower in its operation than the poison of the Cobra de Capello, as well
as that of the Coluber, next in malignity, called Katuka Rekula Poda; and was generally
observed to produce less violent convulsions, but a greater degree of stupor than either
of them.

No. II.

BOA.

Abdominal Scuta 1 5 0 'l

175.

Sub-caudal Scuta 25 J
Called by the natives Horatta Pam.

The head broader than the neck, but much smaller than the middle of the trunk;
depressed, obtuse, broad-ovate ; covered with very small, carinated, ovate scales, without
any large laminas.

The mouth small; the lower jaw somewhat shorter than the upper. Two rows of palatal
teeth, above, but no marginal row: the fangs, proportionally long; one on each side emer¬
gent from the sacs.

The eyes lateral, large, orbicular, very forward. Nostrils close on the rostrum, distant
from each other, roundish.

The trunk gradually swelling from the neck, and tapering towards the tail, is at the
middle two inches and a half in circumference. The scales carinated, oval, imbricate; but

INDIAN SERPENTS.

3

those next to the scuta larger than the others, and ovate. The length, one foot three inches
and a half. The tail tapers suddenly, sharp pointed: in length one inch and a half.

The colour , a dark brown, with a row of spots on the ridge of the back, from the neck to
the end of the tail, varying in size and figure, but all of a dull-yellowish colour, edged with
black. Along each side runs a conspicuous waving fillet of the same colour; and on the
head, are four remarkable dark spots, the largest of which bears, in shape, some resem¬
blance to a horse-shoe. The scuta are of a yellowish-white; and each of those of the belly
is marked with three or four dusky dots.

OBSERVATIONS.

Specimens of different sizes were found to vary very little in colour, and still less in the
spots: the difference in number of scuta was very inconsiderable.

The poisoning organs of this snake show it to be noxious; but in what degree it is so,
not having met with a living subject, I had no opportunity of ascertaining. Its bite is
represented as very dangerous; and must be highly so, if it be the Viryen Pamboo of the
Tamouls, under which name I once received it; for in the directions for using the Tanjore
medicine, a double dose is directed to be given for the bite of that snake.*

I was obliged for the specimens of this snake, in spirits, to Major Bonniveaux, who sent
them from Arni, in 1 7 7 8.

No. III.

BOA.

Abdominal Scuta 233
Sub-caudal Squama 3G
Called by the natives Bungarum Pamah , and Sackeenee in Bengal.

The head small, hardly broader than the neck, ovate, crown depressed ; the sides from the
orbits compressed; rostrum somewhat declining, very obtuse, or sub-truncate. The number
of principal laminae, ten: the first triangular, emarginate ; the small pair between the
nostrils roundish, with one straight side; the next pair larger, of similar form, a little
pointed ; the central lamina of the three between the eyes, shield-form, acuminate, the
lateral, conical; the last large pair, rudely semi-cordate, truncate: the rest of the head covered
with small sub-orbicular scales.

The mouth not large ; the jaws nearly of equal length. The teeth in the lower jaw

* See Section VII. Case II.

4

DESCRIPTION OF

numerous, regular, reflex, very short, almost hid in the gum: in the upper jaw, the teeth
in the two palatal rows, also small. There is properly no marginal row, but three small
teeth are perceivable on each side, in an unusual situation behind the fangs, standing in an
oblique line towards the palate: a singularity described more particularly in PI. 45. F. xi.
The fangs, in proportion to the size of the animal, remarkably short; two emergent from
the sac.

The eyes lateral, small, orbicular. The nostrils very large, gaping, close to the edge of
the rostrum.

The trunk trigonal, the ridge of the back sharp, the sides declining, the belly convex.
The scales on the carina of the back, large, sub-hexagonal, ciliated ; the others ovate: all
are smooth, polished, closely imbricate, and very adherent.

The length, five feet five inches; the circumference where thickest, nearly five inches.
The tail trigonal, thick, short, with a round blunt point; measures only five inches.

The colour of the head a dark blue, with an oblique streak of yellow on each side, from
the shield-form lamina to the throat, which is also yellow. The neck, trunk, and tail, are
remarkably variegated by broad bands, alternately blue and yellow, which, including the
scuta, invest the animal completely round; but the blue of the scuta is lighter: the tip of
the tail blue.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was sent from Mansoor Cottah, by Mr. Gordon, in November, 1 7 88 ; it had
been bruised a little near the tail, and arrived in a languid, extenuated state. It came with
the imputation of being of a very bad kind; which character was afterwards confirmed by
some of the hill people from Kimedy, to whom I showed the drawing, and who affirmed
that the bite was inevitably mortal.

According to them, its name in the Warrier language was Holadola, but in Gentoo,
Ransa Pam.

I have already mentioned that the snake was received in a very languid condition.
Being set at liberty, it remained for some time without moving, but soon began to crawl
slowly towards a dark corner. A chicken being presented to him at this time, he seemed
to take no notice of it, though the bird fluttered about him, and even rested a toe on his
head. The chicken was then put on the snake’s back, which he held so fast with his toes,
that when attempted to be separated, the snake was dragged a little way, without once offer¬
ing to resent the insult.

At the distance of an hour, the chicken was again presented; but the snake showing no
disposition to bite, his jaws were forced asunder, and the naked thigh of the chicken so
placed, that the jaws closed upon part of it. The chicken, when disengaged, showed imme¬
diate symptoms of poison: it couched, purged once or twice, and was not able to stand.
In the course of the first ten minutes, after several ineffectual efforts to rise, it rested the
beak on the ground, and the head was seized with trembling. After fifteen minutes, it

INDIAN SERPENTS.

5

showed a frequent disposition to lie down, but remained couched some minutes longer.
In twenty minutes lay down on one side, and convulsions supervening soon after, the bird
expired within twenty-six minutes.

This was the only experiment I had an opportunity of making, the snake dying next day.
From the symptoms of poison appearing so early in this experiment, and considering the
languid state of the snake, as well as the reluctance with which he bit, it is probable, had
he been in full vigour, that the chicken would have expired in much less time than twenty-
six minutes.

I received from Mr. Alexander Russell, of Calcutta, the description of a Bengal snake,
under the name Sackeenee, which agreed in all circumstances with the Bungarum Pamah.

No. IV.

BOA.

Abdominal Scuta 209 'I

228.

Sub-caudal Squama 1 9 J

Called by the natives Padain Cootoo, Manooli Pamjjoo , and Mondi Poda, at Vizagapatam.

The head hardly broader than the neck, oblong, roundish, depressed, sub-truncate; to¬
wards the rostrum, compressed; covered with scales, sub-orbicular, minute, but no laminae,
except one triangular at the apex of the rostrum, and two very small between the nostrils.

Mouth rather wide; jaws of equal length. The teeth numerous, small, reflex; a marginal
row of teeth in the upper jaw: consequently no fangs.

The eyes lateral, small, orbicular. The nostrils close to the point of the rostrum, wide,
and open.

The trunk round, nearly of equal thickness, covered with scales, small, orbicular, cari-
natecl, close set, imbricate: but one or two rows nearest the scuta are larger, and not
carinated. The length, one foot six; the circumference of the neck nearly two inches; that
of the trunk where biggest, not much more than three and one fourth.

The tail only an inch and a half in length; thick, taper, sharp pointed, and, on account
of the carinated scales, feels rough to the touch: the sub-caudal scuta remarkably short.

The colour, a middling brown. The back and the sides variegated by a broad, black,
undulating band, with a narrow, yellowish-white margin; as also with a number of irre¬
gular, roundish spots of similar colour. Behind each eye there is a black streak, and some
yellowish-white scales. The scuta of a pearl colour.

6

DESCRIPTION OF

OBSERVATIONS.

The first specimen was sent from Madras by Dr. Anderson, who mentioned, in the letter
which accompanied it, “ that it was exhibited by the snake-catchers as a show; that it
“ showed little propensity to bite; that its bite, though not mortal, was said to produce a
“ slow wasting at the extremities of the fingers and toes, like what happens in the pedda
“ rocum of the natives: a disease nearly resembling the lepra Graecorum.”

That the bite does not prove fatal, may be inferred from the absence of poisonous organs:
how far the other effects are justly ascribed to it, is rather a matter of future inquiry, than
at once to be rejected.

A second specimen was afterwards sent by Dr. Anderson, under the name of Manooli
Pamboo, which was of a lighter colour than the former.

In December, 1 7 88, I received a living specimen from Ganjam, which enabled me to
make some experiments on chickens. The snake arrived in excellent order, and bit fero¬
ciously ; but its bite was followed by no symptoms whatever of poison.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

7

COLUBER.*

In this division of the East Indian Serpents, the Cobra de Capello holds a principal place.
It is generally reckoned of all others the most deadly: the occasional expansion of the
skin of the neck in the form of a hood, ascertains its identity to the most superficial observer;
and as it is every where in the country exhibited publicly, by way of show, it is of course
more universally known than perhaps any other of the race of reptiles.

The natives of India pretend to distinguish a great number of species of this serpent, to
which they ascribe different degrees of malignity, and apply distinct names; but, after
taking the trouble of examining nearly a score of these supposed species, I found the specific
marks in most of them so vague, and the venomous property appeared, from experiments,
so nearly equal in all, that I thought it superfluous labour to prosecute the inquiry further.
I shall, therefore, after describing one species at some length, only add a few remarks on the
other varieties.

No. V. VI.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta I 8 5 'l

>242.

Sub-caudal Scuta 5 7 J

Called by the natives Chinta Magoo; Coluber Maja, Linn. Syst. Mat. p. 382 ; and

Cobra de Capello , Seb. Mus. 2.

The head , hardly broader than the neck, short, broad-ovate, obtuse; the crown depressed;
from the eyes, contracted, compressed, and declining to the rostrum. Covered with ten
principal laminae: the first, in front of the rostrum, triangular, the base emarginate; the pair
between the nostrils also triangular; the next pair larger, sub-semicircular; the central
lamina between the eyes, broad shield-form; the lateral, conical; the semi-cordate pair,
slightly acuminate: the scales on the occiput, small, orbicular, and oval.

The mouth large ; the lower jaw somewhat shorter than the upper. The teeth, few in the
lower jaw, sharp, reflex, at regular distances, except in front, where two or three appear
closer set, and longer: in the upper jaw, (as usual in other venomous snakes,) there is no

* It should be recollected, that the Coluber, in like manner as the Boa, is furnished with abdominal scuta; but the tail,
instead of scuta, is furnished with sub-caudal squamae, which are counted not singly, but by pairs : thus 120 squamae are
reckoned 60 .

8

DESCRIPTION OF

marginal row, only two palatal rows of teeth, numerous, reflex, equal, sharp, smaller than
those below. Two fangs, one longer than the other, are generally found emergent from the
sac on each side.

The eyes rather small, lateral, orbicular, prominent. The nostrils very near the apex of
the rostrum, lateral, large, gaping.

The neck, when the animal is at rest, is very little thicker than the head; but the loose
skin of the neck being capable, in a peculiar manner, of extension, forms, when the animal
is provoked, what is called the hood, which constitutes the principal character of the species.
The spectacle-like mark on the hood, is partly formed by the colour of the interstitial skin,
discovered in consequence of the separation of the scales; but from Figures 1,2 ,3, PI. VI.
it will appear, that the tint of the scales themselves contributes also, especially in respect
to the dark colours; and hence the mark remains in some degree visible in the collapsion
of the skin, after death.

The trunk, round, covered with scales comparatively small, oval, polished, contiguous,
hardly (except on the hinder part and tail,) imbricate, in the living subject; but two rows
on each side of the belly, consist of larger scales, ovate, and imbricate.

The length four feet; the circumference of the middle of the trunk, four inches. The tail
round, measures nine inches, covered with sub-orbicular scales, and tapers gradually to a
sharp, horny, point.

The colour, a yellowish, light-brown; but in certain positions, the glistening scales reflect
a faint bluish-ash colour. The interstitial skin is generally white, and the edges of many
scales being also white, makes them appear less contiguous than they really are.

The abdominal scuta are very long; the sub-caudal squamae hexagonal: both are of a dull
white, freckled with dusky spots. The colours of the spectacle-mark are bright; (PL V.)
but the orange tint of the interstitial skin is not so deep, as in some other species.

After so minute a description of the Tamarind Cobra de Capello, it will be sufficient
merely to mention a few of the other varieties I have examined, briefly noting under each,
any remarkable circumstances that may occur.

Arege JSfagoo. Abel. Scuta 189. Sub-caud. Squama 60.

The spectacle-mark (PI. VI. Fig. 1.) differs somewhat from the former PI. V. The cervical
scuta (PL VI. Fig. 2.) are remarkably dark, especially five of them. Two black spots on the
inside of the hood (which are common to most of the other varieties,) are also represented
in that figure.

Arege is the name of one of the small grains eat by horses.

Coodum JVcLgoo. Abd. Scuta 187. Sub-caud. Squama 57.

The colour in this variety is rather darker than that in the others, and the colour of the

INDIAN SERPENTS.

9

skin is more yellow; but the principal distinction is in the spectacle-like mark on the hood,
which here consists of an oblong, curved frame, without the usual black eye of the others;
the skin in the middle being white, and the scales retaining their ordinary yellowish-brown
colour. (PI. VI. Fig. 3.)

Should this, as pretended by the snake-catchers, prove a constant character, it may per¬
haps be sufficient to constitute a variety. Coodum signifies wheat.

Scinkoo JVagoo. Abd. Scuta 183. Sub-caud. Squama 5G.

The chief distinction is the plain hood, without any mark. See PL VI. Fig. 4 ; and Seba,
Vol. II. p. 102. T. 97. 8cc. It was conceived by Seba, to be only the female of the species;
but one I brought home with me from India, and presented to the late John Hunter, was a
male; and it is certain that the spectacle-like mark on the hood, in the other varieties, is
found indifferently in male and female.

It is rarer than the other varieties; and takes the name Sankoo, lrom a shell so called,
which is employed for glazing paper.

Mogla JVagoo. Abd. Scuta 192. Sub-caud. Squama 65.

This has received its name from frecptenting the Caldiero hedges. The cervical scuta are
here and there spotted with faint greyish spots, and four of the middle scuta are entirely of
a bluish-grey.

Malle JVagoo. Abd. Scuta 191. Sub-caud. Squama 62.

The colour of this is a lighter brown, and the scuta are whiter, and less spotted ; but seven
of the pectoral scuta are completely dark. Malle is a name for the Arabian jasmine.

Cumboo JVagoo. Abd. Scuta 186. Sub-caud. Squama 60.

Some deviations were observable in the shape of the laminae; all the cervical scuta were
dusky, and the trunk had a strong bluish cast.

Jonna JVagoo. Abd. Scuta 18 9. Sub-caud. Squama 57.

An orange colour prevails in the skin of the hood; the scuta of the neck are spotted with
grey, and six of the lower are wholly of a bluish-grey. Jonna is the name of a small
horse-grain.

10

DESCRIPTION OF

JVella Tas Pam. Abel. Scuta 186. Sub-cciud. Squama 62.

The black on the hood unusually deep, and all the jugular scuta remarkably dusky:
hence its name.

Kistnci JVagoo. Abd. Scuta 186. Sub-cctud. Squama 63.

The middle lamina of the three between the eyes remarkably broad, and the posterior
pair sub-ovate, not semi-cordate. Five of the jugular scuta dusky, and six of the pectoral
almost black.

Korie JVagoo. Abd. Scuta 18 4. Sub-cctud. Squama 57.

The three laminae between the eyes remarkably narrow; the large posterior pair oval.
The colour of the trunk, more especially of the scuta, unusually bluish.

OBSERVATIONS.

I have already remarked, that the specific distinctions supposed by the natives, were
extremely vague ; and, so far as my experiments went, that the venomous power of the
reputed varieties, were, under the same circumstances, apparently equal. A more parti¬
cular account of these experiments, and of other matters relating to the poison of the Cobra
de Capello, will be given hereafter: it may be sufficient to observe here, as a standard for
comparison with other serpents, that I never knew its bite prove mortal to a dog, in less
than twenty-seven minutes; and to a chicken, in less than half a minute.

No. VII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 168
Sub-caudal Scuta 5 9
Called by the natives Katuka Relrnla Poda.

The head large, much broader than the neck, gibbous, or swelling behind, depressed
above, compressed on the sides, and narrowing from the eyes, terminates in an obtuse snout,
faced with a pyramidal, emarginate lamina: the labial and sub-jugular squamae are large
and smooth, but the rest of the head is covered with small, ovate, highly carinated scales,
without any of the usual large laminae.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

11

The mouth very large, the jaws nearly of equal length; the anterior teeth in the lower
jaw, long, slender, almost upright; the others, shorter, few, reflex; the two palatal rows in
the upper jaw, small, reflex, thick-set; no marginal row ; the fangs conspicuous, longer than
those of the Cobra de Capello, thicker and stouter; two generally emergent from the sac,
on each side, one smaller than the other.

The eyes high, lateral, forward, large, oval, not prominent. The nostrils, on the same line
with the eyes, close to the point of the snout, very wide and open.

The trunk round, thick, beautifully spotted, and covered with oblong-oval, carinated
scales, those excepted lying close to the scuta, which are smooth, broad-ovate, larger, and
not carinated.

The length, four feet two inches; the middle of the trunk two inches in circumference.
The tail tapers to a sharp point; the scales carinated.

The colour of the head and trunk a yellowish brown; the back variegated with above
twenty-two large, oblong-oval, spots, brown in the middle, with black borders, edged with
white. Of these spots, some are separate, but most of them are joined by a narrow neck, or
run waving into each other: small black dots, single, or two or three in a cluster, are some¬
times interspersed. A second row of spots adorn the sides, similar in colour to the first, but
smaller, and in form more orbicular, each of those on the trunk having a short stem, tend¬
ing obliquely to the abdomen, made up of smooth, black scales; and in the interstices,
angular black spots are disposed along the verge of the scuta. All these spots become more
and more obscure as they approach the tail.

The scuta are white and glossy, with a membranous, striated margin, and many of them
are marked with one or two dusky, semicircular spots, but which are hardly visible near
the tail. The sub-caudal squamae are of a dusky yellow, and not spotted.

OBSERVATIONS.

The colour in. different subjects varies considerably: in captivity, it becomes of a dark
brown, and the spots are less brilliant. They vary little in form, but are more or less joined
on the back.

The number of the scuta varies inconsiderably. In the subject described it was 5 9 ; in
another subject, 5 6 ; but then three of the squamas, near the anus, were not reckoned.

It is not less commonly met with, in a wild state, than the Cobra de Capello; but from its
not being, like the Cobra and some other snakes, exhibited as a public show, it is not
so universally known, either among the natives, or Europeans. Nevertheless it is doubtful
whether its poison is not equally deleterious with that of the Cobra de Capello: it may at
least claim a second place. Its bite proved mortal to chickens, in thirty-six seconds; and to
a dog, in twenty-six minutes.

12

DESCRIPTION OF

No. VIII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 241 'i

[ 273 .

Sub-caudal Squama 32 J

The head of equal breadth with the neck, oblong, depressed, obtuse; the rostrum some¬
what compressed. The lamina in front slightly emarginate ; the first pair between the
nostrils, oblong, transverse; the next orbicular, larger; the three between the eyes, unusu¬
ally round; the posterior pair, short, semi-cordate.

The mouth very small; the jaws nearly of equal length. The lower teeth, and the two
palatal rows in the upper jaw, small, sharp, reflex: there is no marginal row. One fang
appears on each side emergent from the sac, so small as to escape observation, on a transient
view.

The eyes lateral, proportionally large, orbicular. The nostrils also lateral, very small.

The trunk , round, smooth, about the thickness of a goose-quill; in length eleven inches,
and scarcely tapering; the scales smooth, sub-ovate, imbricate. The tail round, measures
little more than an inch, not much smaller than the trunk, but ends in a sharp point.

The colour of the trunk, a light, yellowish-brown, with a dotted black line, running from
the head to the tail, along the middle of the back; and some fainter fillets on the sides. The
head is black ; and the tail at its origin and near the point, is singularly marked with a
black spot, whitish in the middle, and edged with whitish-brown lines. The scuta are of
a pale orange colour, deepening near the anus; the splendent, sub-caudal squamas, resemble
white porcelain curiously speckled with black.

OBSERVATIONS.

In June, 1 7 88, while botanizing in the plain near Nerva, I rescued the subject now
described, from the hands of some peasants who were about to destroy it. They could not
inform me of its name, but assured me its bite was mortal: a fact afterwards contradicted
by several of the inhabitants of Nerva, who asserted that it only occasioned pain.

The peasants had hurt it, but it still remained active; showing however more disposition
to escape, than to snap offensively.

Being provoked to bite the breast of a chicken, it held firm hold for nearly a minute: yet
the bite was followed by no symptoms of poison.

The smallness of the mouth, and a reluctance to disfigure a subject intended for preser¬
vation, by opening the jaws too wide, prevented determining whether it had fangs or not:

INDIAN SERPENTS.

13

a circumstance which has since been fully ascertained, from examination of the specimen
that I deposited in the British Museum.

No. IX.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 170'

1228.

Sub-caudal Squama 58,

Called by the natives Bodroo Pam.

The head , much broader than the neck, sub-trigonal, gibbous behind, above depressed,
the rostrum obtuse, compressed; the crown covered with very small, smooth, orbicular
scales, except a small lamina above each eye: the scales on the rest of the head, small, but
slightly carinated. The sub-jugular squamae, linear, and truncate.

The mouth large; the jaws nearly equal. The teeth small, regular, reflex; two palatal
rows, but no marginal row, above. Two fangs, remarkably long, emergent from the sacs,
on each side.

The eyes lateral, large, oval, prominent. The nostrils near the eyes, very wide, open.

The trunk; the back somewhat carinated, the sides compressed, or sub-declining. The
scales, acute-ovate, carinated, imbricate.

The length two feet six inches; the circumference of the neck an inch and a half; of the
thickest part of the trunk, two inches one third. The tail , round, slender, obtuse: mea¬
sured five inches.

The colour; the head, trunk, and tail, of a fresh green; the last row of squamae on the
belly, yellow. The scuta of a pale straw-colour, and some of them have a small, green,
spot, on each side.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake, which had been caught two days before on the hills in the vicinity of Viza-
gapatam, was brought to me in October, 1 7 88 ; and as I had never met with it before, nor
heard of any other green snake besides the Passeriki Pam, (No. XII, XIII.) I conceived it to
be rather uncommon.

It looked fresh and lively, was very alert, hissed, and snapped at every thing opposed to
it, yet did not offer to touch a chicken which was walking about in the same room. It pre¬
pared for an attack somewhat in the manner of the Mega Rekula Poda, (No. XXXII.) but
was not nearly so fierce, nor did it contract the neck and trunk into such close wreaths.

14

DESCRIPTION OF

The remarkably long, slender, fangs, exposed on opening the mouth, betokened its being
highly noxious; but the peasants who brought it, affirmed that its power of killing extended
only to the smaller animals; not to dogs or sheep; and that to man, its bite caused various
disorders, but never death.

The experiments made on its poison, will be given in their proper place.

No. X.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 143"l

I 213 -

Sub-caudal Squama 7 0 J

Called by the natives Wa?ma Pam. Coluber Stolatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 3 7 9.

The head somewhat broader than the neck, obtuse-ovate, depressed, rather short, covered
with nine principal laminae, besides some smaller. The anterior pair, small, sub-rotund;
the next irregularly pentagonal; the central lamina between the eyes narrow, shield-form,
the lateral conical; the large posterior pair, oblique, oblong, semi-cordate, with two or three
small laminae on each side.

The mouth large, the lower jaw somewhat shorter than the upper. The teeth , small, sharp,
reflex; a marginal, and two palatal rows in the upper jaw.

The eyes large, orbicular, protuberant. The nostrils near the point of the rostrum, large,
and open.

The trunk round, invested with oval, thick-set, carinated, scales; two rows only next
the scuta, not carinated.

The length , one foot and a half; the circumference of the neck one inch and a lourth; the
trunk, where thickest, seldom exceeds two inches and a fourth. The tail tapers rapidly, the
last inch becoming excessively slender: in length four inches and a half.

The colour of the head and neck a very dark green; the cheeks and throat yellow. On
the neck are two blackish bands, from which a yellowish-brown fillet runs on each side
along the trunk and part of the tail, variegated with small white spots nearly at equal dis¬
tances, and opposite to each other. Besides these, most part of the trunk between the fillets,
is adorned with broader, transverse, whitish bands ; and between the fillets and the abdomen,
with waving, interrupted, longitudinal, white, lines. The ground colour between all these,
approaches to black. From within a few inches of the anus, the trunk and part of the tail,
retain only the plain, yellowish-brown fillet, on each side. The scuta and sub-caudal
squamae are of a dull pearl colour, and the former often have a black dot on each side.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

15

OBSERVATIONS.

I had no opportunity of making trials with the living snake, but from its want of poison
organs, I conclude it to be innocuous.

The C. Stolatus of Linnaeus, is marked poisonous; but that this is a mistake, has been
very justly observed by Dr. Gray.* The present subject has a marginal row of teeth above,
but no fangs.

This specimen was sent by Dr. Roxburgh from Raja Mundrah in I 7 88, without a name;
but I afterwards received two specimens from Ganjam, sent by Mr. Snodgrass, under two
different names, though with no material difference in other respects.

Scut. Squam.

Neerogady 146 7 7 223

Meergady 147 7 1 218

No. XI.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 14 5
Sub-caudal Squama 6 6

Called by the natives Wanna Cogli, Wanna Pam.. Coluber Stolatus , Linn. Syst. JVat. p. 37 9.

This agreeing in all material points with No. X. is certainly only a variety of the same
species, and therefore requires no minute description. In comparing the figures, some varia¬
tion may be remarked in the form of the laminae of the head: in the present subject the
anterior pair are more exactly triangular, and the posterior truncate; but both specimens
have carinated scales, and are destitute of poison organs. The principal distinction consists
in the colour, and that might perhaps have suffered some alteration from the spirits.

The prevalent colour dark, with a greenish cast. From the neck to the tail on each side
runs a yellowish-brown fillet; and the neck, as well as the anterior half of the back, have
between these fillets a number of cross, black, bands, which are continued on the sides,
without intersecting the fillets. The scuta were of a dusky yellow, changed perhaps by the
spirits. The above memorandum was taken at the time.

* Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 7 9 . Part L

JG

DESCRIPTION OF

OBSERVATIONS.

The Wanna Cogli was sent in July, 1 7 88, by Dr. Roxburgh, from Samul Cottah.

The Wanna Pam, Wanna Cogli, Neerogady, and Neergady, are only several names for
the same species.

A snake, which I received from Bengal, under the name Kurharria, is also the same,
with only a little variation in the number of sub-caudal squamas.

Abdom.Scut. 14 4.

Sub-caud. Squam. 7 7.

No. XII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 17 81

344.

Sub-caudal Squama 1 66 J

Called by the natives Passeriki Pam , Pastiletti. Coluber Mycteruans , Linn. Syst. JSfat. p. 38 9.

The head much broader than the neck, oblong, depressed above, rounded on the sides,
then compressed, and contracted at the eyes, protruding into a long, straight, angular,
pointed rostrum, which resembles the beak of a bird, with a small, soft, obtuse, reflex,
process, at the extremity.

The occiput is covered with sub-orbicular, imbricate, scales; the crown and rostrum with
eleven laminse: the two anterior of which are pyramidal, rounded at the base ; the next pair
nearly of the same form, but larger; next, a small pair triangular: the central lamina be¬
tween the eyes, spatula-form, those on the sides, conical; the posterior pair semi-cordate.

The mouth wide, the upper jaw a little longer than the lower, the scale in front not emar-
ginate. The teeth reflex, slender, sharp; the anterior in both jaws less close, thicker, and
longer: a marginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

The eyes lateral, large, oval, prominent; of a golden colour. The nostrils small; on the
side of the rostrum near the apex.

The trunk somewhat triangular, the back being slightly carinated, the sides declining,
the abdomen flattish. The scales linear-lanceolate, loosely set on the neck and fore part of
the trunk, but on the rest closely imbricate. The scales on the ridge of the back, and those
next the scuta, are rounder, or ovate.

The length (a large subject,) four feet six inches, of which the tail comprehended one
foot ten inches. The circumference of the neck three fourths of an inch, the thickest part

INDIAN SERPENTS.

17

of the trunk little exceeding an inch and a half. The tail round, remarkably long and
slender, covered with ovate, imbricate, scales, sharp pointed, and so small near the end, that
it is difficult to count the sub-caudal squamae.

The colour. The head has the appearance of being covered with green velvet, with a
yellow streak on each cheek; the rest, including the neck, the trunk, and the tail, is of a
yellowish grass-green, when the animal is at rest; but when provoked, the neck and part
of the trunk swells; and the scales, which there lie looser, separating from each other, dis¬
cover the white interstitial skin, and some very dark scales, hardly observed before, which,
together with the white and black edges of some of the other scales, produce a beautiful
variegation: the green, however, predominating. When the inflation ceases, or the animal
dies, the scales fall again close together, and the uniform green colour takes place.

From the throat to the anus, on each side of the belly, runs a yellowish-white fillet, which,
becoming of a deeper yellow, is continued along part of the tail; two narrower fillets, of a
bright yellow colour, run along the middle of the abdominal scuta, but are not continued on
the tail. The scuta and squamae are of a light yellowish-green.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake is very common about Vizagapatam, and, I believe, in the Circars, as well as
in the Carnatic. It is often found on trees; and is said to attack passengers, aiming parti¬
cularly at the eyes: but of this I never met with any instance. Its bite on chickens, tried
repeatedly, produced no other effect than pain.

The number of sub-caudal squamae in this snake, varies considerably in different subjects:
the number of scuta is more constant. It may further be remarked, that, from its extreme
slenderness, the tail is often found mutilated.

The Coluber Mycterizans is marked by Linnaeus as venomous; a mistake, which has
very justly been corrected by Dr. Gray, in his ingenious paper on the subject of Amphibia,
read before the Royal Society/'

* Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 7 9. Part I.

18

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XIII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 1 7 4
Sub-caudal Squamce 1 4 8

Galled by the natives Botla Passeriki.

This snake agrees exactly in most circumstances with the one last described. The head
considerably thicker than the neck, oblong, depressed above, rounded on the sides, and
contracting at the eyes, is lengthened into a long, straight, angular, pointed rostrum, which
resembles the beak of a bird, with a small, soft, obtuse, reflex, process, at the extremity.
The occiput is covered with sub-orbicular, imbricate, scales; the crown and rostrum with
eleven laminse: of which, the two anterior are pyramidal, rounded at the base; the next
pair nearly of the same form, but larger; next, a small pair sub-triangular; the central
lamina between the eyes, spatulate, those on the side, conical; the posterior pair, semi-
cordate.

The mouth wide; the upper jaw a little longer than the lower, the scale in front not
emarginate. The teeth reflex, slender, sharp; the anterior, in both jaws, less close, thicker,
and longer: a marginal row, in the upper jaw, and two palatal rows.

The eyes lateral, large, oval, prominent; of a golden colour. The nostrils small, on the
side of the rostrum near the apex.

The trunk somewhat triangular; the scales linear-lanceolate, except on the carina of the
back, and in the row on each side of the scuta, where they are broad-oval. On the neck
and fore part of the trunk, they are loose, and only contiguous; on the rest, close, imbricate.

The length four feet one inch; the circumference of the neck one inch and a quarter, that
of the trunk, where thickest, two and a half. The tail , round, very slender, covered with
ovate, imbricate, scales, tapers to a sharp point: in length, one foot six inches and a third.

The colour. The head, as in the former, seems as if covered with green velvet; the lips
and sides of the throat of a deep yellow. The trunk and tail of a fresh grass-green, with a
white fillet intersected by orange lines, running along the edge of the scuta, on each side of
the anus, and down half the tail along the edge of the sub-caudal squamae. The variegation
of colours, when the animal is enraged, is much more conspicuous in this than in the former
snake, and is produced in the manner already described ; but remains in some degree visible
even in the dead animal, the black scales being more numerous, and the margins of more of
the green scales being either black or white. An attempt has been made to represent it in
the drawing, from a living subject.

A most striking difference may be remarked in the colour of the belly and under part of

INDIAN SERPENTS.

19

the tail, which in the former snake were both of a light yellowish-green; but here, both
scuta and squamae are of a cineritious colour, blended with a faint pink, freckled elegantly
with minute, black, and dusky-yellow, dots, while the inferior margins of the scuta, tinged
with a dark yellow, form a succession of transverse, convex, fillets.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake is much seldomer met with than the one before described. It is in appear¬
ance much more ferocious; elevating its head and neck like the Cobra de Capello, opening
the mouth wide, hissing furiously, and snapping at every thing opposed to it. Its bite,
however, on chickens, produced no other bad effect than pain, which soon ceased; and
though the upper fore-teeth may sometimes be mistaken for fangs, it certainly possesses no
poisonous organs.

Whether it is to be considered as distinct from the Passeriki Pam, I shall not take upon
me to determine; but on a comparison of the two descriptions, circumstances sufficient may
be collected to constitute at least a variety.

No. NIV.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 17 5a

231.

Sub-caudal Squama 5 6 J
Called by the natives Java Potoo.

The head a little broader than the neck, small, ovate, depressed, obtuse, with nine plates,
or laminae; the occiput covered with small, yellowish, imbricate scales. The two anterior
plates, between the nostrils, small, orbicular; the next two larger, irregularly angular; the
two lateral between the eyes, conical; the middle one, shield-form, acute; the two posterior,
semi-cordate.

The mouth middle size; the jaws nearly equal. The teeth , a marginal and two palatal
rows, above; the anterior teeth in the marginal row being somewhat longer than the others.

The eyes lateral, globular, prominent. The nostrils, at the edge of the rostrum, large,
open.

The trunk round, polished, covered with small, ovate, close, imbricate, scales.

Length , one foot, three or four inches. Thickness, near the head, of a goose-quill; in the
middle of the trunk, somewhat more than a swan-quill.

20

DESCRIPTION OF

The tail very short, tapering suddenly, and terminating in a blunt point. In length, two
inches three fourths.

The colour of the laminae on the head, black; the occiput, the sides of the mouth, and
the throat, yellowish-white. The back and the tail, black, elegantly variegated with two
minute, white lines, or rows of dots, on each scale. The scuta or sub-caudal squamae are of
the same colour with the throat.

OBSERVATIONS.

This specimen was sent by Mr. Snodgrass from Ganjam, under the name Jara Potoo;
but my snakeman called it Candee Poda.

No. XV.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 22 9
Sub-caudal Squama 8 7

316

235 237

85 97

320 334

Called by the natives Tar Tutta.

The head much broader than the neck, small, round, ovate, obtuse, depressed; covered
with nine laminae: the two smallest, between the nostrils, angular; the next two, irregular
square-form; of the three between the eyes, the middle one largest, and broad shield-form,
the lateral crescent-shape; the posterior pair cordate.

The mouth wide; lower jaw a little shorter than the upper. Teeth small, numerous, reflex ';
a marginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

The eyes, near the nose, very large, orbicular, protuberant. Nostrils small, open, near
the point of the rostrum.

The trunk; the back slightly carinated; the scales close, oval, polished. The length, one
foot eleven inches; circumference of the neck, three fourths of an inch ; thickest part of the
trunk, two inches three fourths.

The tail thin, round, tapering to a very small point, which renders it difficult, near the
tip, to count the sub-caudal scales: in length, five inches.

The colour (in the subject described,) was a light bay, variegated remarkably on the back
and sides, with a waving chain of triangular spots, composed of oblique, short, black, lines,
intermixed with white, or yellowish lines. These spots growing fainter as they approach
the anus, are hardly visible on the tail.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

21

The abdominal scuta are of a yellowish white, with a black, or dusky, dot, on each side:
the sub-caudal squamae have no dots.

On comparing a male and female of this species, the principal difference observed was,
that the trunk of the female, near the anus, being much thicker than in the male, made the
tail appear to taper more rapidly.

OBSERVATIONS.

This is one of the most common snakes at Vizagapatam. Half a dozen have been found
in a night, crossing the road to the Chief’s country house. Its bite is said by some to be
mortal, but the snake-catchers affirm the contrary, and that it only produces biles and erup¬
tions, a month or two after the bite. The absence of poison organs confirms the first opinion ;
the other, though improbable, is so prevalent, that it ought not to be wholly rejected, till
after further inquiry.

In the month of December, a vigorous subject of this species was made to bite a chicken,
which he did very fiercely and repeatedly in different parts. The chicken suffered pain,
but showed no signs of poison.

At the distance of two hours, some feathers were plucked from the pinion of the same
chicken, and the snake, after two or three snaps, fixing his holders eagerly in the bare skin,
held fast for more than a minute. The chicken at hrst fluttered, and screamed from pain,
but soon became quiet. In about half a minute, greatly to my surprise, she let fall her head,
and shut her eyes, as if dead. The position of the wing, prevented the cause of this being
at hrst discovered. The snake, unperceivedly, had wreathed its tail round the chicken’s
neck, and the bird, had it not been rescued, would inevitably have been strangled. Soon
after being disengaged, it recovered perfectly.

A second chicken was bitten in like manner, without any consequence; care having been
taken to prevent the snake twisting its tail round the bird’s neck.

In the month of May, a smaller snake of the same kind was made to bite a young chicken
on the bare breast, but no ill consequence ensued.

These experiments were made merely to remove local prejudices; for I myself enter¬
tained no doubt of the reptile being not venomous.

DESCRIPTION OF

22

No. XVI.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 17 4"]

[ 214 .

Sub-caudal Squama 40 J
Called by the natives Gajoo Tutta.

The head broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, obtuse. The first pair of laminae be¬
tween the nostrils, small, sub-orbicular; the next, pentagonal; the middlemost lamina of
the three between the eyes, broad-lanceolate; the last pair, semi-cordate.

The mouth small; the lower jaw shorter than the upper. The teeth below, numerous,
close, reflex; two palatal rows above, close also and numerous, but the anterior in the mar¬
ginal row, longer than usual.

The eyes lateral, small, orbicular. JVostrils close to the rostrum, gaping.

The trunk round. The scales, broad-ovate, imbricate. Length , fourteen inches. Circum¬
ference near the head, one inch and a quarter; the thickest part of the trunk, about two
inches; and diminishes inconsiderably till near the tail. The tail , very small, tapers sud¬
denly, sharp pointed: length, two inches.

The colour; the head a very dark, obscure, green, without spot. The trunk, (including
the tail,) almost black, with a dark-greenish cast. The ridge of the back variegated with
about twenty narrow spots, composed of longitudinal, short, dusky-yellow, white, and
black, lines. Along the sides, and half down the tail, are interrupted rows of short white
lines; and from the head to the anus, on each side close to the scuta, there is a regular row
of black dots. The scuta and squamae are of a bluish-white colour.

OBSERVATIONS.

The colour of this snake resembles that of the Gedi Paragoodoo (No. I.) ; but the varie¬
gating spots are very different. The long fore teeth in the upper jaw, on a transient view,
might be mistaken for fangs, particularly if the subject has been kept some time in spirits.

It is seldom found at Vizagapatam ; and never having been brought to me alive, I had no
opportunity of trying its bite: but, from the want of poisoning organs, it may be inferred
that it is not so formidable as, by the natives, represented.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

23

No. XVII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta H 4 'i

1203.

Sub-caudal Squama: 5 9 J
Called by the natives Karoo Bokadam.

The head somewhat broader than the neck, yet appears small in proportion to the trunk;
a little convex above, compressed on the sides, and projecting into a short, obtuse, or sub¬
truncate, snout, on which the eyes and nostrils are situated. The snout is covered with
small laminae of various forms; the rest of the head with small, sub-orbicular, carinated
scales.

The mouth not large, the jaws nearly of ecpial length. The teeth close set, regular, small,
reflex; a marginal, and two palatal, rows, in the upper jaw.

The eyes vertical, small, orbicular, protuberant, each situated in the centre of a remark¬
able circle of small, triangular, laminae. The nostrils very small, vertical, near to each other,
and close to the apex of the rostrum.

The trunk thick, round, covered with large, carinated, broad-oval, imbricate, scales.

The length , three feet four inches and a half; thickness, near the head, about three
inches; the middle of the trunk, four inches and a half.

The tail measures only eight inches; is a little compressed, tapers moderately, and ter¬
minates in an obtuse point.

Part of the head is almost black; the colour of the trunk and tail, a very dark grey; the
throat, belly, and under part of the tail, are of a dusky-yellow; but the colour of the scuta
seemed to have been changed by the spirits.

OBSERVATIONS.

He was sent from Ganjam, by Mr. Snodgrass, in July, J 7 88. I never saw one alive.
Notwithstanding the suspicious appearance of this ugly snake, the want of poison organs,
shows he is not formidable.

24

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XVIII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 1 9 8
Sub-caudal Squama 84

The head remarkably small, very little broader than the neck, depressed, obtuse; covered
with ten laminae. The first, triagonal; the pair between the nostrils nearly orbicular; the
next pair, oblong-square, transverse; the lateral laminae between the eyes, sub-ovate; the
central, shield-form; the posterior pair resemble the stumps of two thighs.

The mouth large ; the lower jaw a little shorter than the upper. The teeth below,
numerous, reflex, regular; above, two palatal rows, and one marginal; as usual in serpents
not venomous.

The eyes , large, oval. The nostrils near the point of the rostrum; not large.

The trunk round, covered with oblong-oval, smooth, scales; except near the scuta, where
two rows are ovate, and larger.

The length, three feet three inches ; circumference near the head, above one inch three
fourths; the middle of the trunk, three inches.

The colour , a dark brown; that of the scuta, seemed to have been altered by the spirits.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake, (with several others in spirits,) was sent to me from Madepolam, by Mr.
Rowley, in September, 17 85 ; but without the native name. The form of the trunk and
the tail, and the glistening polish of the skin, gave it, on a transient view, something of the
semblance of a very dark Cobra de Capello.

No. XIX.
COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 1821

22 °.

Sub - caudal Squam a 38 J
Called by the natives Wanapa Pam.

The head a little broader than the neck, oblong-ovate, sub-convex, obtuse, covered with
various laminae. The first lamina triangular, slightly emarginate; the first pair, oblong-,

INDIAN SERPENTS.

25

the margins perforated by the nostrils; the next pair similar in form, but rather smaller ;
the middlemost of the three laminae between the eyes, bell-shape, the others conical; the
posterior pair, semi-cordate.

The mouth beneath, wide, the upper jaw projecting beyond the lower. The teeth numerous,
small, reflex; two palatal rows, and one marginal, in the upper jaw.

The eyes distant, orbicular: the nostrils also distant, small, on the margins of the laminae.

The trunk round : the scales smooth, ovate, imbricate ; the neck about as thick as a goose-
quill ; the body nearly equal, (tapering only a little near the tail,) hardly exceeds the size of
a swan-quill. The whole measures fourteen inches; the tail only one inch and a half,
round, very small, and sharp pointed.

Between the eyes are two bent, black bands, and a third divides the semi-cordate laminae of
the head. The predominant colour of the trunk is a light chestnut; but the trunk, as well as
the tail, are elegantly variegated. From the head to the end of the tail runs a yellowish,
white, dotted, fillet; parallel to which, on each side, are two broader fillets, the one of a
grey, or ash-colour, the other a bay; between the grey fillets are a number of transverse
bands, formed of small, distinct, oblique, black lines. The scuta are of a dull pearl-colour.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was found at Vizagapatam, in the month of April. It is not common, and
appears to be perfectly harmless. Upon repeated trials, it could not be provoked to bite a
chicken.

No. XX.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta I 40 1

11 8 9 .

Sub-caudal Squama 4 9 J
Called by the natives Paragoodoo.

The head broader than the neck, oblong, ovate, depressed above; compressed on the
sides ; covered with laminae of rather unusual forms: the pair between the nostrils small,
oblong, curve, rounded in front; the next pair purse-form: of the three between the eyes,
the lateral laminae, truncate cones, the middle, oblong-square, acuminated: the two larger
behind, sub-cordate ; several small laminae on the occiput.

The 7nouth large; the jaws protracted, and nearly of equal length. The teeth numerous,
regular, small, reflex; a marginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

26

DESCRIPTION OF

The eyes sub-oval, protuberant. The nostrils near the point of the rostrum, open.

The trunk round, swelling and diminishing regularly; covered with oblong-oval, carinated
scales. The subject described measured two feet two inches; circumference in the middle

of the trunk, about three inches. The tail round, very taper, with a sharp point; the length

#*

five inches and a half.

The colour , a yellowish brown; the back and sides thick set with rhomboidal spots,
brown in the middle, with black borders; the spots growing fainter towards the tail. The
scuta are of a bright mother-of-pearl; the tail is not spotted, and the sub-caudal squamae are
of a reddish white.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake is common ; and is not by the natives reckoned pernicious. It usually fre¬
quents damp grounds, or the borders of tanks; and grows to a much larger size than the one
now described.

No. XXI.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 1 92 'i

25 4.

Sub-cauclal Squama 6 2 J
Called by the natives JVooni Paragoodoo.

The head broader than the neck, oblong-ovate, depressed. The anterior pair of laminae
between the nostrils, roundish ; the next larger, pentagonal; of the three between the eyes,
the lateral, conical; the middle one, shield-form, acuminate; the posterior pair, obtuse, se¬
mi-cordate.

The mouth large ; the labial scales with yellow, rounded, margins. The upper jaw emar-
ginate. The teeth very small, reflex, sharp, numerous: two palatal rows above, and one
marginal.

The eyes lateral, middle size, orbicular, prominent. The nostrils near the rostrum, very

small.

The trunk covered with smooth, imbricate, orbicular, and ovate scales. The length , two
feet. Circumference, near the head, one inch and a fourth: towards the middle of the
trunk, two inches and a half. The tail very small, especially towards the end; in length
four inches.

The colour , cineritious-grey, with an obscure cast of reddish brown, particularly about the

INDIAN SERPENTS.

27

head and neck. The back variegated by black and white, or black and yellowish, narrow,
bands; and on the sides are two or three rows of short, separate, oblique, lines, formed by the
yellow, or white, edges of the lateral scales; but in general these bands and lines are not vi¬
sible on the tail. The scuta and squamae are of a dusky pearl-colour.

OBSERVATIONS.

The bite of this snake, according to the natives, is not mortal; but they pretend that, af¬
ter a certain time, it produces ill effects. I made trial repeatedly on chickens, without ob¬
serving any bad consequences; and the absence of poisoning organs, renders the popular
notion of its ill qualities highly improbable.

No. XXII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 2 5 2a

13 1 4 .

Sub-caudal Squcinue 62 J
Called by the natives Pedda Poda.

The head broader than the neck, oblong-ovate, obtuse, depressed, but from the eyes to the
rostrum compressed, covered with twelve principal laminae, besides a number of smaller, ir¬
regular in shape, and disposed star fashion round the posterior, small, rude, semi-cordate, la¬
minae. The central lamina between the eyes is the largest; but, contrary to what is observed
in most other snakes, it is divided in the middle: the occiput is covered with very small, or¬
bicular, smooth, scales.

The inouth wide, the jaws of equal length, the lips thickish, covered with oblong, trans¬
verse scales. The teeth regular, reflex, sharp ; a marginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper
jaw.

The eyes lateral, orbicular, not large. The nostrils , near the edge of the rostrum, round,
open in a backward direction.

The trunk round, gradually swelling from the neck, and decreasing towards the tail;
closely set, with minute, smooth, round, imbricate, scales; but three rows next to the scuta
ccnsist of larger scales, oval, acuminate.

The length two feet nine inches; the circumference of the neck two inches; the middle of
the trunk four.

The tail round, and tapering rapidly, ends in a sharp point: it measures only four
inches two lines.

28

DESCRIPTION OF

The colour; the upper part of the head, flesh colour ; the rostrum cineritious: a broad
streak of flesh colour runs obliquely on each side of the neck, and a narrow, short stripe of
the same colour, divides a large brown mark on the occiput. The colour of the trunk and
tail cineritious, variegated with about thirty large, broad, brown, maculas, edged with black,
of various magnitude, and irregular forms. The sides are spotted with smaller, but similar,
maculae, most of which are whitish in the middle.

The scuta are remarkably small and narrow, of a white colour, with reddish margins:
round the posterior edge of the anus, a semicircle of small scales is observable. The squamae
also are small; and the under part of the tail is singularly variegated white and black, the
black in long, broadish, streaks.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake possessed great strength in its body and tail, and often wreathed in such a man¬
ner round the arm of the man who held it by the neck, as to numb his hand. But though
very active and lively, it was with difficulty made to bite fowls, and then no other conse¬
quence followed the bite than temporary pain.

Upon forcing into the open mouth of the snake, the thigh (stripped of the feathers) of a
living chicken, the snake, instead of wounding with his teeth, seemed more disposed to
swallow the bird entire, and, if at liberty, would probably have done it, after securing his
prey with his tail; for in the present case he exerted much force on the arm of the snake-
man, which otherwise would have been employed in crushing the bird.

It is a common practice, with those who go about the country exhibiting snakes fora show,
to present a large fowl to one of those called Rock Snakes, which the reptile deliberately se¬
cures by wreathing round the bird’s body, and then very slowly swallows the whole, fea¬
thers and all.

No. XXIII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 25 2
Sub-caudal Squama 6 4
Called also by the natives Pedda Poda .

The head a little broader than the neck, oblong, rounded at the extremity; above, de¬
pressed; towards the rostrum sub-compressed, covered partly with numerous laminse, dissi¬
milar in size, and of various forms, but the occiput is covered with smooth, ovate, scales.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

29

The largest of the laminae is situated behind the nostrils, of a broad shield-form, and sepa¬
rated from them by two minute, orbicular, laminae, at each corner.

The mouth wide; the jaws nearly of equal length, the lips thickish. The teeth regular,
reflex, slender; some of the anterior in the lower jaw thicker and longer than the others: a
marginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

The eyes large, oval, prominent, distant from each other; the nostrils small, round, sepa¬
rated by a pair of small triangular laminae.

The trunk round, the scales small, smooth, ovate, imbricate; but two or three rows nearest
the scuta, are larger and orbicular.

The length , seven feet two inches and a half; the circumference of the thickest part of the
trunk, eight inches. The tail , round, short, and tapers to a sharp point; in length, nine
inches and a half. Both scuta and squamae acuminated, and remarkably small.

The colour of the head dark-cineritious, with a deep brown, oblique, streak, behind each
eye ; and a large, dark, spade-form spot, with a narrow streak in the middle, on the hind
head. The neck, trunk, and tail, covered universally with large, dark, spots, of various
irregular forms, edged with black, on a light-brownish ground, which is the prevalent co¬
lour. The spots on the tail are somewhat lighter than those on the trunk. The scuta and
squamas are of a dusky yellow hue.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was sent to me in February, ] 7 88, from Ganjam, by Captain Gent, the engi¬
neer, who had kept him captive some time, and fed him with eggs and raw flesh. He was
transported in a cage, into which a living fowl had been put, by way of provision on the
road; but the fowl arrived safe, though, from the marks remaining on the snake’s head, he ap¬
peared to have been unmercifully pecked by the fowl on the journey. Perhaps he was tamed
by captivity; and indeed seemed remarkably sluggish. He hissed furiously when provoked,
but without snapping; and, while with me, he never touched the food put into the cage.

When forced to bite fowls, the wounds were attended with no consequence ; and
when left at liberty with pigeons or chickens, the snake seemed intent only on making his
escape.

30

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XXIV.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 2 5 6 v

1325.

Sub-caudal Squama 6 9
Called also by the natives Pedda Poda.

The head a little broader than the neck, oblong, depressed above; from the eyes, con¬
tracted, sub-compressed, very obtuse, or sub-truncate; covered, anteriorly, with numerous
laminae, various in shape and size; but the occiput covered with ovate, smooth, scales.

The mouth very wide; the jaws nearly of equal length, the lips thickish. The teeth dis¬
posed regularly, reflex, sharp, some of the foremost, in the lower jaw, longer than the others;
in the upper jaw, a marginal, and two palatal rows.

The eyes proportionally of middle size, lateral, partly covered by the laminae of the orbit,
oval, protuberant. The nostrils on the side of the rostrum, small, gaping.

The tnmk covered with smooth, ovate, imbricate, scales, two rows excepted on the belly,
which are orbicular. The scuta are narrow, oblong, acuminate at each end: the sub-cau¬
dal squamae are oval, but likewise pointed. Above the aperture of the anus, on each side,
on a line with the last scuta but one, is a small crooked horn, or spur, pointing outwards.

The length, six feet; the circumference, where thickest, seven inches. The tail measured
nine inches, and tapered to a sharp point.

The colour , universally whitish, variegated with large, broad, irregularly shaped, brown,
or dusky, spots, edged with black. A remarkable brown streak behind each eye, and a
large, dark, macula, on the hind head, with a whitish streak in the middle.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was killed in a gentleman’s stable at Vizagapatam, in 1 7 87. The head and
tail only were drawn, and some of the descriptive memoranda taken at the time having been
mislaid, the description is more defective than it might have been.

The three snakes last described, under the name of Pedda Poda, belong to those com¬
monly, by the Europeans in India, called Rock Snakes, and are not, by the natives, said to
be venomous. They grow, I believe, to a much larger size than the present specimens; for
I have seen one of the same species with No. XXIV. above ten feet long.

There is a general resemblance in the laminae of the head, the form of the maculae, of the
scuta, and the squamae, as well as in other circumstances, of all three; but the principal affi-

INDIAN SERPENTS.

31

nity is between No. XXIII. and XXIV. ; colour constituting the most obvious difference:
except the want, in No. XXIII. of the spur, or claw, near the anus.

The Bora, from Bengal, (No. XXXIX.) furnishes another instance of claws situated near
the anus; and the Physician General at Madras wrote me, in 1 7 88, “ that he had lately seen a
“ snake, namedDussery Pamboo, which had a claw on each side of the anus, resembling the
“ spur of a cock partridge; and that the man who showed it, affirmed the claws were occasion-
“ ally employed as weapons of offence, which sometimes rendered it necessary to cut them.”

No. XXV.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta

Sub-caudal Squamce 120

Called by the natives Dameen.

The head broader than the neck, broad-ovate, depressed; towards the rostrum compressed,
covered entirely with seventeen large, and several smaller, laminae. The anterior pair are
perforated by the nostrils, between which is interposed a pair broad-oval; behind these a
pair considerably larger, forming together part of a circle: the three laminae between the
eyes, large, and of equal size : the lateral, utricular; the middle, shield-form, acuminate: the
next pair (in the usual place of the semi-cordate laminae) resemble together a pair of women’s
stays; the others are mostly square-form.

The mouth wide; the jaws nearly equal in length ; the teeth small, numerous, reflex; a
marginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

The eyes lateral, distant, remarkably large, oval. The nostrils on the margin of the ros¬
trum, very small.

The trunk round, imbricated with large rhomboidal scales: in length,-; in cir¬

cumference, where thickest, four inches. The tail, round, taper, pointed.

The colour, a dark brown; and the posterior edge of each scale, being marked with a pen¬
cil of black lines, the whole appears variegated with numerous, triangular, black spots, regu¬
larly disposed. The scuta and squamae were of a dusky yellow, with ciliated margins, of a
dull, lead-colour, forming so many transverse, dusky, bands.

OBSERVATIONS.

For want of a bottle large enough to contain the whole, the head and tail only were sent
from Ganjam, in February, 1 7 88 ; hence the description is defective. Mr. Snodgrass, to

32

DESCRIPTION OF

whom I was obliged also for specimens of many other snakes, remarked in his letter, that
this Dameen was not, even by the natives, pretended to be venomous.

No. XXVI.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 17 1
Sub-caudal Squama A 1
Called by the natives Kareltci.

This snake, which is not venomous, was found at Hyderabad; but the description of it
having been lost, or mislaid, I had it only in my power to give the drawing.

No. XXVII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta I 7 6
Sub-caudctl Squama 88
Called by the natives Condanarouse. Coluber Imeatus, Linn. Syst. Mat. 9 82.

The head broader than the neck, oblong, ovate, depressed above ; compressed towards
the rostrum ; covered with nine laminae: the first pair between the nostrils, sub-triangular;
the next roundish; the middle laminae of the three between the eyes, lancet-form; the late¬
ral, pyramidal; the last pair oblong-semi-cordate.

The mouth middle size ; the lower jaw longer than the upper. The teeth , below, and in
the two palatal rows of the upper jaw, numerous, short, reflex; but the fore-teeth in the
marginal row, above, remarkably long.

The eyes lateral, large, oval. The nostrils small.

The trunk round, swelling elegantly from the neck to the tail; covered with oblong-oval,
smooth, scales. The length , two feet four inches and a half; circumference, two inches one
fourth.

The tail , very taper, slender, sharp pointed; in length, seven inches and a half.

Colour: the head is of a light brown ; a yellow streak behind each eye; the trunk and tail
are striped with seven longitudinal bands, or fillets; of which the middlemost, and the two
exterior towards the belly, are of a darker brown, with a greenish cast, and broader than the
others; two of the other four are almost black, and two of a greenish yellow. The scuta and

INDIAN SERPENTS.

33

one half of the squamae nearest them are of a straw colour; and a small, clarkish-green,
thread, runs along each side of the scuta and sub-caudal squamae, to near the end of the tail.

OBSERVATIONS.

This was sent from Ganjam, in October, 1 7 88, by Mr. Snodgrass ; who remarked in his
letter, £ ‘ that among the natives it bore a bad character.” It certainly, however, possesses
no poisoning organs.

No. XXVIII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 138
, Sub-caudal Squama

Called by the natives Naugealled Keaka.

The head broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, covered with eleven laminae, besides
several small, smooth, scales. The first lamina, emarginate ; the pair between the nostrils
small, square-form; the next pair roundish, and angular; the lateral of the three between
the eyes, long-oval, the middle one, long, shield-form; the two posterior, (the largest of all)
sub-semi-cordate.

The mouth small; the lower jaw shorter than the upper. Teeth small, sharp, reflex; a
marginal, and two palatal rows, above.

The eyes small, orbicular: the nostrils close to the rostrum, small, linear.

The trunk round, nearly of equal thickness to within four inches of the anus, covered with
close, ovate, carinated, scales. Length , from the nose to the anus, fourteen inches; the cir¬
cumference, about two inches three fourths.

The tail taper; but it had been cut off two or three inches from the anus; and the trunk
was broken and bruised in several places, which rendered it difficult to judge exactly of its
colour; it seemed to have a leaden or bluish cast, with many small, sagittate, spots, com¬
posed of greyish, clusky-yellow, and blackish, scales. The scuta were of a yellowish-wliite.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake, in bad preservation, was received from Ganjam in March, 1 7 88. By the
account of the natives, transmitted at the same time, it was represented as venomous; but
its want of poisoning organs, shows the assertion to be a vulgar error.

34

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XXIX.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 202
Sub -caudal Squama 9 1
Called by the natives Paha Tutta.

The head small, a very little broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, covered with
various lamina, of which the principal are one pair between the nostrils; a second, some¬
what larger, but similar in form; three between the eyes, the lateral purse-shape, the
middle one, bell-form; the posterior laminae semi-cordate, truncate.

T1 ic mouth , wide; the jaws unequal, the lower being considerably shorter. The teeth,
small, sharp, reflex; two palatal rows, and one marginal, in the upper jaw.

The eyes, distant, lateral, large, orbicular. The nostrils , likewise lateral, large, gaping.

The trunk round, closely set with very small, smooth, ovate, scales, those excepted near
the scuta, which are orbicular.

The length of the snake, one foot eleven inches. The circumference, near the head, one
inch ; in the middle of the trunk, above one inch and a half. The tail in length, is five
inches; very taper, and sharp pointed.

The colour of the head, trunk, and tail, brown; but the neck and upper part of the trunk,
are decorated with about a score of narrow, cross, bands, composed of short, black, and
white, lines; behind these, a few other more obscure bands are discernible, of reddish
brown, interspersed with white; but the white in these is only the interstitial skin,
whereas in the former, the scales were white. The latter bands become less and less visible
in approaching the tail. The orbicular scales nearest the scuta, are yellow; and the scuta
have a pale-yellowish cast.

OBSERVATIONS.

The bite of this snake on the breast of the chicken, produced no discoloration of the skin,
nor did the bird show any symptoms of indisposition.

To another snake of the same species, which appeared very active and lively, a pigeon
and a chicken being presented successively, he could not be provoked to bite either, but
coiled himself very quietly between them.

The subject above described was sent to me from Casemcottah, in July, 1 7 88, by Cap¬
tain Gowdie, to whose attention, in transmitting numerous specimens, I was particularly
obliged.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

35

I received another specimen from Lieutenant Whyte, from the same place, where the
snake would seem to be not uncommon.

No. NXX.

COLUBER.

Called by the natives Mutta Pam. Ally Pam.

The head small, a little broader than the neck, ovate, obtuse, depressed, covered with ten

laminae. The first two perforated by the nostrils; next, a solitary, oval, lamina; the second
pair, orbicular; the two lateral, between the eyes, conical; the central, shield-form, with a

point; the last pair, semi-cordate.

The month middle size; the jaws nearly equal. The teeth small, reflex; a marginal, and
two palatal rows, above.

The eyes large, oval. The nostrils small, not distant.

The trunk round ; the scales ovate, ciliate, imbricate ; but on the belly, orbicular.

The length , one foot eight inches; the circumference of the neck, near the head, hardly
exceeds one incli and a quarter; of the thickest part of the trunk, seldom more than two
inches and a quarter. The tail , very short, very small, tapers to a sharp point: somewhat
carinated on the back, and compressed on the sides.

The colour , a very dark, changeable, blue, without spots. The three orders of squamae
nearest the belly, together with the scuta, are of a whitish yellow; the scuta and squamae
are divided in the middle by a dark-bluish line.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was caught in the lake of Ankapilly, in one of the traps employed for catch¬
ing eels. It was dead when brought to me, so that I had no opportunity of trying its bite;
but it is regarded by the natives as harmless.

36

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XXXI.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 181
Sub-caudal Squama 1 30
Called by the natives Goobra.

The head broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, covered with nine laminae: the pair
between the nostrils, oblong, truncate; the next pair, larger, roundish; the central lamina,
between the eyes, very narrow, shield-form, acuminate, the lateral, sub-conical ; the posterior
pair, sub-conical, obverted, truncate, with four smaller, oblong, laminae, on each side. The
hind head covered with small, orbicular, scales.

The mouth, large; the upper jaw a little longer than the under. The teeth small, reflex ;
two palatal rows, and one marginal, in the upper jaw.

The eyes large, and oval. The nostrils large, open.

The trunk covered witli small linear-oval scales; but the middle of the back is somewhat
depressed, and the scales covering it are ob-ovate: on the sides of the scuta, there are two
rows of oval scales.

The length, three feet two inches; the circumference, about one inch and a quarter. The
tail very slender, particularly towards its sharp point; length, one foot and half an inch.

The colour of the head and trunk, a very dark brownish; but the scales on the middle of
the back, of a somewhat lighter brown; towards the scuta, the abdominal, oval, scales, are
whitish, spotted with black, nearly to the middle of the trunk; on the remainder of the
trunk, these scales are of the same cineritious colour with the scuta.

OBSERVATIONS.

The skin, with a sketch of the head, &c. of this snake, was sent by Mr. Alexander Rus¬
sell, from Hyderabad, in the summer of 1 7 88. It is said to grow to a much larger size, and
chiefly to frequent trees. It had been killed on a tree in the Ambassador’s garden.

The drawing having been coloured, partly from verbal description, and partly from the
dried skin, it is suspected that the colour of the living snake is very imperfectly represented;
for on a minute examination of the dark-brown scales on the sides, many of them were found
tipped black above, and with a beautiful azure blue below.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

37

No. XXXII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 222'

. 315 .

Sub-caudal Squamce 9 3 ,

Called by the natives Mega Rekula Poda.

The head small, but broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, and covered with twelve
principal laminae, besides seven of smaller size. The middlemost of those next the rostrum,
emarginate; the lateral, perforated by the nostrils; a pair, small, roundish, between the nos¬
trils: the next pair larger, angular, with two small, round, laminae, on each side; the
shield-form lamina, between the eyes, acuminate; the large semi-cordate pair, irregularly
shaped, and truncate, with three small laminae on each side. The scales under the eye
white.

The mouth, moderate size; the jaws of nearly equal length. The teeth , small, numerous,
reflex; two palatal rows, and one marginal, in the upper jaw.

The eyes high, not large, orbicular, prominent: the nostrils near each other, very small.

The trunk round, swelling gradually from the neck to two inches and a half circumfe¬
rence, then tapering to the tail: the scales, ovate, close, imbricate.

The length , two feet three inches and a half. The tail very taper, terminates in a sharp
point: it measures five inches three fourths.

The colour of the head, an olive-yellow, with a short, oblique, bluish-black, streak, behind
each eye; two long streaks of the same colour, with two or three ovate rings between, adorn
the neck, while two other streaks cross the throat obliquely. On the rest of the neck, and
part of the trunk, a faint pink is blended with the olive-yellow; and a narrow thread of
dark blue, with white spots at the angles, runs zigzag, or waving, along the back. But nei¬
ther the pencil, nor verbal description, can convey an adequate idea of the elegant colouring
of this snake, when provoked, and swelling with rage; the colours incessantly sliding into
each other, and varying in brilliancy.

The colours of the remainder of the trunk, with the tail, are more uniform and perma¬
nent ; the waving thread fades gradually, the olive-yellow of the back becomes darker, and
a clark-brown fillet is continued along each side to the sharp point of the tail; between which
and the scuta, is interposed a double row of white scales. The scuta and squaime are of a
pearl colour.

3 8

DESCRIPTION OF

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was found at Vizagapatam, in the month of April, and brought to me in an
hour or two after it was caught. It appeared singularly alert in its movements, and snapped
at every thing presented to it. In preparing to attack, it wreathed its neck, and part of the
trunk, into close turns, and at the same time, retracting its head, presented, at a distance,
something of the appearance of a hooded snake. When it snapped, the body being more
raised by assistance of the tail, the wreaths were rapidly unwreathed, and the head darted
obliquely forward, with a motion so rapid, that the animal, without rising from the ground,
seemed to fly on his prey. In this manner it could unexpectedly seize an object which in
appearance lay far beyond its reach.

A chicken, intended for experiment, having made its escape, was accidentally pursued
into the chamber where the snake had been left at liberty, and was no sooner perceived, than
the snake flew furiously at him, snapped several times as he passed, and soon seized and
secured him, by wreathing round the body. In two minutes the bird was found dead,
having been strangled by the snake’s tail.

A second chicken was attacked in like manner, and had he not been relieved in time,
would have suffered the same fate. He was bitten in several places, but without any conse¬
quence.

It was remarkable that, ferocious as this snake appeared to be, he could not, when held
in the hand, be provoked to bite a chicken repeatedly presented to him.

No. XXXIII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 1 5 2 "i

1232 .

Sub-caudal Squama 80 J
Called by the natives JVeeli Koea.

The head broader than the neck, broad-ovate, depressed; compressed on the sides towards
the rostrum; covered with various laminae; the first pair, triagonal, small, between the
nostrils; the next pair, quadrangular, somewhat larger; the shield-form lamina, between the
eyes, is pointed; the lateral, sub-oval; the semi-cordate pair are very large ; and on each side
is an oblong, narrow, lamina: besides some others which are smaller.

The inouth, wide; the lower jaw shorter than the upper. The teeth numerous, small,
sharp, reflex; a marginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

39

The ey es lateral, very forward, large, orbicular. The nostrils close to the point of the
rostrum, small, open.

The trunk, round, clumsily shaped ; the scales on the back, oval, carinated, imbricate;
on the sides, not carinated, and two rows next to the scuta, larger, roundish, smooth. The
length, two feet nine inches and a half; the circumference, three inches and a half.

The tail slightly carinated, tapers very gradually till within four inches of its sharp point:
length, eleven inches.

The colour; the head darker than the rest; two unequal, black, streaks, behind each eye,
with a yellow spot between them. The neck, trunk, and tail, of a yellowish brown, with
numerous round, black, spots, joined by narrow, black, fillets, regularly disposed in oblique
rows; a few scales of lighter yellow being interspersed. On the tail the spots are not joined,
and towards the point disappear. The scuta and squamae are of a yellowish white.

OBSERVATIONS.

From its frequenting the wet paddy fields, this is commonly reckoned a water snake. It
moves swiftly, and carries its head high, with a menacing air, in its progression ; but, when
provoked, it neither hissed, nor did it snap at a stick which was opposed to it.

It seemed rather to avoid a chicken which was set down before it; and could not be pro¬
voked to bite, though pecked several times by the chicken. While it lay coiled up, a chicken,
properly secured, was laid upon it, but it continued quiet, without attempting to wreath
round the chicken, or otherwise to annoy it; and when the bird fluttered and struggled to
get loose, the snake, as if afraid, creeped away.

It should be remarked, however, that in the course of this last experiment, the snake
threw up a pretty large fish, which appeared to have been but a short while in the stomach;
so that its forbearance might, in some measure, be owing to not being hungry: a circum¬
stance that suggested caution against hasty decision. But from what I have observed in other
trials on the same species, the Neeli Koea certainly is not venomous, and does not appear to
be very irascible.

40

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XXXIV.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 19 9]

r32°-

Sub-caudal Squama 1 21 J

Called by the natives Jeri Poloo. Coluber Mucosus Linn. Syst. .Mat. p. 38 8 f

Laur. Amph. p. 7 7. Mf. 15 6.

The head proportionally small, scarcely broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, but towards
the rostrum, compressed. Besides the usual laminae, there are eight or ten, of various shapes,
on each side of the hind head. The first pair, orbicular, between the nostrils; the next
pair, irregularly square. The shield-form lamina, between the eyes, rather broad above;
the lateral laminae, conical; the two posterior laminae, irregular hexagons.

The mouth , wide; the jaws nearly of equal length ; the upper jaw a little divided. The
teeth numerous, small, reflex; two palatal rows in the upper jaw, and one marginal.

The eyes lateral, large, orbicular, prominent. The nostrils near the point of the rostrum,
small, but gaping.

The trunk; the neck covered with scales, small, oval, smooth, imbricate; the back, cari-
nated; the sides, a little compressed; the scales sub-rhomboidal; but four rows on the upper
part of the back, are either carinated or striated.

The length , five feet four inches. The circumference, near the head, two inches and a
half; the thickest part of the trunk, four inches. The tail, taper, small, sharp pointed;
measures one foot seven inches.

The colour; the cheeks, and sides of the throat, are of a pale flesh, or whitish, colour,
streaked transversely, with black lines. The jugular scuta, are of a yellowish-white, each
(especially near the head) having a blackish spot on each side. The head, neck, and part
of the trunk, are of a dull, yellowish-olive; the rest of the trunk, with the tail, have a
lighter yellowish cast, variegated by transverse, black, lines and spots, joined together, which
(in an unusual manner) become blacker, or more conspicuous, as they approach the tail.
Plalf the abdominal scuta are of a dull white, strewed with dusky spots ; but the inferior
edge of each scale is of a purplish-black. The edges of the scales on the tail being black,
make it appear as if regularly checkered: the sub-caudal squamae have the like appearance,
but they are of a greenish-yellow.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

41

OBSERVATIONS.

Chickens bitten by this snake showed no signs of poison ; they suffered pain, but the
parts about the bite did not change colour, and the birds were not visibly disordered.

It is a common snake at Vizagapatam; and is sometimes found of a much larger size than
the subject now described.

No. XXXV.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 1 8 8 'i

[243.

Sub-caudal Squama 5 5 J
Called by the natives Katla Tutta.

The head somewhat broader than the neck, ovate, depressed, covered with ten laminae:
the anterior, emarginate; the first pair perforated by the nostrils; the next larger, and
roundish; the lateral laminae of the three between the eyes, conical, the middle lamina,
broad shield-form; the occipital pair, semi-cordate.

The mouth small; the jaws nearly equal. The teeth small, regular; two palatal rows, and
one marginal, in the upper jaw: some of the hinder teeth on each side, longer than the others.

The eyes small, orbicular, prominent. The first pair of laminae perforated by the nostrils ,
which are very small.

The trunk round, about the size of a large goose-quill, and nearly of equal thickness. The
scales smooth, sub-orbicular, imbricate. The length, eight inches. The tail very taper,
sharp pointed: measures only one inch and a fourth.

The colour approaches to an olive yellow. The head singularly marked with three trian¬
gular, black, fillets, with waving white margins: the first, pointing to the nostrils, extends
to the eyes; the second, springing from the shield-form lamina, crosses the semi-cordate,
and is continued, diverging, to the throat; the third, broader than either of the other two,
touches the semi-cordate laminas, and diverges on the neck. Along the whole of the trunk,
and tail, are about thirty-four transverse fillets, with waving, white margins, which continue,
without fading in colour, to the end of the tail. The scuta of a pearl-colour.

OBSERVATIONS.

The above description was made from a living subject, found at Vizagapatam, in April,
1 7 88, which afforded an opportunity of attempting to make it bite chickens and pigeons;
but, though fresh caught, and very lively, it could never be provoked to bite either: from
the absence, however, of poisoning organs, it may safely be pronounced harmless.

I have been more particular in respect to this snake, as it is not rare, and frequently passes
for the Cobra Monil; under which name it had been sent to me, in spirits, from Ganjam,
Masulipatam, and other places, before I met with it alive.

42

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XXXVI.

t

*

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 234)

[32 i.

Sub-caudal Squama 8 7 J
Called by the natives Katla Vyrien.

The head a little broader than the neck, oblong-ovate, depressed, covered with ten
laminae, including that in front of the rostrum: the anterior pair between the nostrils,
roundish ; the next pair, larger, angular; the shield-form lamina short, obtuse; the lateral,
semi-conical; the posterior pair, inverted cones.

The mouth middling size; the lower jaw shorter than the upper. The teeth small, reflex;
two palatal rows, and one marginal, in the upper jaw.

The eyes lateral, orbicular, prominent. The nostrils very small, close on the margin of
the rostrum.

Trunk; the back carinated, the belly flat; the scales sub-orbicular, smooth, close, imbri¬
cate. The length, one foot five inches; circumference near the head, three fourths of an
inch ; thickest part of the trunk, one inch and one fourth ; it then tapers rapidly. The tail
measures three inches and a half; is very small, particularly near the end, and terminates
in a sharp point.

Colour; there is a yellow spot on the occiput, or beginning of the neck, but the rest of the
head, the neck, and part of the back, are of a dark-brown colour, which gradually growing
lighter, becomes, in approaching the tail, of a yellowish-brown. From the head to the ex¬
tremity of the tail, there are found about thirty-six transverse bands, in shape resembling
a dice-box: they are of a dusky yellowish-white, sprinkled with brown dots. The scuta (if
not changed by the spirits,) are of the same colour as the bands.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was sent to me from Vellore, by Mr. Duffin, and supposed to be the Cobra
Monil; but the want of poisoning organs showed it was not.

No. XXXVII.

COLUBER.

A bdominal Scuta 2 4 3

Sub-caudal Squama 8 2
Called also by the natives Katla Vyrien.

The head broader than the neck, roundish, short, obtuse, covered with nine lamina: the
Erst two pair nearly equal in size, oblong-square, transverse; the middle lamina between
the eyes, square; the two posterior laminae, truncate.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

43

The mouth middling size; the jaws nearly of equal length. The teeth sharp, reflex, and
(as usual where there are no fangs,) a marginal, and two palatal, rows in the upper jaw.

The eyes lateral, round, prominent. The nostrils small, round, near the rostrum.

The trunk covered with ovate, close, smooth, imbricate, scales; the back carinated; the
belly flat.

The length , nine inches; thickness, at the neck, about that ol a crow-quill; and, about
the middle, hardly exceeds the size of a goose-quill: it tapers towards the tail, which mea¬
sures one inch eight lines, and is exceedingly slender, and sharp pointed.

The colour of the head, pure yellow; the trunk, and the tail, a dark brown, and, as in
the preceding, decorated the whole length by transverse bands, of the shape ot dice-boxes,
but of a pale yellow, without intermixture of dark dots, except one middle dot on each scale
next the scuta. The scuta are yellow, like the bands.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake approaches in many circumstances so near to the one last described, that it
may possibly be only a variety of the same species; or the variation in colour may be
ascribed to the difference of age, size, 8cc.: but I thought it better to give a distinct descrip¬
tion and drawing, as it also was sent under the name of Cobra Monil, to which it is no more
entitled than any of the preceding harmless snakes, so named erroneously.

It is further remarkable, that though the Cobra Monil is familiarly talked of, by the Eu¬
ropeans in India, as well known, and highly venomous, yet, after much pains employed in
the search, I never could procure the real animal; all those brought to me under that name prov¬
ing innocent snakes, except the small, young specimens of the Boa, No. I. already described.

No. XXXVIII.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 1 6 9 1

219.

Sub-caudal Squamte 50 J

The head a little broader than the neck, ovate, obtuse, depressed; covered with ten la¬
minae : one in front of the rostrum, emarginate ; the next pair perforated by the nostrils,
small, roundish; a pair similar in shape, but larger; the central lamina between the eyes,
broad shield-form; the lateral, nearly oval; the hindermost pair, semi-cordate.

The mouth small; the jaws nearly equal. Two palatal rows of teeth, and one marginal,
in the upper jaw.

The eyes lateral, small, oval. The nostrils almost close to the apex of the rostrum.

The trunk round; scales smooth, ovate, imbricate. The length, one foot nine inches and

44

DESCRIPTION OF

a half. Circumference, (near the head,) one inch and a fourth ; the rest of the trunk, about
two inches and a half. The tail short, sharp pointed; in length, three inches and a half.

The predominant colour, a duskish clay. On the neck, a remarkable oblique, broad,
black, mark, with a waving, yellowish, or white, margin, of a triangular shape, the point
towards the occiput. The trunk and tail are variegated with two or three and twenty cross
bands, with similar borders, which continue bright in colour to the end of the tail.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake, without a name, was sent from Arnee, by Major Bonniveaux, and received
in October, 1 7 88.

If it is not the same species with No. XXXV. it certainly bears a strong resemblance.
The two remarkable fillets on the head are, however, wanting here, and the mark on the
neck, differs in shape from the third fillet in the former: but the cross bands on the trunk,
are nearly alike both in shape and colour; the number of the latter, however, instead of
thirty-four, is only twenty-two, and the difference of the united scuta and squamae is
twenty-four. Another circumstance in which they differ, is the form of the scales; in the
former they were sub-orbicular, here they are ovate.

No. XXXIX.

COLUBER.

A bdominal Scuta 26 5.

Sub-caudal Squama 3 6

Scuta 2 8 s 6 7.
Squama 3_

Called by the natives Bora.

A description of this Bengal snake, with a sketch of the head and tail, was received from
Mr. Alexander Russell, of Calcutta, in June, 1 7 88.

The head a little broader than the neck, oblong, depressed, the rostrum sub-compressed,
very obtuse. The hind head covered with very small, ovate, scales; the rest, with a num¬
ber of laminae, as represented in the figure.

The mouth wide, the jaws equal. The teeth in the lower jaw large, reflex, sharp; in
the upper jaw, a marginal row, and two palatal rows, as in the serpents that have no fangs.

The eyes lateral, orbicular, large. The nostrils, very near the point of the rostrum.

The trunk round, covered with small, smooth, oval, scales, closely imbricate: but there are
two rows of larger scales on each side of the belly. The scuta are remarkably short; and a
little above the anus, on each side, is a small spur, about the fourth of an inch in length, of
a horny texture, curve, with the sharp point turned outwards.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

45

The length , four feet ten inches; circumference of the neck, two inches; of the middle
of the trunk, five inches one fourth.

The tail round, short, (measuring only seven inches and a half,) taper, pointed. The sub-
caudal squamae, thirty-six in number, are followed by twenty-eight complete scuta, between
which and the point, are six (or three pair of) squamae.

The predominant colour , brown. All along the back are large, roundish, spots, of a light
brown in the middle, the edges of a yellowish-brown; the sides are variegated by brown
spots on a whitish ground, which brightens in approaching the belly. The scuta are of a
pearl-white.

It is pretended, that though the bite of the Bora does not prove mortal in less than ten or
twelve days, it is very soon followed with eruptions on different parts of the body.

OBSERVATIONS.

The Bora of Bengal bears a strong resemblance, in many circumstances, to the Pedda
Poda, (No. XXIV.) formerly described. The description of the sub-caudal squamae and
scuta, (supposing it to be constant,) forms indeed a material distinction; but in the laminae
of the head, and the spurs near the anus, there is a pretty exact agreement: not to mention
the number of abdominal scuta, which differs only nine, and the sub-caudal squamae and
scuta, which, taken together, differs only two.

The spurs in both seem in all respects alike; and Mr. Russell, who kept the snake alive
for some time, had an opportunity of examining them particularly.

That its bite ever proves mortal, seems highly improbable ; and the effect of producing
cutaneous eruptions, is so often by the natives ascribed to the bite of snakes which are
known to be harmless, that their reports of that kind are always to be received with due
caution.

No. XL.

COLUBER.

Abdominal Scuta 145

Sub-caudal Scuta 2 I I rl94.

\ 49

Sub-caudal Squamce 2 8 J J

Called by the natives Hurriah.

The head scarcely broader than the neck, ovate, obtuse, depressed; towards the rostrum,
compressed. The laminae, (including the one in front of the rostrum,) in number ten, but
vary somewhat from the usual forms. The first, triangular; the first pair perforated by the
nostrils; the second, oblong-oval; the central lamina, between the eyes, obverse-ovate; the

46

DESCRIPTION OF

lateral, somewhat like crescents; the posterior pair roundish, acuminate at top: some smaller
laminse on each side.

The mouth, not wide; the jaws nearly equal. The teeth very small, reflex; a marginal
row in the upper jaw, and two palatal rows.

The eyes lateral, orbicular. The nostrils small, round, near each other.

The trunk round, nearly of equal thickness from the neck to the anus, covered with very
small, ovate, scales.

The length , fourteen inches; the diameter where biggest, one inch. The tail measures
three inches, and is remarkable for the combination of scuta and squamae. From the anus
to the commencement of the squamae, it diminishes gradually; after which it tapers rapidly,
and ends in a sharp point.

The colour, black, with a brownish-yellow fillet, on each side, the whole length. The
scuta of a pearl-white.

OBSERVATIONS.

This snake was found at Hyderabad, by Mr. Alexander Russell, who sent a sketch of the
head, the neck, and the tail, together with a description, from which the rest of the drawing
was made.

He remarks, that it was not uncommon, and not reputed venomous.

I have met with nothing like the anomalous singularity in the tail, except in the Bora
of Bengal.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

47

No. XLI.
ANGUIS. *

Abdominal Squama.
Sub-caudal Squama.

Called by the natives Nalla Wahlagillee Pam.

The head , oblong, round, bulging behind, sub-convex above, a little compressed laterally,
and projecting into an obtuse rostrum. The occiput covered with small, orbicular, scales ;
the rest with laminae. The anterior pair, oblong-roundish, perforated by the nostrils; the
next pair, smaller, roundish, pointed; the central lamina, between the eyes, rude shield-
form, very much acuminate; the lateral, conical, obtuse; the posterior pair, oblong-oval:
there are besides, several small laminae.

The mouth very large, the jaws long, narrow, nearly of equal length, or the lower rather
longest. The teeth small, numerous, sharp, reflex: a marginal, and two palatal rows, above.

The eyes lateral, middle size, oval. The nostrils vertical, near each other.

The trunk; the back highly carinated, the sides declining; the scales, orbicular, very
minute, thick set, innumerable, not imbricate. Length, two feet four inches; circumference,
where thickest, nearly three inches; but the skin every where very loose. The tail thin,
flat, rounded at the end; and measures three inches only.

The colour of the head and back, black, with a pretty broad band, brimstone-colour, run¬
ning from the cheek to within two inches of the anus; the belly is of a dusky greenish-yel¬
low, with some obscure, round, black, spots, towards the tail, which is singularly spotted,
white, black, and yellow.

OBSERVATIONS.

This sea snake, according to the Vizagapatam fishermen, seldom approaches the shore:
several of them had never seen one before. They pretended it was of a very dangerous
kind, which is contradicted by the want of poisonous organs.

It was found on the beach in January, 1 7 88 ; and a second, but much smaller, was brought
to me in the May following.

* The Anguis is distinguished from the Coluber, by the want of scuta; both belly and tail being covered with squamae,
which, in the present subject, cannot be counted ; but in other subjects admit of being reckoned in series.

48

DESCRIPTION OF

No. XLII.

ANGUIS.

Abdominal Squama \ 5 1
Sub-caudal Squama 120
Called by the natives Rondoo Talooloo Pam.

The head not broader than the neck, ovate, obtuse, convex, covered with laminae of un¬
usual shapes. The first pair small, perforated by the nostrils; then one lamina, transverse,
resembling a flask with a short neck; the next between the eyes, broad-oval; the next,
sagittate; and, behind all, two, long-oval, lying obliquely on the occiput.

The mouth not wide; the jaws unequal. The teeth small, numerous, reflex; a marginal,
and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

The eyes lateral, small, sub-oval, not prominent. The nostrils close to the point of the
rostrum, very small.

The trunk cylindric, nearly of equal thickness, from the head to the end of the tail. The
scales small, orbicular, imbricate, and each having a black dot, eight or ten, parallel, dotted,
lines are formed, running from the head to the end of the tail.

The length , ten inches and a half; thickness, about that of a swan-quill.

The tail, round, smooth, hardly tapers, point blunt; measures four inches and a half.

The colour, a reddish brown ; but part of the tail is cineritious, or of a pale blue; the ab¬
dominal and sub-caudal squamae are of a glossy white, without dots.

OBSERVATIONS.

The natives call this, as well as the smaller, (No. XLIIL) the double headed snake,
though it so visibly differs in every respect, except in its mode of progression, either end fore¬
most. It is very alert in its movements, and quickly buries itself in the sand, when pursued.

The tail is so much longer than that of the Anguis Meleagris of Linnaeus, that I am in
doubt whether it can be referred to that species.

No. XLIII.

ANGUIS.

Called also by the natives Rondoo Talooloo Pam.

The head of this small reptile is roundish, not broader than the neck, obtuse, three or four
laminae on the fore part; behind, covered with scales.

The mouth very small, placed under the rostrum, when the animal is on its belly. There
are either no teeth, or I could not discern them.

INDIAN SERPENTS.

49

The eyes, vertical, orbicular, prominent. The nostrils minute, near the point of the rostrum.

The trunk round, nearly of equal bigness, but tapers a little from the tail to the head;
covered every where with sub-orbicular scales, closely set, not to be counted on the belly.
The length about six inches; the size of a hen-quill.

The colour , a cream-colour, powdered with innumerable black dots.

OBSERVATIONS.

^ «

Though the mouth, and the anus, are very visible to the naked eye, this reptile vulgarly

passes for a snake with two heads; owing probably to its moving head or tail foremost, in¬
differently. It moves with incredible swiftness; and when immersed in ordinary spirits,
remained alive more than ten minutes.

It is not uncommon at Vizagapatam; and is held to be mischievous, which I consider as
a vulgar error.

No. XLIV.

ANGUIS.

Called by the natives Tatta Pam. Anguis Scytale, Linn. Syst. J{at. ft. 392 ?

The head hardly broader than the neck, small, roundish, obtuse. The first pair of laminae
triangular, perforated by the nostrils; the next pair triangular also, but smaller; the middle
lamina of the three between the eyes, hexangular; the posterior pair, as large as all the others,
oval, acuminate in front: behind these, are three small angular laminae.

The mouth not wide; the jaws of equal length. The teeth, small, reflex, regular; a mar¬
ginal, and two palatal rows, in the upper jaw.

The eyes lateral, orbicular. The nostrils vertical, round, open.

Trunk; the neck round, smooth; the scales small, ovate, imbricate; the back carinated,
the sides declining, the belly roundish; the scales on the trunk, as well as on the tail and
the belly, orbicular, close, not imbricate.

The length, nineteen inches and a half; the circumference, three fourths of an inch, but
towards the tail, where thickest, one inch and one fourth. The tail, flat, two edged, rounded
at the end, with a small point: measures only two inches.

Colour: the head black; the trunk and the tail also black ; but on the sides are fifty-eight
yellowish-white, conical, spots, with the points towards the ridge of the back, some of which
(on the neck, and near the tail,) join their points together: the tip of the tail not spotted.

OBSERVATIONS.

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alert in its motions, but showed no disposition to bite. Being put into a vessel with some sea
water, with a view to preserve it for experiment, it died in a few minutes.

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XL3V.

EXPERIMENTS AND REMARKS

ON THE

POISONS

OF

SEVERAL INDIAN SERPENTS;

AS ALSO ON THE

EFFECTS OF SOME REMEDIES

AGAINST THEIR BITE.

CONTENTS.

Sect. I. Experiments on the Poison of the Gedi Parcigoodo.

Sect. II. - - - - the Cobra de Gapello.

Sect. III. - the Katukci Rekula Poda.

Sect. IV. - Bodroo Pam.

Sect. V. Experiments on the artificial Insertion of the Poison of Serpents into the Bodies
of living Animals .

Sect. VI. Experiments on Remedies applied against the Poison of Serpents.

Sect. VII. Of the Effects of the Poison of Serpents on the Human Body.

Sect. VIII. Miscellaneous Experiments and Observations on Serpents.

Explanation of Anatomical Plates.

INTRODUCTION.

Of forty-three Serpents, examined and described in the present collection, seven only
were found furnished with poisonous organs. An account of the effects of the poisons of
four of these, viz. the Gedi Paragoodoo, No. I.; the Cobra de Capello, No. V.; the Katuka
Rekula Poda, No. VII.; and the Bodroo Pam, No. IX.; is given separately, in the four fol¬
lowing Sections. In regard to two others, viz. No. III. and No. VIII. the few experiments
made on them have been subjoined to the respective descriptions. On the venomous Boa,
No. XI. having only seen the dead subject, there was no opportunity of making trials.

The experiments related in the other Sections, chiefly respect the poisons of the Cobra de
Capello, and the Katuka Rekula Poda, as subjects procurable with less difficulty, and their
poisons, in quality, being the most highly deleterious.

Upon comparing the effects of the poisons of five East Indian serpents on brute animals,
with those produced by the poisons of the rattle snake, and the European viper, it may in
general be remarked, that they all produce morbid symptoms nearly similar, however much
they may differ in the degree of their deleterious power, or in the rapidity of its operation.
The bite of a rattle snake, in England, killed a dog in two minutes: the bite of the most per¬
nicious snakes mentioned in the following Sections, was never observed to kill a dog in
less than twenty-seven minutes.

That the poison of serpents must have precisely the same effect on man, as on brute ani¬
mals, would be rather a rash assumption ; at the same time it will not be disputed, that atten¬
tive observation of their operation on brutes, may suggest important hints, and contribute to
throw light on the mode of their operation on man.

It need hardly be remarked, that a variety of experiments, inadmissible in the human
species, maybe made on such animals as can, at all times, be readily infected, either artifi¬
cially, or by the bite of the living reptile; and that such experiments, judiciously con¬
ducted, while they ascertain fin respect to these animals) the natural or undisturbed progress
of the disease, as well as the effects of remedies, where remedies were applied, must afford
many important inferences, which cautiously, but with great probability, may be extended
to the human subject.

The following Experiments are by no means offered as completely satisfactory. Some of
them serve only to suggest hints for further inquiry; and others require to be repeated, mul¬
tiplied, or varied, before general conclusions can safely be established.

EXPERIMENTS, &c.

SECTION I.

Experiments on the Poison of the Gedi Paragoodoo. JVo. I.

Experiment I. August, 1788.-A snake of this species was received from Bimblipatam, after a journey of

seven hours, in so languid a state, that it was with much difficulty he was made to bite a chicken on the breast:
a little speck of blood was visible on the skin, but without any mark of the fangs having acted ; so that I ima¬
gined the bird had not been injured : within twenty-five minutes, however, it began to droop ; and in a few
minutes more, growing rapidly worse, it expired, without any considerable convulsion, in about forty minutes
from the bite.

Experiment II.-At the distance of five days, the same snake was found in high vigour, and beauty ;

having in that interval changed his skin. A chicken, bitten by him in the pinion, was soon seemingly seized with
stupor, though it still continued to walk, or to remain motionless on its legs. In ten minutes, it was unable to
stand ; and within the quarter of the hour, lay along the ground as if asleep. In twenty minutes, it made seve¬
ral vain efforts with its wings to raise itself from the ground ; and these were frequently repeated, in the
course of four or five minutes, reclining its head now on one side, now on the other. Soon after this, it was
slightly convulsed, and at the expiration of the half hour, it died.

The wounded part was not discoloured, but the comb, and sides of the mouth, became of a dark red, and the
beak, and some of the toes, were livid.

Experiment III. August 17.-A Gedi Paragoodoo, which had been caught at Casern Cottah the day be¬

fore, was made to bite a stout, large, dog, on the thigh, near the groin. The animal held fast for more than
twenty seconds, but the fangs seemed to have penetrated no deeper than the skin ; there was barely an appear¬
ance of blood, and some poison was found about the supposed place of the puncture.

The dog howled a good deal, when wounded ; but, on being set at liberty, walked about without any symp¬
toms of poison. In ten minutes, he urined, and the wounded thigh was a little drawn up, but he still continued
on his legs. In a quarter of an hour, he couched and howled ; the motion of the thigh was visibly more impaired,
though he was still able to raise himself. In twenty-five minutes, being forced to rise, both hind legs were ob¬
served to be paralytic.

In the course of the second hour, he grew manifestly more disordered ; he did not howl much, but vomited
more than once ; became more torpid, and lay along on one side, panting. At the end of the second hour, he
died, having scarcely suffered any convulsions.

I examined the part bitten, four hours after death, and found it hardly swelled, or discoloured : a circum¬
stance different from what usually is observed in the bites of other venomous snakes.

Experiment IV.--A slender bitch was bitten, near the groin. It was fifteen minutes before any signs of

being infected appeared in the limbs, and then they were very slight. In fifty minutes she lay down on her side,
visibly more disordered ; and, being forced to rise, at the end of the hour, both legs were become paralytic, but
the bitten thigh in a greater degree than the other : she immediately lay down again, and vomited a little;
convulsions soon followed, which continued, more severe than in the former case, till her death ; that is, till one
hour ten minutes after the bite.

54

EXPERIMENTS ON THE POISONS

SECTION II.

Experiments on the Poison of the Cobra de Gapello. No. VI.

Experiment I. June, 1787.-A dog, bitten on the inside of the thigh, by the Comboo Nagoo, howled at

first as if in much pain. After two or three minutes, he lay down, and continued, at intervals, to moan and howl.
After twenty minutes, he rose, but stood with difficulty, and was unable to walk; his whole frame seemed
greatly disordered. He soon lay down again, and, in a few minutes, was seized with convulsions, in which he
expired, twenty-seven minutes and a half after the bite.

Experiment II. July. -A large, very stout dog, was bitten by another variety of the Coluber Naja, in the

inside of the thigh. In a minute or two, the thigh was drawn up ; which in general is the first symptom of the
poison having taken effect. He continued, however, nearly an hour, walking on three legs, seemingly not other¬
wise disordered ; he then laid himself along, showed great inquietude, but did not howl; purged once. About
this time, he became in an uncommon degree convulsed about the head and throat, and made several vain efforts
to rise; both hinder legs being now paralytic. In this state he continued above an hour, and then expired :
two hours and half a minute after the bite.

Experiment III.-A black bitch was bitten in the usual place of the thigh, immediately after the dog in

the former experiment. Showing no signs, for an hour and a half, of being affected, she was bitten in the other
thigh, by a Cobra, which had been kept several days without biting. Though the snake bit fiercely, no conse¬
quences were observed, for above two hours, after which I did not see her ; but in the third hour, she became
disordered in the usual manner, and expired in five hours after the second bite.

Experiment IV.-A strong dog, bitten in the usual place, did not appear to be disordered, till after one

hour, when he began to droop ; but the legs were not affected. In twenty minutes more, he howled a little, and
both hinder legs were then observed to have become paralytic. From this time, he grew gradually worse ; and,
after some slight convulsions, he died : within an hour and forty-eight minutes from the bite.

Experiment V. July 20.-A ScintaNagoo (Tamarind Cobra) was made to bite a strong dog, in the usual

place of the thigh. He very soon showed signs of being infected, and in half an hour appeared much disordered.
In the second hour, he seemed to grow worse, he panted much as he lay on his side ; and, at one time, suddenly
starting up, he howled dismally, and was seized with an universal trembling. He then fell into a stupor, in which
he continued one hour ; but at the end of four hours from the bite, he appeared pretty well recovered.

Experiment VI.-The snake in the preceding experiment, after having bit another dog, was made to bite

a chicken in the thigh, which had previously been well rubbed with oil. For a quarter of an hour, the bird
showed no signs of disorder ; it then began to droop, could hardly move from its place ; and growing gradually
more dull and stupid, it expired in an hour and twenty minutes, without convulsions.

Experiment VII.-Another chicken was bitten in the thigh, without applying oil; but showing no signs

of disorder whatever, it was bitten a second time, at the distance of four hours. It survived the second bite two
hours ; and, as in Experiment VI. died without convulsions.

Observations.- Itmay be remarked, that fowls seldom die from the poison, without suffering convulsions

in some degree. Their absence in the'first chicken, might have been ascribed to the oil; but no oil had been used
for the second : and many subsequent experiments showed that oil, rubbed on the part previously to the bite,
neither prevented the poison taking effect, nor produced any mitigation of the usual symptoms.

Experiment VIII. November 11.-A large dog was bitten in the thigh, by a Male Nagoo, which had been

captive only two days. He complained a good deal at the instant of the bite, and the leg was soon drawn up.
In twenty-five minutes, he was seized with convulsions, succeeded by a stupor, in which state he lay for ten
minutes. The convulsions, however, returned, and he expired in a quarter of an hour : fifty-six minutes from
the bite.

OF INDIAN SERPENTS.

55

Experiment IX.-—A second dog, but much stouter, was bitten also in the thigh. The snake at first

seemed reluctant, but at length, seizing with his holders, he held fast for nearly a minute, and fetched blood.
During this time, both fangs were a little protruded, though he did not, to me, appear to strike with them.

This not being deemed sufficient, the snake, with some difficulty, was made to bite a second time. He
now struck with one fang only, and held fast with his holders. The inner part of the thigh was intended to
be bitten, but the acting fang struck the exterior part, where the skin was thickest.

The dog hardly complained either time. The little blood oozing from the punctures, showed he was
wounded; and some poison remained visible on the skin.

No suspicious symptoms followed; nor was the leg, though the thigh had been twice bitten, contracted.
He lay down sometimes, seemingly inclined to doze; and once I thought I could perceive a tremulous motion
in the muscles of the thigh; but when rouzed, he walked about, and eat what was offered. After eight
hours, he was quite well.

Experiment X. January 3, 1788.-An Arege Nagoo, from which poison had been procured for in¬

sertion, the day before, was made to bite a stout dog in the thigh. “ In less than a minute, he showed evident
“ symptoms of the venom having taken effect; he could not put the leg to the ground ; and, for more than
“ two minutes, continued to moan, as if in pain. He remained, nevertheless, standing on his three legs, for
“ a quarter of an hour; when, growing more stupid and heavy, he lay down : yet, when forced to rise, he
“ walked about seemingly in good spirits, though obliged to trail the infected limb. He refused food and
“ drink; and, when left to himself, immediately lay down. He died in about three hours/'

For the account of the above experiment, I was obliged to my friend Mr. Briggs, who obligingly undertook
it, in my absence on a botanizing excursion.

Experiment XI. August. -A Cobra de Capello, which had lost his two longest fangs, but retained two

of the second order, was made to bite a very large, stout, dog. At first the dog complained loudly, though
the thigh neither was drawn up, nor, for a quarter of an hour, did any symptoms of poison appear. About
this time, breaking loose, he was pursued ; and after a chase of an hour and a half, was brought back extremely
heated and fatigued.

After resting a quarter of an hour, water was offered him, but he would not drink, though he eat some
morsels of bread thrown into the water.

It was intended to have given him the Tanjore medicine; but, besides that I was in doubt of his being
poisoned, the time of giving the medicine had elapsed.

About a quarter of an hour after eating the bread, he grew sick, vomited, began to howl, and showed much
inquietude. After ten minutes, he vomited a second time, and became extremely outrageous; struggled to get
loose, snapped desperately at the stake to which he was tied, and howled incessantly. After the second vomiting,
he lay down, and was much agitated about the belly and stomach: the muscles of the face were also convulsed.
Being made to rise, he walked without any seeming impediment from the hind legs.

At the end of the third hour, he still continued extremely ferocious, in so much that it became necessary to
tie his legs. From this time, his howlings and strugglings grew gradually weaker, and the convulsive motions
of his face increased; in which state he lingered about an hour longer, and then expired.

Nearly the circumference of half a crown, was quite black, round the part bitten.

Observations.- The symptoms of rage attending in this case, were in a degree beyond what I had ever

observed before, or have observed since. The dog seemed quite furious, and gnawed the stick with incredible
ferocity.

Could this be accounted for from the agitation excited by the violent exercise of so long a chase, joined to the
strong constitution of the dog? And may it be supposed, that the running retarded the mortal effectsof the poison ?*

That no usual symptoms of poison appeared at first in the wounded thigh; and that no other symptoms came
on till after two hours, were remarkable circumstances.

* See Transactions of a Society for the improvement of medical and chirurgical knowledge. Lond. 1793. p. 310. 321.

5b

EXPERIMENTS ON THE POISONS

Experiment XII. September, 1788.-A chicken, bitten by a Cobra de Capello, (which had just before

bit another chicken, where oil of vitriol was applied to the wound,) lay down on one side, as the other had done,
and stretched out its legs, as if about to expire; but it survived the bite one hour and twenty-four minutes;
having suffered slight convulsions before death. The chicken to which the vitriol had been applied, expired in
twenty minutes.

Experiment XIII.-A chicken bitten on the lower part of the thigh, immediately retired to a corner and

couched, but was soon discovered to have lost the use of the leg. It remained constantly couched; and, at the
end of two hours, was found in the agonies of death.

Experiment XIV.-A Cobra de Capello, (which had been captive more than six weeks, and fed only with

milk, once in seven days,) bit a pig on the inside of the thigh. For some minutes no effects were visible ; the
animal walked about without any impediment from the wounded thigh. In about ten minutes she couched, and
appeared disordered, but did not complain. In twenty minutes, she became visibly more disordered, and lay
down, panting, on one side; in which state she remained about a quarter of an hour ; she was then seized with
convulsions, and expired within less than an hour after the bite.

Experiment XV.-Another Cobra was made to bite the thigh of a chicken. The leg was immediately

drawn up; and in about two minutes, the bird, after purging, couched; in a few minutes more, the wounded
thigh was perceived to be paralytic. In ten minutes the bird seemed stupified, and slight convulsions super¬
vened: soon after which, it laydown on one side; the convulsions became more violent, and continued at
intervals till its death: twenty-five minutes after the bite.

Experiment XVI.-A Cobra received from Ganjam, with fangs remarkably short, (the long ones

having probably been lost, or extracted,) bit a chicken in the usual place; but it was doubtful whether the
fangs had acted. The bird immediately purged, and soon after couched. After ten minutes, it walked with
visible difficulty; and for most part of the first hour, remained couched and dozing.

In the second hour, it grew gradually worse, at times supporting its head by putting the point of the beak
to the ground; and often laying the side of the head quite down, while the body remained couched as before.
No convulsive symptoms.

At the end of the second hour, the chicken lay on its side, as if expiring; the head and parts about the
throat, were slightly convulsed ; and it died soon after.

Observations.- Considering it was the first bite of the Cobra, the chicken lingered unusually long;

it was remarkable also, that it suffered no strong convulsions.

Experiment XVII. August, 1788.-An attempt was made to make a Cobra de Capello bite a Nooni

Paragoodoo in the tail, but that being found too small a subject, the belly was bitten, a little above the anus.
The snake soon lost its former activity, and when put under a glass shed, coiled itself up. In this situation I
left him ; and on my return after one hour, found him dead: that is, in about an hour and a quarter after
the bite.

The part bitten was a little discoloured, and some of the dry poison had formed a kind of coat over it.

Upon opening the belly, the parts immediately beneath the bite, appeared much inflamed, but I could not
discover whether the fangs had penetrated into the cavity.

The lungs seemed much stuffed with blood.

Experiment XVIII.-A Cobra de Capello received from Ganjam, under the name Satanag, was made

to bite another remarkably large Cobra, brought from the same place, under the name Coultiah. The poison
was shed on the place, but no marks of the fangs could be perceived, and the Coultiah remained well as before.
This experiment was repeated with the like result, though a little blood, as well as poison, was found on the
part bitten.

Experiment XIX.-Some days after the last experiment, a Coodum Nagoo was made to bite the Coultiah

in the belly. Both fangs visibly acted; blood appeared on the wound, but no other consequence followed. A
Tar Tutta bitten immediately after, in the same part, died within two hours.

OF INDIAN SERPENTS.

57

Experiment XX.——-Chickens and pigeons bitten by a Cobra de Capello whose fangs had been eradicated,
suffered no symptoms of poison ; but when poison taken from the same snake, was inserted into their bodies, by
incision or puncture, they suffered the usual symptoms, and very often died.

The above experiments have been selected from a number of others made on the Cobra de Capello, but of
which a detail was judged unnecessary, the concomitant circumstances, as well as the result, being found exactly
similar.

SECTION III.

Experiments on the Poison of the Katuka Reknla Poda. JVo. VII.

Experiment I. October 17, 1787.-The snake had been caught only two or three days before, and

seemed in high spirits.

A chicken bitten in the pinion was instantly infected, seized with convulsions, and expired in thirty-eight
seconds.

Upon dissection, nothing remarkable was observed in the heart, nor other viscera.

Experiment II.-Immediately after the chicken, a stout dog was bitten in the thigh. Within less than

five minutes, he appeared stupified, the thigh was drawn up, and he frequently moved it, as if from pain. He
remained, however, standing, and eat of some bread that was offered to him. He purged. In about ten minutes
the thigh became paralytic. In fifteen minutes, he had entirely lost the use of the wounded thigh ; he lay down,
howled in a dismal manner, and frequently licked the wounded part; making, at intervals, ineffectual attempts
to rise. In nineteen minutes, after a short cessation, he again began to howl, moaned often, the breathing
became laborious, and the jaws were convulsively shut. The few succeeding minutes were passed alternately in
agony, and in stupor. In twenty-six minutes after the bite, he expired.

After death, blood issued from his mouth and nose. The parts around the punctures, upon dividing the skin,
were found much inflamed,

Experiment III.-The third subject of experiment was a slender, weakly looking dog. He was bitten in

the thigh, and howled loudly. It was intended to have made trial of the Tanjore remedy; which was prevented
by the dog breaking loose. After a quarter of an hour, he was brought back limping. In a few minutes more,
the thigh appeared completely paralytic, and the dog lay along, dozing ; or when he attempted to rise, was
unable to support himself. In thirty-six minutes, he seemed to be in the agonies of death ; but recovering a
little, he sunk again into a doze.

At the end of two hours he rose up, but was unable to stand, and howled as if from pain. The stupor return-
ing, he grew gradually worse ; his jaws were locked, and in about half an hour he expired, without suffering
convulsions : three hours and a half after the bite.

Experiment IV.-The inner part of the fore thigh of a rabbit, being first divested of its fur, was bitten by

the same snake. The thigh was immediately drawn up, but the animal made shift to walk a little, and seemed
tolerably alert. In thirty-five minutes, he suffered convulsions, grew perceptibly worse, was unable to get up,
and at intervals was seized with an universal tremor. He expired in less than one hour.

This was properly the fifth experiment made this forenoon with the snake, for it had immediately before bit
another rabbit, to which remedies were applied. (See Exp. II. Sect. VI.)

Experiment V.-In order to see how far the strength of the venom was impaired, a chicken was bitten

on the pinion. It remained seemingly well for two minutes, only nowand then fluttering the wounded wing.
It then visibly drooped, lay down, soon was convulsed, and expired in somewhat less than six minutes.

Experiment VI. October 18.-After a night's rest, the snake was made to bite a large, healthy, stout dog,

on the thigh. The dog howled dismally at first, but appearing in no other respect affected than from pain, he
was, after an interval of two hours, bitten a second time; yet still without effect.

58

EXPERIMENTS ON THE POISONS

Observations. -The snake seemed sluggish this morning, and bit rather reluctantly, so that it was

doubtful whether the fangs had penetrated the skin : that the venom was sufficiently potent appeared from
the next experiment.

Experiment VII.-The snake, with some difficulty, being provoked to bite a chicken, the bird expired in

convulsions, in little more than a minute.

Experiment VIII. October 20, 1787.-The inside of the thigh of a stout dog being held close to the mouth

of the snake, it snapped, and kept fast hold for twenty seconds. The dog hardly complained when bitten; and no
symptoms following, it was concluded the fangs had not acted. Waiting therefore an hour, the dog was bitten
a second time, when one, at least, of the fangs visibly entered the skin ; yet without any consequence.

Experiment IX.--After making the snake shed some poison on a stick, for the purpose of insertion, he bit

a chicken in the thigh. The bird was instantly affected, and died with the usual symptoms, in one minute and
a quarter.

Experiment X. November 10.-A pretty stout dog, bitten on the thigh, complained much from the pain,

and soon lay down. After five minutes, signs of poison were apparent. At intervals he howled lamentably, and
within the half hour, was strongly convulsed. He survived, however, nearly an hour and a half longer, most part
of the time in a torpid state, without any return of strong convulsions ; but, for half an hour before his death, a
remarkable tremulous motion was observed in the muscles of the wounded thigh.

Experiment XI.-Immediately after the former, another dog, of a much slighter make, was bitten in like

manner. The usual symptoms of poison appeared, though in a low degree. The wounded leg was contracted,
and the dog lay, at times, torpid and panting, but he neither howled, nor was convulsed.

After a few hours, he was so well recovered, as to eat heartily, and to tread firmly.

Experiment XII. November 11.-The same dog was again bitten in the sound thigh. He remained for

several hours in a half comatous state, and then recovered. He appeared more slightly affected than the day
before, and the thigh had never been paralytic.

Experiment XIII. March 13, 1788.-A Rekula Poda, which had remained (without food) a captive for

twelve days, bit a stout dog. In applying the snake, one of the fangs accidentally touched the scrotum, so as
to fetch blood ; the other slightly wounded the thigh. During the first hour, the dog discovered no symptoms
of poison. In the second hour, the parts, especially the scrotum, were much swelled, but the leg was not, as
usual, drawn up. In the course of the third hour, the dog became comatous ; was unable to get on his legs; and
the limb became paralytic. From this time, his disorder increased ; he did not howl, but lay as if insensible,
and his breathing was laborious. At the end of eight hours, he was found hardly breathing ; yet he lingered
two hours more, and died without convulsions.

The parts bitten were monstrously swelled.

Experiment XIV. March 2 6 . - A dog, A. which had been bitten three days before, and in consequence

of caustics applied to the part, had a running ulcer on the thigh, was bitten on the sound thigh by a Katuka
Rekula of a dark brown colour, which had been caught only a few hours before, and was casting his skin. He
had shed poison on the stick employed in catching him ; so that none, for the purpose of insertion, could be pro¬
cured by pressure on the ducts.

The bite was followed by no symptoms of poison ; but as the dog had formerly been infected and recovered,
he was, after an interval of two hours, bitten a second time, by another Katuka Rekula, in order to see how far
his former recovery might render him unsusceptible. The usual symptoms appeared immediately after the bite;
but the dog, after dozing for several hours, recovered.

Experiment XV.-A pig was bitten on the thigh by the dark coloured Katuka. The fangs remained in

the skin half a minute, the pig squeaking loudly. As soon as he was let loose, he made so quick a retreat that it
could not be determined, from the movement of the leg, whether he was infected. The only suspicious symp¬
tom was his slumbering for several hours.

Experiment XVI. March 29.-A second dog, B. (which had before been infected and recovered, and still

OF INDIAN SERPENTS.

59

had ulcers in consequence of caustic,) was bitten this da}'', by the dark coloured Katuka ; and again a second
time, after an interval of two days ; but both times without effect.

Experiment XVII. March 31, 1788.-The pig which had been slightly infected on the 26th, (Exp. XV.)

was bitten by the light coloured snake. The fangs remained in the wound nearly half a minute. The pig, as
before, squeaked vehemently, but became immediately quiet when let loose, and sunk down, as if seized with
sudden debility. He made a large quantity of urine. In less than ten minutes, he suffered slight convulsions ;
after which he never attempted to rise, but at times showed great inquietude. It was five hours after the bite
when he died.

Experiment XVIII. April 4.-The dogs A. and B. (Experiments XIV. and XVI.) were again bitten on

the thigh, as also on the nose, but neither of the dogs were infected.

Observations. -The total failure in both the above instances, was imputed to some defect in the quality

of the venom, for though the quantity emitted might not have been sufficient to kill, it might, at least, have been
expected to produce some visible effect. A trial, therefore, was made on a subject that seldom escapes’, how¬
ever much the snake may happen to be exhausted by repeated exertions.

A chicken bitten on the thigh, immediately after the dogs, showed, in less than three minutes, manifest tokens
of being infected, though the symptoms were slight, and disappeared in the evening.

Experiment XIX.-Another chicken was killed in five minutes, by the first bite of a snake which had

reposed four days. The bird was instantly affected ; in less than one minute it began to stagger, and in the
next was seized with convulsions, which ceased only with life.

Experiment XX. April 7.-The dog A. (Exp. XIV. and XVIII.) being again bitten in the thigh,

showed symptoms immediately of the poison having taken effect. In twenty-five minutes, he was so debili¬
tated that he could not rise ; he often moaned, and seemed to suffer greatly. At times, he lay comatous, and
before the end of the first hour, became so ill as to be thought dying. Towards the end of the second hour, he
appeared somewhat better. In the third hour, he ceased moaning, but refused food, and could not be made to
rise. In this state he continued till night. The following day, he was pretty well recovered, and began
to eat.

Observations.- The recovery in this case, considering the formidable symptoms which appeared so

early, and the reduced state of the subject, was contrary to expectation.

Experiment XXI. The snake being left to rest half an hour, was made to bite the dog B. (Exp. XVI. and
XVIII.) The leg was immediately drawn up, but in other respects the dog seemed nowise affected. After
lying along for half an hour, he rose of himself, but was dull and stupified, and soon lay down again. After
two hours, he was disposed to eat; and at night, appeared to be very well.

This was the last experiment made on this poor animal, which had been bitten six times; had the caustic
applied twice ; and had once had the poison inserted artificially. The ulcers from the caustic were at this time
healing fast, and the dog recovered perfectly.

Experiment XXII. April 12.-The dog A. on which so many experiments had also been made, being now

much reduced in strength, while an ulcer of enormous size in the thigh (partly the consequence of caustic, and
partly of poison) showed less disposition to heal than to spread, it was determined to despatch him. With this
view, one of two Katuka Rekula Podas, which had been for some time captive, but had not bit for several pre¬
ceding days, was made to bite the breast of the dog; both fangs acted, yet no symptoms of disorder followed.

After waiting above an hour, another snake was applied to the thigh ; which, owing to a sudden start of the
dog, left a fang sticking in the wound : to make still more sure of liberating the dog, the snake was provoked to
bite him once more with the remaining fang.

The dog instantly sunk ; grew gradually worse, and expired within two hours after the first bite of the
second snake.

Experiment XXIII. January 15.-A horse belonging to one of the gentlemen of the settlement, instead,

as intended, of being shot, was, at my request, bitten by a Katuka Rekula, on each side of the nose. The bite

60

EXPERIMENTS ON THE POISONS

on the right side was complete, both fangs having visibly acted ; on the left side, it was much slighter, the
snake biting less fiercely.

In fifteen minutes, the right side of the nose appeared slightly swelled and discoloured, attended with a
copious discharge from the nostrils. In twenty-five minutes, the swelling of the face, and about the throat,
was increasing rapidly. Grass was offered ; but the horse, being unable either to chew or to swallow, dropped
it despondently from the mouth.

In forty minutes, the under-lip became convulsed, and continued so till night. The eyes and nose run
excessively.

Through the second hour, the horse appeared more and more indisposed; the swelling continued to in¬
crease, especially that of the throat and under-lip; he still rejected food, but the breathing was not more
affected than what seemed to be owing to the stoppage of the nostrils. At night, the swellings were still
increasing.

Next morning, the horse was found much in the same sta^e, still unable to eat or drink. The swellings,
after an emollient fomentation, began to decline in the afternoon. At night, they were considerably dimi¬
nished, and he eat a little.

The third day he continued mending ; and in two days more was very well.

SECTION IV.

Experiments on the Poison of the Bodroo Pam. J\ r o. IX.

Experiment I. October 14, 1788.-He was first made to bite a chicken in the thigh, and both fangs

acted visibly. The thigh almost instantaneously was drawn up, and the bird purged. In two minutes, it
couched, and when put again on its legs, was found unable to stand. In five minutes, it was seized with
convulsions, which increased in an uncommon degree, particularly in the head and neck. These ceasing in
about two minutes, were succeeded by a stupor, in which the bird remained till its death, at the expiration
of eight minutes.

Observations. -The symptoms of poison became so suddenly visible here, that I expected the bird

would have died much sooner. The skin above the part bitten being removed, a blackish line was found to
extend about an inch towards the groin, from which, on cutting into it, some black blood issued.

Experiment II.-A pig was bitten on the inside of the fore leg, without previously removing the hair.

In seven minutes, she began visibly to droop, and, at the expiration of fifteen minutes, fell into a stupor, in
which she continued to the end of the second hour; squeaking when roused, but unable to rise. In the
course of the third hour, she seemed to grow worse, complained at intervals, but soon relapsed into stupor.
In this state she remained nearly two hours more, when she appeared rather better, and soon after made
shift to walk. At the end of six or seven hours, she was very well recovered.

Experiment III.-Half an hour after the pig, a second chicken was bitten, and, like the first, showed

immediate symptoms of poison. Within three minutes it couched; but being forced to rise, it stood fora
little while as if stupified, without attempting to walk, and soon couched again. At the end of fifteen minutes,
the stupor remained; the neck seemed a little contracted, without any other appearance of spasm. Half an
hour after the bite, the bird suffered slight convulsions, and soon fell again into the stupor; and in two or
three minutes more, expired quietly.

Observation. -It is here remarkable, how slight the convulsions were, in comparison with the first case.

Experiment IV. October 20.-Six days after the- above experiments, the snake having been permitted

to rest, a dog was bitten on the inside of the thigh. During the first ten minutes, no signs whatever appeared
of poison; but at the end of sixteen minutes, the dog, who sat half couched, was seized with a trembling of

OF INDIAN SERPENTS.

61

the head and the fore legs. Being raised up, he walked a few paces without any apparent lameness. At the
end of twenty minutes, the tremors increased, and the thigh was contracted. At the end of fifty-five minutes,
the tremors became more universal, and the dog frequently stretched the neck, his mouth pointing upwards,
as if gasping for breath; but he all along neither moaned, nor howled. During the second hour, he lay
along on one side, either in a torpid state, or at intervals, writhing his limbs : and sometimes suffered a sub-
sultus tendinum. After the third hour, he grew better, and soon recovered.

Experiment V.-A chicken bitten in the thigh, soon after the dog, stood nearly a minute as if stupified,

then couched, and being put on its legs, walked a little way, but soon couched again. After five minutes,
putting the point of its beak to the ground, it continued for two minutes, rocking the head incessantly
sidewise: after which relapsing into a torpid state, it expired without more convulsion, in twenty-seven
minutes from the bite.

Experiment VI.-After allowing the snake to rest one hour, a second chicken was bitten as in the last

experiment: a little blood appeared on the thigh, but it was doubtful whether the fangs had acted. The chicken
remained well.

Experiment VII.-A third chicken was bitten immediately after the second. The fangs visibly acted ;

but the chicken was not infected.

Experiment VIII. October 22,1788.-Two days after the three foregoing experiments, the same dog which

had escaped before, (See Exp. IV.) was bitten in both thighs. The legs were almost immediately affected,
and within five minutes, the legs and breast were, as before, seized with tremors. The dog couched, but soon
rose again ; the trembling continued, attended with a slighter degree of stupor than the day before ; and in
the course of the first hour, the muscles of the wounded thigh were at times tremulous. The tremors de¬
creased visibly in the second hour, the dog rose of himself, and stood firmly on his legs; after another hour,
he had pretty well recovered.

Observations. -As the fangs acted on each thigh, and the dog was more slightly infected than in the

former experiment, it was probable, though the snake appeared very alert, that the power of the poison must
have been diminished. In order to try this.

Experiment IX.-A chicken was bitten in the thigh, and immediately showed signs of poison ; but,

after continuing two hours in a state of stupefaction, it recovered.

Experiment X.-After an interval of half an hour, a pigeon was bitten in the thigh. At first it escaped

to a rafter in the room, whither being pursued, it got out, and rested on the top of a rock, at a little distance.
It soon tumbled down from this last refuge, and was brought back; in about fifteen minutes from the bite.
The bird seemed stupified, couched on the belly, and without convulsions, expired in that posture, three
minutes after.

Experiment XI.--When the pigeon in the above experiment fled, a second was immediately bitten;

and though the snake had bitten three times before, in the same forenoon, the symptoms of poison were
instantly visible. After fourteen minutes, convulsions supervened, which alternated with stupor; and in
forty-five minutes the bird expired; the convulsions having ceased for ten minutes before death.

The appearances about the wound, were found, upon dissection, the same as usual.

Observations.- From the foregoing experiments, the poison of the Bodroo Pam appears to be less

deleterious, and slower in its operation, than those of the Cobra de Capello and the Katuka Rekula Poda: the
symptoms attending it appear also to be in some respects different.

The first chicken was convulsed in an extraordinary manner, but lived eight minutes; the others were
slightly convulsed, and lingered longer ; some escaped altogether; but all suffered some degree of stupor. The
dog and the pig escaped death, though both suffered considerably : especially the dog in Exp. IV. In Exp.
VIII. the strength of the poison may be supposed to have been impaired by captivity and fasting; but its
fatal effects on the pigeons, Exp. X. and XI. showed that it was not destroyed.

62

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ARTIFICIAL

SECTION V.

Experiments on the Artificial Insertion of the Poison of Serpents , into the Bodies of Living

Animals.

Experiment I. October, 1787.-On a dog, which some hours before had been bitten twice, by a

Katuka Rekula Poda, without suffering any perceptible disorder, it was determined to try what might be the
effect of the poison, when inserted into a wound. With this view, a small incision was made, where the skin
was thinnest, on the inside of the thigh, and some threads imbued with recent poison, from the same snake,
were laid into the wound, and secured by a bandage.

The operation was attended with no consequence; the wound suppurated, and the dog was well in a few
days. The snake had been captive some time, and had two days before ineffectually bit two dogs; yet, that
the poison fully retained its vigour was evident from the death of a chicken, in one minute and a quarter,
which was bitten immediately after the operation on the dog.

Experiment II. January 2, 1788.-The skin of the inner part of the thigh, of a middle sized dog, being

first divided, a small incision was made with an envenomed scalpel, through the panniculus carnosus, into
which some recent poison, from a Cobra de Capello, (caught two days before,) was inserted on the edge of
the scalpel, and threads soaked in the poison were applied also to the wound. The dog was secured in such
a manner, as to prevent his reaching the part with his tongue.

The wound at first bled more than was intended, and, though the bleeding had ceased before applying the
venom and the threads, some reddish serum continued to transude through the threads.

The dog, after half an hour, being let loose, began immediately to lick the wound, and the threads drop¬
ped off.

The wounded thigh caused a slight halt, but no other symptoms appeared of the poison having taken effect;
and the dog, after a few hours, eat heartily.

The bleeding was suspected of having impeded the effect in this experiment; as the poison had been taken
from a fresh and vigorous snake.

Experiment III. March g. -An incision being first made through the skin, on the inside of the thigh

of a stout dog, several small wounds were made into the parts beneath with a scalpel, dipped in the poison of a
young Cumboo Nagoo, and poison was besides inserted into each wound. The skin of the other thigh was in
like manner divided, and several punctures made into the subjacent parts, with an envenomed needle, charged
repeatedly with fresh venom. The punctures were pretty deep, and some of them into the belly of the muscle.

The dog remained perfectly well, without the least appearance of being infected.

Experiment IV. March 23.-Of three drops of poison procured from two Katuka Rekula Podas, one

half was inserted by means of a grooved hook, (made in imitation of the snake's fang,) into the muscle on both
thighs of a stout dog: the skin having previously been divided. The dog when let loose, appeared to have

lost the use of both legs; he drooped visibly, lay along, and moaned; and the parts about the wounds began
to swell. Before night, the lameness was almost gone, and next day he was very well recovered.

Experiment V.-Some threads soaked in poison, procured from a Katuka Rekula Poda, (caught only

four or five days before,) were passed in the manner of a seton, through the skin, near the groin of a slender
dog, and the ends clipped off close to the apertures.

After a short time, both legs were affected, (though slightly,) as usual, where the poison takes effect; but
no other symptoms supervened, and the dog was very well in a few hours.

Experiment VI. March 2 g. -Some days after, the poison of a Katuka Rekula was applied to another

dog, exactly in the same manner, and with the same success.

INSERTION OF THE POISON OF SERPENTS.

63

The poison here, having stood till it appeared rather thick and glutinous, was, previously to insertion, diluted
with two drops of rum, which did not seem to impede its effect.

Experiment VII. April 28, 1788.-For want of recent poison, some which had been taken several days

before, from a Cumboo Nagoo, but was now become of a brittle gummy consistence, being previously moistened
with water, was inserted into a small wound in the inside of the thigh of a stout dog. The dog remained
well, without any suspicion of being infected.

Observations. -Though some slight symptoms in dogs, were produced by the artificial insertion of

poison, it frequently failed altogether, and in no instance proved either mortal or formidable. The case was
different with respect to birds ; for though it frequently failed there also, it frequently produced some of
the usual symptoms of poison, in a certain degree, and often death.

EXPERIMENTS ON BIRDS.

Experiment VIII. March 6 . -Recent poison from a Cumboo Nagoo, was inserted into the thigh ol a

chicken, without producing any disorder. At the distance of three days, some of the same poison, now become
dry, was inserted into the other thigh, after being moistened, but produced only a little swelling about the part.

Experiment IX.-At the distance of six hours, the same chicken was bitten by the Cumboo Nagoo,

which had bit a dog just before. The bird was seized with convulsions, and expired in less than four minutes.

Experiment X.-Some recent poison taken from the Cumboo, was inserted into the thigh of a chicken,

but produced no other effects than a little discoloration, and swelling of the part.

Experiment XI.-The day following, part of the same poison used in the last experiment, (being pre¬

viously moistened,) was applied to both thighs of a chicken ; to one, by an incision made with an envenomed
scalpel, besides rubbing poison repeatedly on the wound : to the other, by repeated punctures of a needle armed
with poison. The event was the same as in Exp. X.

Experiment XII. March 12.-A chicken, to which poison had been applied at two different times, with

little or no effect, being bitten by a very young Cobra de Capello, (not eight inches long,) expired in eleven
minutes.

Experiment XIII. March 23.-Some poison of a Katuka Rekula Poda, shed on a stick in endeavouring

to make him bite a dog, was inserted into the thighs of two chickens, by simple incision ; but in neither had
any effect. The snake had been captive five or six days.

After three hours, to the same chickens was applied some poison from a Katuka fresh caught, and very fierce.
In one, it was inserted by puncture ; in the other, by threads, in the manner of a seton : but in both without
any more effect than in Exp. X. A pigeon, at the same time, was treated in the same way as the first chicken,
and escaped in like manner.

Experiment XIV. March 24.-In preparing the Katuka Rekula Poda this morning, he snapped at the

stick, and left one of his fangs on it, in the midst of the poison he had emitted. The fang, moistened as it was
with poison, being instantly plunged into the thigh of a pigeon, was left for some time in the puncture, from
which little or no blood issued. The part swelled, and the legs seemed slightly affected, but no other symptoms
supervened.

Experiment XV. March 2 6 . - Some dried poison of the Cumboo Nagoo, which had been kept a fort¬

night, was moistened with a few drops of rum, and inserted into the thigh of a chicken ; without any other con¬
sequence, than the part swelling, and becoming livid.

Experiment XVI.——The skin of the thigh of a pigeon being first divided, the fibres of the bare muscle
were cut transversely with an envenomed lancet, and poison was also carefully inserted.

It was one hour before any effect was observed. The bird then drooped, and would not eat; but continuing
to walk about, (only roosting at intervals,) it was considered as out of danger. At the end of seven hours, how¬
ever, it was found dead.

64

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ARTIFICIAL

The wound remained open and dry, and there was little or no swelling.

Experiment XVII. March 29,1788.-Some poison taken from a Katuka Rekula Poda, was applied to two

pigeons ; to the breast of one, by puncture ; to the thigh of the other, by dividing the fibres of the muscle in
the same manner as in Exp. XVI.; neither of them showed any symptoms of poison.

Another portion of the poison, having become thickish, was thinned with some drops of rum, and applied to
two chickens; to one in the thigh, to the other in the breast; but to both without effect.

A hook, in the shape of a fang, was employed here instead of a lancet, and was plunged pretty deep into
the flesh.

Experiment XVIII. March 30.-Recent poison of a Katuka, was applied to one chicken in the neck, and

to another in the thigh; and in both was carefully inserted into the bare muscles. Neither of the birds were
infected.

Two other chickens had the poison inserted by the hook ; but equally without effect.

Experiment XIX. April 13.-Some poison from a Katuka Rekula Poda, (which had been kept captive

and fasting for a month,) was inserted into the breast of a chicken, by twice or thrice pricking the belly of each
pectoral muscle, with the hook, charged each time with fresh venom.

While the operation was performing, the bird vomited; and when set down on the ground, stood motionless,
as if stupified, for nearly half a minute ; it then staggered, and, before the expiration of the minute, fell down :
violent convulsions succeeded, which continued with little intermission, till little more than three minutes after
the operation, when the bird died.

Another chicken, treated exactly in the same manner, expired in about three minutes and a half. It did not
vomit when set down, but purged ; it appeared less stupified, and walked about during the first minute : it then
staggered, and suffered convulsions, as in the preceding experiment.

Experiment XX.--In waiting for another subject, the poison had acquired a thicker consistence, and

being inserted into a chicken, as in the two foregoing experiments, produced only very slight symptoms, from
which the bird recovered.

Another chicken, to which the poison, a little diluted, was applied in the same manner, was not visibly
affected.

Experiment XXI. April 16.-The poison of another Katuka, applied by the hook to two places of

the pectoral muscle of a chicken, produced no other effect than a little swelling, and discoloration of the
part.

Experiment XXII.-Into the biceps muscle of another chicken, some of the same poison (now somewhat

thickened) was very carefully inserted, by repeated punctures.

As soon as set down, the chicken purged, but walked about seemingly well, for nearly a minute. It then
began to stagger, lay down, and suffering only very slight convulsions, expired in about three minutes and a half
from the operation.

Observations.- 1 had suspected, that the failure in some of the foregoing experiments, might be owing

to the poison having lost part of its power, by exposure to the air; or to its soon becoming much thicker in
consistence than when first emitted. But in Exp. XXI. where a local effect only took place, the poison was thin
and recent; whereas in Exp. XXII. where the poison had been some time exposed, and was grown glutinous,
the chicken was killed.

Experiment XXIII.-The chicken employed in Exp. XXI. continuing to walk about, in appearance per¬

fectly well, poison was inserted a second time, but in the biceps muscle, as in Exp. XXII. The poison had
been taken from a Katuka of a lighter colour than the former, but was become glutinous from exposure. No
alteration was perceived for the first minute. The bird then purged, and instead of walking about as before,
retired into a corner, and stood as if stupified ; soon after which, it lay down, and violent convulsions super¬
vening, it expired in somewhat less than four minutes.

Experiment XXIV.-Some poison from the same snake, but in a fluid state, (instantly after emission,)

OF THE POISON OF SERPENTS.

65

was inserted into two parts of the biceps muscle of each pinion of a pigeon. The bird continued lively and well
for ten minutes : it then retired into a corner, and visibly drooped ; but did not seem stupified, and it pecked
at a chicken which approached too near it. At the end of an hour, the parts about the punctures were swelled,
and extravasated blood appeared under the skin. It remained another hour in a torpid state, without stirring,
and expired in two hours and a half after the operation, having suffered only slight convulsions before death.

Observations. -Though recent poison was employed here, on a subject of all others the most easily

infected, yet the pigeon lingered two hours and a half; while the chicken to which the poison, after being
kept an hour, was applied exactly in the same manner, survived only four minutes.

Experiment XXV.-The skin of the pinion of another pigeon being first divided, a small incision

with a lancet, was made in two places of the biceps muscle, into which was carefully inserted some poison
from a different Katuka.

The bird, as in the former experiment, walked about for ten minutes, and then drooped, (though in a less
degree,) and retired into a corner: she remained evidently disordered, for an hour and a half, recovering,
however, sufficiently at intervals, to walk about and pick up grains. At the end of two hours the parts were
much swelled, and discoloured. The next day the bird was very well, the swelling and discoloration only
remaining.

Observations. -Here the poison was inserted into one pinion only, but into two incisions, and in

quantity deemed fully sufficient. Perhaps the bleeding of the incisions prevented the complete admission
of the poison.

Experiment XXVI. May 19.-Into the pectoral muscles of a chicken, two drops of poison, which a

Katuka had shed in biting a stick, were inserted; in one muscle with the hook, in the other with a lancet.
The parts swelled, and became somewhat livid, without any further consequence.

The poison employed in the two following experiments was taken from a Cobra de Capello.

Experiment XXVII. August 14.-The pinion of a chicken being partially cleared of the feathers,

a part close to a pretty large vein, was slightly abraded with a file, so as to remove the epidermis, but without
starting any blood; one drop of poison was then well rubbed into the part.

For several minutes, the bird showed no signs of being infected, and only retired into a corner; but in a
quarter of an hour it seemed to be somewhat stupified. In five minutes more, it fell down, the head drawn
towards the breast. Slight convulsions soon supervened, which returned at intervals, till forty-six minutes
after the operation, when the chicken expired.

A second chicken treated by the file in like manner, had some scratches made besides in the skin, after the
application of the poison, but so superficial as not to fetch blood.

The experiment proved fatal; the approaches of death were also equally slow, and the symptoms exactly
the same as in the preceding experiment.

Observations. -It may be remarked, that in this mode of applying the poison by abrasion, the local

swelling and discoloration were much less than in any of the other modes.

Experiment XXVIII. December 17.-The recent poison of a Cobra de Capello applied to the pinion of

a chicken, in the manner last described, produced no visible effect for twenty minutes. The bird then began
to droop; at the expiration of half an hour, it appeared much disordered, and after suffering convulsions
as usual, died in one hour and ten minutes.

Experiment XXIX.-Another chicken had the same poison applied with a hook to the same part of

the pinion; but the poison, (little in quantity,) having stood till thickened, and no symptoms of disorder
appearing for one hour, the experiment was conceived to have failed.

At the end of the first hour, however, the usual symptoms supervened; at the expiration of the second
hour, the bird lay on one side, as if dying ; yet lingered one hour longer.

Experiment XXX.-The poison of a Katuka Rekula Poda applied, by abrasion, to the pinion of one

pigeon ; and with the hook, to the pinion of another, produced no symptoms of poison whatever.

66

EXPERIMENTS ON REMEDIES APPLIED AGAINST

Observations. -It may be remarked in general, that in the first five or six experiments on birds, the

poison was inserted into the thigh ; either a lancet or a needle being employed for the operation : in the suc¬
ceeding experiments, the operation was variously performed, and in various parts. In the first twenty instances,
the operation proved fatal only once; (Exp. XVI.) though in most of them the poison produced some local
affection, as swelling and discoloration about the incisions.

In both instances, (Exp. XIX.) where the experiments succeeded completely, the poison was inserted into
the belly of the pectoral muscles, by the hook ; whereas in most of the former experiments, the thigh was the
usual place of insertion, and a lancet, or a scalpel, was the instrument used : but in Exp. XVII. and XVIII. the
same mode of operating had failed ; and afterwards in three instances, had either been equally unsuccessful, or
produced only local symptoms. (See Exp. XIX. XX. XXVI.)

As to the place of insertion, there seemed to be little difference between the pectoral and biceps muscles ;
both appeared, in birds, to be preferable to the inside of the thigh ; at least no instance, where the operation
was performed in the thigh only, proved fatal.

I suspected that the constant failure in the first experiments might have sometimes been imputed to the
bleeding of the incision, which, though for the most part very inconsiderable, might have been sufficient to im¬
pede the absorption of the poison, and particularly where the muscles were laid bare. Various experiments in
the sequel contradicted this conjecture ; which, however, led me at first to try the simple abrasion of the skin.
See Exp. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX.

The mode, by abrasion, seemed, from the few trials made of it, less uncertain of taking effect, than some of
the others which were more operose ; but the poison was much slower in its operation, than in Exp. XIX.

SECTION VI.

Experiments on Remedies , applied against the Poison of venomous Serpents.

In many cases where the poison is applied to brute animals, its progress is so extremely rapid, as hardly
to leave time for the operation of a medicine, or the application of any means whatever, with a probabi¬
lity of success. Where its progress is slower, should the remedy be administered before unequivocal symptoms
have removed all doubt of the poison having taken effect, recovery may be ascribed to the medicine given,
when, in reality, no malady existed ; and if deferred till doubts are removed, the remedy which, if applied in
time, might have proved efficacious, may come to be unjustly proscribed as useless. To this it may be added, that
a bite of the most pernicious snake does not constantly prove fatal; and that even the tenderer animals, some¬
times without the use of remedies, recover, in instances where the symptoms were very formidable.

Similar difficulties in estimating the efficacy of medicines occur, in some degree, in many diseases ; but belong
in a more peculiar manner to animal poisons. A multitude of repeated experiments, only can justify general
inferences ; and in transferring such inferences to the human subject, analogical reasoning should be exercised
with the most scrupulous caution.

From the experiments detailed in the foregoing sections, it sufficiently appears, that the several poisons men¬
tioned, though in different degrees, are all deleterious

That the symptoms produced by them in the bodies of different animals are very much alike.

That the progress of these symptoms after they commence, is nearly in the same order of progression, though
in different degrees of rapidity.

That a like variation is observed in the commencement of the symptoms. Sometimes it is almost instanta¬
neous ; in general from three to ten minutes ; but very seldom later than half an hour.

That when the snake is first caught, its bite infects with more certainty than when kept some time : but the
deleterious quality of the poison, though impaired, is not by captivity (even where accompanied by long fasting)

THE POISON OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

67

destroyed. When it appears to have lost the power of killing larger quadrupeds, it still retains that of killing
birds, though less speedily than at first.

That when the snake is made to bite several times successively in the same day, the first bite, other
circumstances being equal, is not only more certain of infecting, but in general proves more quickly dele¬
terious.

That the poison of snakes does not invariably kill animals ; and that they sometimes unexpectedly escape
from a concourse of dangerous symptoms ; though in general the danger of death is in proportion to the vio¬
lence, and early appearance, of these symptoms.

That the period of death varies considerably. Dogs, in no instance, were killed in so short a time as birds :
but the variation, with respect to both, so far as my experiments go, does not seem strictly correspondent to the
size of the animals.

That the artificial insertion of poison is less secure of taking effect than the bite of the animal; but the
consequent symptoms are exactly the same, and the event, with respect to the smaller animals, not less fatal.
For the trial of remedies, however, the bite of the reptile itself was always preferred to the artificial insertion
of the poison.

Several of the above inferences will be found of service to prevent certain effects, whether good or bad, from
being ascribed erroneously to medicines, which properly belong to the disease in its natural course.

On the poisons of the rattle snake and the viper, great pains have been bestowed, and much has been
written ; but concerning the Cobra de Capello and the KatukaRekula Poda, to which the few following expe¬
riments solely relate, I have neither been able to avail myself of the prior labours of others, nor to collect much
auxiliary information in India, which was not vague and imperfect. The little, therefore, I had it in my
power to execute, and which is produced in the present Section, is to be considered merely as the commence¬
ment of a plan of investigation; which it is hoped will hereafter be more extensively and successfully prose¬
cuted in India, where the object in view is more peculiarly interesting, and where subjects for experiment are
easily procured.

A multitude of experiments, made in Europe, on the poison of the viper, having sufficiently confirmed the
inefficacy of the most celebrated internal remedies, usually recommended against venomous bites, I was induced
to give the preference for trial to an Indian remedy, sanctioned by unquestionable authority, as much used with
perfect safety, and often with success. This was the Tanjore pill ; of the composition of which, as a more par¬
ticular account is reserved for another place, it need only be observed here, that white arsenic is a principal
ingredient; and that each pill of six grains, was supposed to contain somewhat less than three fourths of a grain
of arsenic.

Experiment I. July, 1787.-A small dog was made to swallow a Tanjore pill, and, immediately after,

was bitten in the thigh by a Cobra de Capello; the half of another pill, dissolved, was rubbed on the punc¬
tures. Instantly on swallowing the medicine, and before the snake had touched the thigh, the dog discharged
a quantity of saliva.

The discharge continued about ten minutes ; but no symptoms of disorder appeared till towards the end of
the first hour, when the dog howled, panted as he lay along, and suffered slight convulsions. In this state, a
second pill was given, which excited the saliva as before, without any other evacuation. After dozing, as if
comatous, for some time, the dog began to recover ; and, at the end of four hours, was very well.

Observations. -The first circumstance to be remarked here is, that the two pills produced no other

evacuation than from the salivary glands, nor seemed to affect either the stomach or the bowels.

The recovery, in appearance, was rather in favour of the medicine : but another dog, which had just before
been bitten by the same snake, had recovered equally well from bad symptoms, without the aid of medicine ;
and two chickens, bitten after the second dog, though both died, yet lingered unusually; the one an hour
and a half, the other two hours. All that could here be safely concluded was, that two pills had produced no
violent effects.

68

EXPERIMENTS ON REMEDIES APPLIED AGAINST

Experiment II. October 17, 1787.-A Katuka Rekula Poda, which had just before killed a chicken and

two dogs, bit a rabbit on the shoulder, the fur having been previously plucked off. Half a pill was given im¬
mediately after the bite, and the other half was rubbed on the punctures. No flux of saliva followed.

The leg became paralytic in ten minutes, but the animal continued to move about, and to lie down, alter¬
nately. After forty minutes, it grew torpid, drowzy, and was hardly able to move. Convulsions succeeded, and
the rabbit expired : an hour and a half after the bite.

Experiment III.-The day following, a slender dog was bitten by the same snake, and a pill was

attempted to be given, but not more than one half was swallowed. Nothing was applied to the part. There was
no discharge of saliva.

The dog frequently licked the punctures, when let loose. In seven minutes, the leg was drawn up; in seven
more, he seemed much disordered, and lay down. In twenty minutes, the limb was paralytic; through most of
. the second hour he was heavy and much disposed to doze. After three hours, he fed heartily, and next day was
very well; though he had not entirely recovered the use of his limb.

Experment IV\ April 24, 1788.-Having received some fresh pills from Tanjore, it was judged proper,

previously to recommencing experiments on infected dogs, to make trial on a healthy subject, in order the
better to discriminate their effects, from the symptoms of poison.

One pill, weighing nearly seven grains, rubbed down and mixed with water, was given to a slender bitch,
and as she was properly secured, the whole dose reached the stomach. The throat was evidently affected by
the medicine; for the bitch continued, for a quarter of an hour, with her mouth open, panting, drawing in
the fresh air, and working her jaws and throat, as if expressing and swallowing the saliva; the mouth of the
stomach was next affected, with a rising, without retching, or vomiting. All this time, the animal expressed
much inquietude, rolling frequently on the ground, and breathing quick; it refused water, and reluctantly
stood up. After half an hour she vomited, and in the course of another half hour, she vomited twice more.
This was followed by a copious bilious stool, after which she became much quieter, and in two or three hours
more was very well.

Observation. -The medicine produced no discharge of saliva, as in Exp. I. the secretion was indeed

increased, but the spittle was swallowed as fast as it came into the mouth.

Experiment V. April 25.-The bitch, mentioned in the preceding experiment, was again bitten on

both thighs, by a Katuka Rekula Poda. The snake bit fiercely, the bitch seemed to suffer much pain, and
urined copiously.

When let loose, she seemed to be relaxed universally, and sunk down, the hind legs were completely paralytic,
she lay along, unable to raise the head, while the mastoide and other muscles about the throat, were convulsed
to such a degree as drew the head down to the breast: a circumstance never observed before, nor had I ever
observed so instantaneous an appearance of alarming symptoms.

In this desperate state, it was thought fruitless to try any remedy; but a pill being already broken and
mixed with a spoonful of boiled rice, it was given, and washed down with a little water, five minutes after
the bite.

Neither a discharge of saliva, a burning in the throat, nor retching were observed : yet the convulsion of the
neck continued, and the limbs remained paralytic.

Half an hour elapsed without any sensible effect of the pill, but the animal seemed more depressed, and the
convulsive motions of the neck were more feeble. In fifty minutes from the bite, the bitch expired, not in
convulsions, but by a gradual sinking.

Observations. -The present case I conceived to be one of those, in which the poison acts so rapidly,

as to leave no time for the effectual operation of any remedy. That the pill did not operate in half an hour,
might perhaps have been owing to the defect of sensibility in the system: to which also, as well as to the
mode of giving the medicine, might be ascribed the absence of the burning in the throat, remarked in the
preceding experiment.

THE POISON OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

69

Experiment VI. May 12, 1788.-In a dog bitten twice on the thigh by a Katuka Rekula Poda, the leg

was immediately drawn up ; he urined, and, after a stool, lay down. After four minutes, being forced to rise,
he staggered a few paces, and then slid down, as if paralytic in all his limbs.

The rapid progress of the symptoms, left little hope of benefit from any internal remedy; however, he was
taken up as soon as possible, and his contracted jaws being with difficulty opened, one pill, mixed with water,
was forced into the stomach, in about five minutes after the bite. There was no discharge of saliva; but, in
about fifty minutes after swallowing the pill, he had a bilious stool.

At the end of the first hour, he sometimes raised his head, but his jaws were close shut; he refused water,
and was unable to stand. In a quarter of an hour more, half a second pill was forced down his throat.

He remained in this state for another hour, and then expired, without convulsions. The thigh was livid, and
much swelled.

Observations. -A discharge by urine or stool, immediately after the bite, denotes, in general, that

the poison has taken effect. So early a contraction of the jaw is not common.

Experiment YU. May 18.-A dog was bitten, as in the last experiment, by another snake of the same

species. The leg, in like manner, was instantly drawn up; and in two minutes, the other hind leg also became
paralytic : the dog urined, had a stool, and then laid himself along. At the end of six minutes, the jaws not
being contracted, one pill was given with ease. There was no discharge of saliva ; but the same kind of move¬
ment was remarked at the mouth of the stomach, as in Exp. IV.

Ten minutes after the medicine was given, the dog howled and moaned dreadfully, made several ineffectual
attempts to rise, but being deprived of the use of the hind legs, he could not stand when helped up. For half
an hour he continued alternately quiet and restless, and then took a second pill, which occasioned more commo¬
tion of the stomach than the first, though neither vomiting nor purging. The next half hour was chiefly passed
in dozing, he howled less, suffered no convulsions ; and expired in one hour and ten minutes after the bite.

Observations. -Here again the progress of the poison was extremely rapid, and the most dangerous

symptoms had made their appearance before the medicine was given.

It should be also remarked, that the snakes employed in the last two experiments, had been captives two
months and ten days, during which time, each had only swallowed four eggs, and had absolutely eat nothing for
the preceding forty days.

Experiment VIII. October 30.-To a dog bitten twice in the thigh by a Cobra de Capello, a pill and

a half was given within two minutes after. No symptoms were observed of the poison having taken effect.
The effects, however, of the medicine were very visible, viz. the rising at the stomach, labouring of the flanks,
and sickness.

After twenty-two minutes, the movement of the flanks diminished, the dog vomited, and attempted a stool.
In the next half hour, he vomited twice, and purged once. The leg was never drawn up ; he sometimes lay
down, but could walk about; and, in the evening was very well.

Experimejit IX. November 2 6. -Half a pill, pounded and mixed with crumb of bread, was given to a

chicken, and washed down with a little water. Ten minutes after, a Cobra de Capello was made to bite her on
the thigh, which was drawn up, as usual, when infected. In five minutes she purged, drooped, and couched. In
five minutes more, the head was convulsively drawn towards the breast, and she sometimes rested her beak on
the ground. In thirty minutes, after several loose stools, the bird lay down on one side, convulsions succeeded,
and she died : forty-five minutes after the medicine.

Observations. -The loose stools were the effect of the medicine ; for symptomatic stools, where no

medicine has been given, are in general consistent, not loose.

Experiment X.-The same dose was given to a second chicken; it continued, for three or four minutes,

to pick up crumbs as before, after which it seemed to loath them. In ten minutes after the medicine, it was
bitten by the same snake ; in fifteen minutes, couched, and had one or two loose stools ; at the end of twenty-
five minutes, it still remained couched, the head reclined ; and in ten minutes more, the leg and thigh trembled

70

EXPERIMENTS ON REMEDIES APPLIED AGAINST

excessively. When raised up, the bird stood stupified, was unable to walk, and soon couched again. In the
course of the next two hours, it purged twice. After which, gradually growing worse, it expired at the end of
the seventh hour.

Observations.- In the two last experiments, the medicine operated by stool ; and the operation in

both coincided with the first effects of the poison, that is, within five minutes after the bite. Perhaps death was
somewhat retarded by the medicine in the last chicken, which lingered seven hours.

Experiment XI. January 3, 1788.-A Cobra de Capello, immediately after having bit a dog mortally,

was made to bite a stout young bitch in the thigh. The thigh became instantly paralytic. An iron having been
previously prepared, the punctures were well cauterized, within three minutes after the bite. The bitch lay
down after the operation, and when obliged to rise, walked on three legs, more lame than before, probably from
the pain of the burning, for no other symptoms of poison supervened. Two hours after the operation, she eat
heartily ; but soon threw up all she had eat. At the end of ten hours, she was very well.

The above is the substance of Mr. Briggs’s account, who had been so obliging as to make the experiment at
my request.

Experiment XII. March 12.-A Katuka Rekula Poda, which had been captive only three days, was made

to bite a stout dog on the inside of the thigh. Symptoms of the poison having taken effect were soon evident,
the punctures were very visible, and the parts around were swelling fast.

Fifteen minutes after the bite, the parts were cauterized. The dog howled as if from pain, and the other
symptoms increased. At the end of the hour, he vomited, rose up with difficulty, staggered when on his legs,
and continued at intervals to howl. He died at the end of two hours and a quarter; and though, for the last
hour, he suffered a few slight convulsions, he lay mostly in a torpid state.

Experiment XIII.-In about ten minutes after the last experiment, the same snake was made to bite a

slender dog. Both fangs acted, and were permitted to remain ten seconds in the skin. Unequivocal signs of
poison followed, and were deemed of the most dangerous kind.

After an hour had elapsed, the cautery was applied to both punctures, and the parts were embrocated with
oil; the dog, however, continued to howl for half an hour. The usual symptoms of poison rather increased in
the second hour ; after which, the dog began to recover, and at the end of five hours fed heartily.

Observations. -This was the second bite of the snake, and therefore less dangerous than the first;

but the case was attended with threatening symptoms ; and, notwithstanding the long delay, the cautery pos¬
sibly was of some service.

On a supposition that the hot iron is applied too late to prevent completely the absorption of the poison, may
it not, as a powerful stimulus, operate in counteracting its effects ?

However that may be, it seems highly probable that the cautery, when properly applied, and in due time,
may be of material service, though not an infallible remedy. But as it requires some time in preparing, and
carries an appearance of terror to persons not accustomed to such operations, I was induced to make trial
of an application, less dreadful, less painful, and the materials of which might be kept more readily at hand.
This was opposite caustics, in the manner I recollected having seen applied to certain tumours and excres¬
cences.*

As the toughness of the dog’s skin seemed to impede the action of the caustic, an incision was sometimes
made on the punctures of the fangs ; and, in order to prevent burning the tongue, it was necessary to secure
the dog for some time, so as he could not lick the wound ; an embrocation of oil also was generally used.-f-

# Edinburgh Medical Essays, Vol. IV- f I was at that time unacquainted with the Abbe Fontana’s curious experiments contained

in the second volume of his valuable and elaborate work on the Poison of Vipers.

It has been very well observed by Dr. J. Hunter, (speaking of the bite of the mad dog,) “ that caustics may be admissible in some cases, where the knife
“ cannot be used ; and though they have failed in certain instances, yet that was probably owing to their not having been applied to all the infected sur-
“ faces. It would appear, however, that the best caustic has not been used, which is probably the caustic vegetable alkali, in a solid form, the kali purum
“ of the London Pharmacopoeia; both as it acts more speedily, and also more completely destroys and dissolves all animal substances. By applying it to
“ the various surfaces of the wound, and immediately removing with a spatula the parts upon which it has acted and dissolved, it may again be applied,
“ and the part destroyed to what depth may be deemed necessary: the surgeon seeing all the time the extent to which the caustic goes.” Transactions of
a Society for the improvement of medical and chirurgical knowledge. Lond. 1793.

THE POISON OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

71

Experiment XIV. March 17, 1788.-A dog was bitten by a Katuka Rekula Poda ; but the bite seeming

slight, he was bitten a second time, and four punctures were then visible on the skin.

The dog complained very little ; but when let loose, he sunk down on the ground, unable to stand, or rise.
No doubt remaining of his being infected, as soon as a quarter of an hour had elapsed, a drop of oil of vitriol
was applied to each of the scarified punctures, and immediately after, (having no common caustic) oil of tartar
thickened with a little quick lime, was applied. The application being repeated more than once, the dog com¬
plained much more than from the bite, but soon became quiet. In half an hour he was seemingly much disor¬
dered, and his breathing very laborious. At the end of four hours, convulsions supervened, which returned at
intervals for an hour more, till his death.

Experiment XV.-A second dog was treated exactly in the same manner. Symptoms of poison soon

appeared, and increased after the caustics were applied. This dog also suffered much from the caustic ; and
the application of sweet oil to the wound having accidentally been omitted, he howled horribly upon licking
the thigh.

In about forty minutes, his breathing became laborious, and he seemed dangerously ill; in which state he
remained nearly an hour and a half. In the evening he began to recover, and next day was very well.

Experiment XVI. March 23.-A Katuka Rekula Poda which had just bit a dog mortally, was made to

bite a second dog in the thigh. The part swelled immediately; in ten minutes it became blackish, and the
whole limb trembled in a remarkable manner.

After a quarter of an hour, the caustics were applied to the bare muscle, as well as to the lips of the incision ;
and the pain seemed to be mitigated by the oil of tartar. The dog appeared to be universally relaxed, and lay
for two or three hours in a comatous state : after which he gradually recovered, and, the sore on the thigh
excepted, was very well the day following.

Experiment XVII. March 24.-A dog bitten by another Katuka Rekula, soon showed very dangerous

symptoms of poison. The caustics were not applied till after eighteen minutes. The dog howled dismally ;
showed extreme disquietude ; and, without suffering convulsions, expired within the hour.

Observation.- In this case I conceive the progress of the poison to have been too rapid for the effec¬

tual application of any remedy : yet I regretted not having sooner used the caustics.

Experiment XVIII.-A much stouter dog was next bitten by the same snake, and the caustics applied in

fifteen minutes, yet not till after the part had swelled, accompanied with other symptoms of the poison having
taken effect. The pain from the caustic was visibly allayed by the oil of tartar.

He lay in almost a continual doze for two hours ; or, when roused, seemed sickish, and refused victuals. In
the third hour, he grew more unquiet, howled frequently, and the leg remained drawn up. After dozing two
hours more, he began to recover, and at night eat with appetite.

Experiment XIX. March 2 6. -The dog in the preceding experiment being well recovered, the ulcer

•excepted, was bitten in the other thigh by the same snake, and the symptoms of poison advanced so rapidly, that
the caustic was applied within eight minutes after the bite.

The dog suffered less pain than from the former operation; and, after slumbering two or three hours,
recovered.

Experiment XX.-A dog, which three days before had been infected by poison, applied in the manner

of a seton (see Sect. V. Exp. V.) was bitten in the opposite thigh by a Katuka Rekula Poda. The snake bit
fiercely; and the dog almost instantly appeared to be infected.

The caustic was applied in four minutes ; but the dog, as soon as let loose, staggered, sunk down, and in a
few minutes more appeared to be dying. After this he remained comatous for two hours; unable to rise
when urged, and only now and then lifting his head with difficulty half up. At the end of four hours and a
half, he expired, without convulsion.

Experiment XXL May 27.-A small dog, bitten two days before by a Katuka Rekula Poda, but not

infected, was bitten again this day on the other thigh. In two minutes, both hinder legs were affected ; and

72

EXPERIMENTS ON REMEDIES APPLIED AGAINST

in five minutes, the incisions were made, and caustics applied. The dog hardly complained, he urined and had
a stool, during the operation ; and when taken from the table, his limbs were found completely relaxed : he
slid down, and lay along in a state of insensibility, without moving or complaining. In forty minutes, he was
convulsed about the throat, and had a hiccup, which returned at short intervals, till his death : fifty minutes
after the bite.

Observations. --Though the caustics were applied in five minutes, the most alarming symptoms of

poison had already made their appearance. The making no complaint when the caustics were applied, and
total silence afterwards, showed a singular insensibility.

Upon dissection, the membranes under the skin round the punctures, were found considerably inflamed ;
and under the principal puncture, were become black, and covered with grumous blood: the blackness had
even penetrated nearly half an inch into the subjacent m.uscle.

I should have ascribed the blackness to the caustics, but under another puncture to which they also had
been applied, the membranes were only shrivelled, and superficially discoloured.

In the thigh bitten two days before, the membranes were found slightly inflamed, not black. The thoracic
and abdominal viscera were sound. The blood contained in the auricle, and large veins near the heart,
appeared less grumous, and of a darker colour than usual: when exposed in a vessel, it also seemed to co¬
agulate more slowly, while the crassamentum was less tough. But not having examined, in that climate, the
blood of a dog not infected, I am in doubt how far the appearances in the thorax should be ascribed to
poison.

Experiment XXII. September 12, 1788.-A very stout dog was bitten by a Cobra de Capello, on the

inside of the thigh, and the symptoms of poison were visible in a few minutes. In seven minutes the caustics
were applied; but alarming symptoms advanced rapidly; both hinder legs were paralytic, and the head was
convulsed most remarkably. He expired in two hours after the bite.

Observations. -In this case, the stronger common caustic, (which I had received from Madras,) was

employed instead of oil of tartar, and was applied before the vitriolic acid. But though the caustic was almost
liquid, it made very little impression on the skin, which was more quickly and sensibly affected by the
vitriolic acid ; on which account it seemed better to apply the vitriol first, and to use the caustic in the same
manner as the oil of tartar. Scarification, in some degree, should perhaps precede the caustics.

Experiment XXIII. September 12.-To a chicken bitten in the pinion, by a young Cobra de Capello,

the caustic was first applied, (without scarification,) and then the oil of vitriol. In about forty minutes
it was slightly convulsed, and died in one hour eight minutes, after the bite. To another chicken oil of vitriol
alone was applied, in five minutes after the bite, the part having first been slightly scarified. Convulsions
came on in less than fifteen minutes, and the bird expired in twenty-three minutes.

Experiment XXIV. September 19.-A stout dog bitten on the thigh by a Cobra de Capello, appeared

at first to be very slightly infected. In half an hour the part, which had swelled a little, was pretty deeply
scarified, and the oil of vitriol applied alone, which seemingly gave much pain. The dog continued mostly on
his legs, for an hour and a half. In half an hour more, he was seized with convulsions, particularly about the
head and the throat, and expired at the end of three hours.

Observations. -The symptoms in this case were at first so slight, that had the dog recovered, I should

have doubted his being infected.

Experiment XXV. September 30.-To another stout dog, which appeared to be very slightly infected,

the oil of vitriol was in like manner applied, immediately after the bite. The application caused great pain;
and the dog expired in one hour and forty-eight minutes. (See Exp. IV. Sect. II.)

Experiment XXVI.-The thigh of a chicken bitten by a very alert Cobra de Capello, was immediately

scarified, and had oil of vitriol applied to it. No symptoms of poison followed.

Another chicken bitten immediately after by the same snake, escaped equally well, though no remedy
was used.

THE POISON OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

73

Observations.- The first bite of a Cobra de Capello generally proves fatal to chickens, especially

where the snake is alert, as in the present case: the second chicken, it is true, was bitten less fiercely, but its
escape was also remarkable.

Experiment XXVII. October 30,1788.-A chicken was bitten on the thigh by a Cobra de Capello. One

fang at least had acted, and poison remained on the skin, where the holders had left visible marks. After two
minutes, the part, without scarification, was washed with the vitriolic acid, a little diluted. The bird was not
infected.

Observations.- -When trial was made of the caustics, it was not from any notion of their acting im¬

mediately upon the poison by ail acid, alkaline, or neutral quality, but rather as preventing its absorption, in
the manner of the actual cautery, by destroying the vascular texture of the parts. From the small number of
experiments made, it would be rash to draw general conclusions; but on comparing the various results, it suf¬
ficiently appears that the remedy often failed, though applied from four to fifteen minutes after the bite;
that it almost invariably failed when applied later; and that where the infected subject escaped with life, a
much greater number of trials would still be required for ascertaining the merit to be ascribed to the caustics.

Like the actual cautery, they require to be applied early; and the application of both to certain parts would
be liable to similar objections. That is, the risk of irreparable injury to a limb, which ought not to be incurred,
unless where life itself is visibly in danger : a point in many cases not easily determined from the concomitant
symptoms, at the beginning, or before the poison has made considerable progress.

This last objection applies also to amputation, which has been found an effectual remedy in respect to
young guinea pigs, where the operation was performed within five or six minutes after the bite of the viper.*
A few experiments of amputation which I made on chickens and pigeons, proved unsuccessful: but perhaps
the operation was too long deferred.

Experiment XXVIII.-A Cobra de Capello, after biting a dog twice, was made to bite a pigeon on the

lower part of the thigh, and in one minute, the limb was cut off a little above the punctures. A good deal of
blood was lost.

The bird survived two hours, remaining for the most part couched and drooping; but for one minute before
death, it suffered violent convulsions.

Upon dissecting the amputated limb, it was found that the discoloration of the muscle extended nearly half
an inch above the punctures, reaching almost to the place of amputation.

Experiment XXIX.--A ligature applied immediately, to dogs, after being bitten in the leg by a

Cobra de Capello, failed in preventing the progress of the poison, in the few trials I had an opportunity of
making ; but the trials were too few to establish the inutility of the practice.-f

Observations. -Suction of the infected wound, and the application of leeches, I never tried ; but their

inutility in Europe, in the viper poison, seems by experiments to be placed beyond doubt. J

Experiment XXX. December 17.-To the thigh of a chicken, bitten by a Cobra de Capello, (which

had remarkably short fangs, and had been kept for two months without food,) was applied, after a slight in¬
cision, a snake-stone, which adhered for a minute or two, and then dropped off. The usual signs of poison
soon appeared, but the bird survived one hour and ten minutes.

Observations. --The stone employed on this occasion was one I had received as a present in Syria,

from a gentleman who had resided in Egypt, and who assured me, that in a long series of years at Alexandria,
the stone had acquired such reputation for the cure of venomous bites, as had produced frequent applications
for the loan of it; and that its efficacy had been confirmed by numerous trials. A single experiment proves
but little, and I found no disposition to make more.

The inutility of what are called snake-stones, has been shown sufficiently by Fontana's experiments; § and

* Traite' sur le Venin de la Vipere, Tome IV. p. 16.
I As above, p. 12.

f See the work last referred to, p. 16.
§ Traite, Tome II. p. 73. 76.

74

EXPERIMENTS ON REMEDIES APPLIED AGAINST

they have also shown how little several other applications (though highly recommended) are to be depended on ;
as quick lime, magnesia, caustic alkali, absorbent earths, calcined hartshorn, neutral and sea salts, &c. &c.

He speaks more doubtfully of the application of hot oils, particularly oil of turpentine ; and of immersion of
the limb into hot lime water, salt water, or even plain water.*

Cantharides administered internally; Peruvian bark ; and emetics ; though certainly not specifics, could not
(according to Fontana) be pronounced absolutely useless : but he found scarification, as well as the actual cau¬
tery, to be rather prejudicial.

The only remedies established, by his experiments, as effectual, under certain limitations, were amputation
and ligature; on both which, some remarks will be found in the following Section.

I shall conclude the present Section with an account of the Tanjore pill, the only internal remedy used in the
foregoing experiments.

It was communicated to me by Mr. Duffin, at that time surgeon to the garrison of Vellore, a gentleman of
most respectable character, afterwards chief surgeon at Fort St. George, and now in England.

The following is an extract from his letter, dated January, 1788, with which I was favoured, in consequence
of a general invitation for information on the subject of serpents, circulated on the coast of Coromandel, under
the recommendation of the Board of Madras.

“ Having lately seen your public memoir on the subject of snakes, I take the liberty of sending you the for¬
mula of a remedy which has been used with success in the bites of all poisonous animals, even of mad dogs.
I procured it through the medium of the Rev. Mr. Swartz, who had influence with a native of Tanjore, to im¬
part it for a pecuniary consideration.

“ The deleterious quality of the arsenic was not the only objection to using it ; for I was also given to under¬
stand, that two of the other ingredients, the velli-navi and the neri-visham, were poisonous roots ; and the third,
the nervalam, was a drastic purge. All these three are found in every bazar in this part of the country, but,
on account of their poisonous qualities, cannot be purchased without the knowledge of an officer of the police.
They are indigenous on the Malabar coast, and used in composition, by the native practitioners, in a variety of
diseases, besides those from animal poisons.

“ I was assured by Mr. Swartz, that, to his knowledge, the medicine had been used repeatedly; that no alarm¬
ing symptoms occurred from it; and that it never failed in effecting a cure, when given in time, before the
poison had affected the whole system.”

Mr. Duffin then gave the histories in detail of two cases, in which he himself had successfully given the medi¬
cine ; and added, “ I have since administered the pills to thirty or forty patients bitten by different kinds of
snakes, some of which were probably innocuous : as I seldom had occasion so give more than two pills, and
that at an interval of fourteen or fifteen hours ; the cases being attended by no alarming symptoms. The
pills generally occasioned a nausea and purging, but seldom in a violent degree.”

“ Receipt for the composition of the pills for the cure of venomous bites.

“ White arsenic ; roots of velli-navi ; roots of neri-visham ; kernels of nervalam ; pepper ; quicksilver;—of
each an equal quantity.

££ The quicksilver is to be rubbed with the juice of the wild cotton, till the globules become invisible. The
arsenic being first levigated, and the other ingredients reduced to a powder, are then added, and the whole is
beaten up together, with the juice of the wild cotton, to a consistence fit to be divided into pills.”

DIRECTIONS FOR USING THE SNAKE PILLS.

“ If a person is bit by a Cobra de Capello, mix one of the pills with a little warm water, and give it to the
patient. After waiting a quarter of an hour, should the symptoms of infection increase, give two pills more ;

* Traite, Tome II. p. 8.

fib-

THE POISON OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

75

should these not sufficiently counteract the poison, another pill must be given, an hour after. This is generally
found sufficient. The wound should be dilated, and the warm liver of a fowl applied to the part.

“ For the bite of all kinds of vipers, viz. Viriyen Pamboo, Valancy, Sidamand-Eli, Rettamand~Eli, give two
pills ; and if the poison is not counteracted within half an hour, give two pills more : but if the life of the
patient should appear to be in great danger, four pills may be given : an incision should be made on the top
of the head, and a pill pulverized should be first rubbed on the wound, then the liver of a fowl applied to
the part.

« For the bite of all other less poisonous snakes, one pill every morning for three days is sufficient. The pa¬
tient ought to keep a regimen for six days, eating only congee (rice water) and rice, or milk and rice. He
should abstain from salt, and his drink may be warm water. Sleep is to be prevented lor the first twenty-
four hours/'

Mr. Duffin had obligingly supplied me with specimens of the several ingredients, the Malabar and Gentoo
names being affixed to each ; and from the specimen of the wild cotton, I found it to be the Asclepias gigantea,
a plant which grows every where on the coast of Coromandel. The roots and seeds are produced on the Mala¬
bar coast; and I expected specimens of the plants from Bombay before leaving India, but was disappointed. The
seeds looked like those of some species of croton.

In the mean while, I determined to make a few experiments with the unknown ingredients separately. The
result of which was, in short, as follows:

Five grains of the velli-navi root, almost without exception, killed chickens in little more than an hour. They
sometimes were visibly affected in ten minutes, but generally not in less than half an hour. They first purged
once or twice, then drooped, and couched on their belly. The throat was next affected with a constant tremu¬
lous motion, and the head at times drawn downwards convulsively. The tremor extending to the whole body,
the legs soon became convulsed, and the bird expired, sometimes in forty minutes, and almost never later than
in an hour and twenty minutes. One or two chickens that escaped, were much indisposed for several hours ;
but none escaped where the throat became convulsed.

The crop in all became much inflated ; but nothing remarkable was discovered upon dissection.

To a stout dog, half a dram of the velli-navi, mixed with a bit of bread sopped in milk, was given in the
morning before he had taken any food,

The dog, in twenty minutes, became sick, stood with his mouth open, lolling his tongue out, and panting;
but drank of milk and water when offered to him. The sickness increasing, he refused drinking more, and
howled as if in much distress. He lay down, and his flanks laboured much. In about an hour he vomited, and
became still more unquiet. In this state he continued three hours, having vomited twice more, at intervals. He
had no stool till after noon. In the evening he was very well.

The neri-visham in a dose of five grains produced no other effect on chickens than purging gently once or
twice. The dose increased to ten grains, had a little more effect in the same way. An infusion of two drams of
the root in water was given to two chickens ; to one, one fourth part; to the other, the remainder. The first
seemed no more affected than with the powder; the other appeared sick, drooped for an hour or two, purged
moderately, and then became lively as before.

The nervalam, in doses of five grains, had no visible effect whatever on the chickens. In doses of twenty
grains, they purged briskly several times.

It should be remarked, that both roots and seeds seemed to have been long kept, and the former had in some
parts been touched by worms.

From the foregoing experiments, none of the unknown ingredients appear to be deleterious, the velli-navi
excepted.

76

EXPERIMENTS ON REMEDIES APPLIED AGAINST

The pills received at different times from Vellore, Madras, and Arcot, varying considerably in colour, I was
induced to prepare a mass myself, exactly according to the receipt, with a view to discover the cause of these
variations. The mass so prepared was found of a much darker colour than any of them, owing, I believe, entirely
to the mercury being more carefully mixed ; for, though it succeeded at last, the mixing the mercury with the
juice of the asclepias proved a tedious process. To half an ounce of quicksilver, above two ounces of the juice
were employed ; great part of which evaporated in the course of the process. The arsenic was finely levigated ;
the roots and pepper were pounded separately ; the seeds were too oily to pass the sieve, but were well mixed
with the powders, before adding the mercury.

Four drams of each of the ingredients entered the composition, making three ounces; but the mass when
prepared, including the juice of the asclepias used in the preparation of the mercury, and in forming the mass,
weighed four ounces and one dram.

In the original receipt, the size of the pills is not specified; but on weighing those sent me from Vellore,
Arcot, and Madras, ten or eleven pills were generally found to weigh one dram ; in which circumstance, they
agreed with those prepared by myself, when equally dried ; though eight pills only were formed from each
dram of the recent mass.

When the mass was prepared, I tried several experiments on sound dogs, and chickens ; for though I had given

the pills before, to empoisoned dogs, it was not certain how far their operation might differ, when not affected by
the stimulus of another poison.

The result was, that two pills given on a fasting stomach, generally produced vomiting and purging, though
not violent, nor attended with symptoms of much disorder ; and the dog was very well after six or eight hours.
A dose of four pills produced more evident inquietude, with repeated vomitings, and more violent purging, but
in twelve hours, the appetite for food returned.

In chickens well grown, one pill produced repeated purgings, and in two or three hours convulsions and
death. Half a pill likewise proved fatal, but more slowly. Chickens survived a dose of a fourth of a pill.

When the pills were given in a liquid form to dogs, they often appeared to produce a burning heat in the
throat, with a large discharge of saliva ; but this was not observed where the pills were swallowed at once, con¬
cealed in crumb of bread moistened.

In the original directions, the pill is ordered to be powdered and mixed with water. This probably is with a
view to hasten its operation ; a circumstance of material consequence in cases of the bite of venomous snakes,
where the progress of the poison is sometimes incredibly rapid.

I am not, however, certain, whether quickening the operation of the medicine, is the sole reason for ordering
it to be given in a liquid form ; perhaps something also may be expected from its immediate action upon the
mouth and throat. Some of the other Indian remedies against poisonous bites, are directed to be only rubbed
on the palate, or in very small quantity applied to the eye. These, like the present medicine, are also of an acrid
quality ; and I was informed by a medical gentleman, who, in a case of a woman bitten by a snake, attended
with the most alarming symptoms, applied one of these remedies in the manner above mentioned, success¬
fully ; but that an ophthalmia was the consequence, by which she had nearly lost her eye.*

-I had no opportunity of trying the Tanjore medicine on the human subject, in cases of bites of serpents ; but
I have, at different times, given it to fourteen persons bitten by mad dogs. It generally operated upwards twice
or thrice, and downwards three, four, or five times ; but the retchings neither were violent, nor were the stools
remarkably griping. In some instances it did not vomit once; and, in two instances only, it purged ten times.

* An Indian remedy, said to have been originally brought from the Madura country, got into high reputation, by means of the Jesuits at Pondicherry;
in so much, that there was hardly a French officer in the army who was not provided with a little of it, contained in a very small box, which he carried con¬
stantly about him, as an infallible cure for venomous bites. I never saw this remedy tried, which many of the English gentlemen preserved in very minute
gold boxes; but was informed by Mr. James Bourchier, that he had made at least twenty experiments with it, on sheep bitten in the thigh by the Cobra de
Capello. The result of his experiments varied very little. All the sheep died nearly in the same manner ; that is, in about twenty-five minutes, they sunk
down, unable to stand, and in five minutes more expired.

THE POISON OF VENOMOUS SERPENTS.

77

The medicine used was that prepared by myself, and which was found to operate more sharply than the pills
sent from Tanjore.

The safety of the remedy, notwithstanding the large proportion of arsenic, may be inferred from the in¬
stances now produced, joined to the much more extensive experience of Mr. Duffin.* Its efficacy, is a matter
of much more difficult discussion, and so far as respects the canine poison, belongs not to this place.

SECTION VII.

Of the Effects of the Poison of Snakes on the Human Body.

It has been called in question, whether in Europe, the bite of the viper ever proves fatal to man. The Abbe
Fontana, who was at pains in making inquiry, in different countries, never met with one well attested instance
of its occasioning death. He found, from his own experiments, that to some even of the domestic brute animals,
repeated bites of more than one viper did not prove fatal; and he considers the variety of opposite and trifling
remedies, to which cures have often been ascribed, as a proof that the disease produced by the poison of the
viper, cannot be very dangerous. “ Une maladie qui cede a tous les remedes, meme a ceux qui sont opposes
“ entr’eux, n'est jamais une maladie dangereuse.-f

The case is widely different in respect to the poisons of the Cobra de Capello, and some other Indian serpents.
That man is subjected to their deleterious power, is a fact confirmed every year by too many fatal accidents;
and the experiments produced in the preceding Sections, put it beyond all doubt, that the stronger animals,
who resist the poison of the viper, rapidly give up life, to the single bite of a Cobra de Capello.

Of the remedies to which cures of venomous bites are often ascribed in India, some are certainly not less
frivolous than those employed in Europe for the bite of the viper; yet to infer from thence, that the effects of
the poison cannot be very dangerous, would not be more rational, than to ascribe the recovery of a person
bitten by a Cobra de Capello, to the application of a snake-stone, or to the words muttered over the patient by
a Bramin.

It is established by experiments on brute animals, that highly deleterious as the poison of serpents is allowed
to be, it does not to them prove constantly, or infallibly fatal. The case from analogy, may be presumed to
be the same in respect to man: but is with more certainty known, from the frequent recovery after threatening
symptoms have come on, not only where insignificant remedies alone were employed, but where no remedy
whatever had been applied.

Experiments on brutes serve also to ascertain circumstances, and to discover the causes, of anomalous
variations remarked in the operation of poison, as they relate either to the state of the snake, or the pre¬
disposition of the patient. In respect to the human subject, experience in these variations is, for obvious
reasons, extremely circumscribed: the snake that inflicted the wound often escapes unknown; and accurate
histories of the consequent disease are few in number.

It was matter of surprise, as well as of regret, to find so little known on the medical history of serpents, in a
country where much might have reasonably been expected. Numbers of stories, it is true, were to be met
with of the fatal effects, as well as of singular cures, of venomous bites. But such were, in general, related merely
from memory ; the progress of the disease, and succession of symptoms, had either not been attended to, or
were indistinctly recollected; the same story told at different times, was found to vary in material circum¬
stances ; and the marvellous too often found place in the narrative.

It is therefore to be wished that the medical gentlemen in India would in future bestow more attention on
this subject than appears to have been done hitherto; calls upon them, in their professional line, are not fre-

* For an account of an Indian remedy, for the elephantiasis, of which arsenic is the principal ingredient, see Asiatic Researches, vol. II.
f Traite sur le Venin de la Vipere, &c. Tome II. p. 32.

78

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE POISON

quent; the Europeans in India being less exposed to accidents from serpents, than the natives: and the
natives, on similar occasions, either have recourse to nostrums of their own, or to the prayers of the Bramins.
The Sepoys, however, afford a wide field for observation ; and in the territories of the Company, the surgeon
of the settlement would seldom be denied such access to persons bitten, of whatsoever rank, as might at least
enable him to describe the course of the disease: but opportunities of information must be sought for; not
left merely to chance.

The great desideratum is materials for a medical history of the disease proceeding from the bite of poisonous
serpents: in which view every case, if faithfully related, (whether remedies have or have not been applied,
whether it terminates happily or fatally;) becomes of importance; even very defective cases, and transient
remarks, are not without utility; as in combination with more complete narratives, they may conduce to the
improvement of the proposed history.

But progress towards such improvement, can only be expected from the united exertions of gentlemen in
the different situations in India; and it will admit of little doubt, that a general resolution to communicate
their respective observations to the Medical Board, would prove the means of preserving many valuable
materials, which are irrecoverably dispersed, or lost, from the want of a public repository.

Having premised these general observations, which are submitted to the consideration of the faculty in
India, I shall produce, as a specimen, the little I myself have been able to collect on the subject: considering
it merely as the slender beginning of a collection of medical facts, to be enriched hereafter, by the future
communications of others.

The two following cases were communicated to me by Mr. Duffin, in January, 1788.

Case I.- £< A Malabar woman was bitten in the small of the leg, by a Cobra de Capello. I saw her

about ten hours after the accident. She had lost her senses of seeing, and feeling; and deglutition was so
much impeded, that hardly any thing could be got to pass into the stomach. No other parts were visibly
affected by spasms; but a torpor and listlessness pervaded the whole system, and from the moment of the
bite, had continually increased.

“ With some difficulty, I got her to swallow one Tanjore pill. The wound was dilated, and dressed with
mercurial ointment.

“ The pill producing no sensible operation, a second was given, at the distance of three hours, but, like
the former, it had no effect. After waiting four hours longer, a third pill was given, which operated gently
by stool, and produced a general moisture upon the skin.

“ After this, that is in about eighteen hours from the bite, she gradually recovered her feeling and her sight,
and could swallow more freely.

“ A pill was given every morning, for the three succeeding days, without occasioning any sensible operation,
except a nausea, and a diaphoresis. She remained weakly eight or ten days; and then recovered without any
other remedy.”

Case II.- “ Some months after the above accident, a private soldier of the third regiment, named Peter

Francis, was bitten by what the natives call Viriyen Pambu, a small brown snake.* The bite was in the
middle finger of his left hand, and before I saw him, he had used the precaution of tying a string round the
finger above the wound, to stop the circulation. It was not more than a quarter of an hour from the bite,
that he got one pill, and the wound was dressed as in the former case. Upon dilating the wound, a desert-
spoonfull of blackish coloured blood issued out; and instantly upon untying the string from the finger, he
complained of a violent pain, shooting upwards to his shoulder, with a sensation of burning all along
his arm.

“ The man was then sent to the barracks under the care of his comrade, who was provided with directions,
and two more pills, to be given if necessary.

* See Descriptions, No. IV.

OF SNAKES ON THE HUMAN BODY.

79

“ The pain and burning sensation of his arm continued three hours, he became more and more restless, and
as the pill had not operated, a second pill was given. The inquietude greatly increased, and he was seized with
a delirium, accompanied with spasms.

« In this alarming state, a third pill was given, about an hour after the second. A vomiting and purging
immediately succeeded in so violent a degree, that in the morning, when I saw him, he was hardly able to
stand : but he was free from pain, and complained only of weakness. He took a pill two mornings following ;
after which he was well, and in four days able to do his duty/'

Mr. Duffin favoured me also with the following case, communicated to him in a letter from Mr. James
Ramsay, assistant surgeon to the third regiment of cavalry, dated November 10, 1786, from the cantonment
near Arcot.

Case III.-■“ A Dubash belonging to Cornet M'Gregor of the cavalry, was bitten in the toe by a snake,

which, from his description, appeared to be the Cobra de Capello. A few drops of blood issued from the part,
and he was sensible instantly of pain. When he came to me, about half an hour after the accident, the pain had
advanced as high as the joint of his knee. I immediately prepared, and gave him one of the snake pills as directed ;
and, that no part of the prescription might be omitted, the liver of a frog was applied to the wound. In the
course of ten minutes after giving the first pill, the pain had got to the top of his thigh, and became much more
severe; I then gave him two more pills, and ordered a bottle of Madeira to be warmed. Of this he drank
about two cupfuils, but a part only remained on the stomach. The patient now complained of severe pains in
his belly, which upon examination appeared tense, and much swelled. A sense of tension, or tightness, spread¬
ing fast towards the breast, and respiration becoming extremely laborious, an attempt was made to make him
take two pills more ; but deglutition being impeded, a part of them only reached the stomach, and was imme¬
diately rejected. From this time the stricture on the oesophagus increased so much, that nothing could be forced
down his throat; he foamed at the mouth ; his eyes stood staring and fixed ; his pulse and respiration became
hardly perceptible ; and, in short, every vital motion seemed at a stand. I applied spirits of hartshorn to his
mouth and nostrils, by which, in a few minutes, a strong sneeze being excited, he immediately began to breathe,
and soon pronounced the word better. After he had recovered a little, he told me “ he felt the pain descending
retrograde, in the same track in which it had arisen ;” and expressed a strong desire to sleep. He slept for a
quarter of an hour, and, upon his awaking, vomited plentifully. He had now recovered his senses, and said he
felt only a little pain in his foot, which at last descended to his toe : and, in the course of two hours more, he 1
was able to walk home ; but did not recover the fatigue for some days.

“ I suppose the vomiting to have been occasioned by the pills, the effects of which, however, did not seem to
be so violent as they are commonly said to be. The man told me, he only felt them make his stomach a little
warm.”

The three cases following were communicated to me, by Captain Gowdie, in a letter dated from Rajahmun-
drah, March 20, 1788.

Case IV.-“ A Havildar in Captain Gowdie’s battalion, a man fifty years of age, was bitten by a snake on

the little toe of the right foot, about one in the morning, in the guard-room. He was not, at the instant, sensible
of much more pain than what is occasioned by the bite of a large ant, and lay down to sleep. At daylight,
when the guard turned out to ground arms, he was found almost stiff, yet still retained the power of speech, and
declared he should inevitably die in consequence of the bite. He complained very little of pain ; but seemed to
suffer a general stupor ; he had totally lost his sight, and expired before seven in the morning.”

Case V.-“ A Sepoy of the same battalion was bitten, by the same snake, on the inside of his left wrist,

within a minute after the Havildar. He also complained less of pain than of drowsiness, and went to sleep. Upon
getting up at daylight, he complained of a dimness of sight, and was ordered by the black doctors to be led about,
and to be kept in motion.

“ At eight o'clock in the morning, upon examining the wrist, I could perceive two small punctures, about
the eighth of an inch from each other. At ten o'clock, he had lost his sight entirely, and was unable to keep

80

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE POISON

on his legs longer ; but he chiefly complained of being hindered from going to sleep. Soon after this, he was
permitted to lie down ; and (as in the preceding case) without convulsions, or suffering any visible agony, he
expired half an hour before noon/'

The bodies were not buried till four hours after death, when they began to putrify.

To the above circumstances, noted by Captain Gowdie at the time, he added the following description of the
snake : “ It was scarcely six inches in length ; about the size of a large goose quill; of a dark straw colour; a
flat head, with two very small eyes, which shone like diamonds; and behind each eye was a black streak,
about three fourths of an inch long.

“ The trunk, not tapering in the usual manner, was nearly as thick at the tail as at the head. Its mode
of progression was also different from that of other snakes. It sprung forward, a foot at least at each
spring, falling to the ground head and tail foremost. As it lay on the ground, it formed two thirds of a
circle.

« The name given to it by the natives was, Min Naig Paum “

Observations. -The absence of convulsions in the above two cases, was remarkable ; as also the unin¬

terrupted propensity to sleep.

The snake was unfortunately not preserved ; and notwithstanding the exertions of Captain Gowdie as well
as Mr. Macmahon the surgeon, I never could procure a specimen.

Case VI.-In consequence of these two accidents, Captain Gowdie issued orders, that in case of any one

belonging to the battalion being bitten by a snake, he should immediately be brought to him.

“ In about a fortnight after this order, a Sepoy happened to be bitten on the ankle by a large snake, believed
to be a Cobra de Capello, and was brought to Captain Gowdie s house, within a quarter of an hour after the
accident.

“ His jaws were locked, his eyes fixed, and very little sign of life remaining. Four large punctures were
visible on the ankle ; to which eau de luce being applied, the man gave marks of sensibility, by drawing up his
leg. Two bottles of Madeira wine were then made warm, and the jaws being forced open so as to introduce a
funnel, almost the whole of the wine, in the course of half an hour, was poured down. The application of the
eau de luce was continued constantly for three hours, till a whole bottle was expended. The patient was now
totally without any sense of feeling whatever ; and had it not been for a gentle heave of his breast every two
or three minutes, I should have thought him dead.

“ He remained in this torpid state forty hours, and then began to show signs of returning life ; it was twelve
hours more before he recovered his speech ; and he continued many days in a very languid state. He is now
one of the stoutest men in my first grenadier company."

Observations. -From the sudden appearance of formidable symptoms, the progress of the poison must

here have been extremely rapid. As nothing is said of the swelling or discoloration of the ankle, it is pro¬
bable the local affection was inconsiderable. Supposing the man not accustomed to spirituous liquors, the
stupor might partly be imputed to the large dose of Madeira wine ; but torpor is also a common symptom of
the poison.

Madeira wine is the internal remedy most commonly used on such occasions, by the Europeans in the
Carnatic; and numerous instances are produced of persons not dying who had recourse to it. But in many
of those instances, two material circumstances are left not ascertained, viz. whether the snake that bit was
or was not venomous, and whether the person bitten was infected. In the present case neither circumstance
admits of doubt; but then another remedy, to which high virtues have been ascribed, was applied at the same
time with the wine.

In the second volume of the Asiatic Researches, six cases are related, in which the volatile alkali is supposed
to have been successful. They were selected from a number which had come to the author's knowledge, who
adds, “ that he never knew an instance of the volatile caustic alkali failing in its effect, where the patient has
been able to swallow it." He at the same time gives it as his opinion, “ that it does not so much act as a

OF SNAKES ON THE HUMAN BODY.

81

specific in destroying the quality of the poison, as by counteracting the effect on the system, by stimulating the
fibres, and preserving that irritability which it tends to destroy/'’

It is to be regretted, that Mr. Williams had not been more precise as to the extent of his experience, and
that the selected cases had not been more circumstantially related. In two of them, a ligature had been ap¬
plied ; in three of them, the symptoms do not appear to have been formidable ; and of the seven cases, one
only proved fatal.

The volatile alkali, as a specific against the poison of the viper, was brought into vogue at Paris, in conse¬
quence of its supposed success in a case related in the History of the Academy of Sciences for 1747; and was
supported theoretically, on a supposed acid property of the poison ; an opinion at first propagated by Dr. Mead,
but relinquished by him in the sequel.

The subject was again revived at the distance of ten or twelve years, in a book written by M. Sage of the
Royal Academy, who proceeded, as if on the authority of Dr. Mead, in an opinion which he did not know that
the Doctor had long before retracted.

The Abbd Fontana, in consequence of a number of experiments made with the volatile alkali on various ani¬
mals, gives his most decided opinion against its utility, and even suspects it of having done harm.* He thinks
the instances produced of its good effects on the human subject, of doubtful authority; and argues strongly
against the possibility of its acting by its alkaline quality, when applied externally to the skin ; showing, from
several experiments, that it cannot penetrate the skin, so as to act on the acid quality of the poison, was that
even admitted to exist.

In so far as the volatile alkali (according to Mr. Williams) is supposed to act merely as a stimulant, the
Abbd’s objections apply with less force, at least to giving it internally; but the use of its external application,
unless it be supposed to act on the quality of the poison, seems very doubtful.

Case VII.- “ The porter of Mr. Bourchier, Governor of Bombay, a very stout Arab, was bitten by a

small serpent, and expired almost instantaneously, after exclaiming that a snake had bit him.”

The above account I had from the Governor’s son, Mr. James Bourchier, who spoke from memory; and
added, “ that the snake, to which the man’s death was imputed, was, by the Portuguese, called Cobra de
Morte ; that in the course of twenty years in India, he had only seen two of them, one on the island of Bom¬
bay, the other in his own house at St. Thomas’s Mount, near Madras. That the length of the snake was from
six to nine inches ; its thickness that of a common tobacco pipe. The head black, with white marks, bearing
some resemblance to a skull, and two cross bones. The body alternately black and white, in joints, the whole
length ; that its venom is of all others the most pernicious.”

Case VIII.- “ A Gentoo boy in the service of an English officer of the army, had been forbid by his mas¬

ter to smoke tobacco. The gentleman returning one morning from shooting at an earlier hour than was ex¬
pected, alarmed the boy, who happened at the time to be smoking a chirroot (segar). In eagerness to extin¬
guish the chirroot, and conceal his offence, the boy run to an old wall behind the house, and thrusting the burn¬
ing chirroot into a hole in the wall, was bitten in the hand. He exclaimed loudly; and his master, with a ser¬
vant, running to know what had happened, found the boy hardly able to give an account of what had befallen
him : in a very short while after, the boy expired.

The snake was not found. The gentleman did not pretend to be precisely exact as to time, but was pretty
confident that from the time of the boy’s exclamation till his death, not more than ten minutes could have
elapsed.

Observations. --I have produced the last two cases, though very incomplete, as affording instances of

death remarkably sudden. In Case IV. the Sepoy expired within six hours after the bite; which agrees nearly,
as to time, with the few fatal accidents I heard of while in India. A man bitten at Vizagapatam, a few days
after my arrival, died in less than twelve hours ; but, the accident happening at night, it was not known what
serpent had bit him.

* Traitc sur lePoison.de la Vipere, Tom, I. p. 97; et Tom. II. p. 237.

82

OF THE EFFECTS OF THE POISON

The snake mentioned in Case VII. comes very near the description I have often had of the Cobra Monil,
which, as I have mentioned in another place, I never could procure, though great pains were employed in
the search.

The snakes which did the mischief in Cases IV. V. and VI. were certainly different from any of those con¬
tained in the present collection, and on that account become more particularly objects of inquiry. In Case VIII.
the snake was not found; which frequently happens, when persons are bitten by snakes accidentally crossing
the road in the night; for though immediately pursued by some of the company, the snake usually makes its
escape among the stones and bushes, especially if it is small in size.

Case IX.-In the beginning of June 1788, a Gentoo man, about forty years of age, was bitten by a

Cobra de Capello, in the fleshy part between the thumb and the fore-finger.

He was one whom I retained in my service for the purpose of procuring serpents, and also, as he was very
adroit in handling them, for assisting in my experiments. He met with the accident after sunset, in
attempting, at the request of some neighbours, to catch a Cobra de Capello, just before discovered in one of
the houses of the village. His usual caution seemed to have deserted him, or, as he pretended, he missed his
aim in the dusk.

The account he gave was, “ that he felt instantly a sharp pain in the part bitten, which soon spread on the
“ palm, and upwards on the arm. He was sensible also of sickness at the stomach, but did not vomit. In
“ less than an hour, the hand and the wrist were considerably swelled, the pain extended nearer the shoulder;
“ he was sensible of a confusion in his head, and a strong disposition to doze.” From this time, he himself
was for several hours ignorant of what had passed; but from the report of those about him, (so far as could
be collected,) “ he at times showed much inquietude, without making any specific complaint; at other times
“ he lay moaning, and dozing. Towards midnight, his disorder increased, startings about his throat were
“ observed, his breathing became laborious, he could not speak articulately, and seemed not to perceive objects,
“ though his eyes were open.”

They had applied a poultice of herbs to the arm, and administered a secret antidote internally; besides which
a Bramin performed his functions: but finding he grew worse and worse, it was determined after midnight,
by the relations, to acquaint me with what had happened.

Between one and two in the morning, I sent back the messengers with two doses of the Tanjore medicine
prepared in draughts. On their return they found the patient much better; he had recovered his senses, and
finding that the messengers had omitted to inform me of his having already swallowed a medicine, he declined
taking the draught, lest the two remedies should happen not to agree together.

In the morning, I found the hand and arm monstrously swelled, and I suspected the parts round the
punctures were livid; but part of the poultice adhered so closely, and had tinged the skin of so deep a yellow,
that I could not absolutely determine.

The man had perfectly recovered his senses, he had no fever, complained only of confusion in the head, of
languor, and of pain in the arm.

The bark was ordered, but a few doses only were taken. The parts about the punctures mortified first,
the gangrene then spread over the back and palm of the hand, and part of the wrist, laying the tendons
bare, and forming an ulcer of considerable extent; which, however, healed favourably, under the usual
treatment. He recovered his health in eight or ten days; but it was several months before he recovered the
use of his hand.

Observations. -The external, or local disease, was remarkably severe in this case; and, from the

account of the patient, it was near an hour before he was sensible of the confusion in the head, and drowsy
disposition. In Case V. the most formidable internal symptoms appeared within a quarter of an hour, while
the local effects of the poison were slight.

It has been observed in animals, that where a ligature was applied immediately after the bite, with a
view to prevent the access of the poison into the current of circulation, the internal disease was mitigated,

OF SNAKES ON THE HUMAN BODY.

83

or entirely prevented, while the local malady was invariably more considerable, than where no ligature had
intercepted the course of the poison.* Hence it has been conjectured that the poison, so confined, may
expend its force in producing the local disease in the vicinity of the bite; or in a certain time may become
so changed, as to be admitted into the circulation, with little or no dangeivf

Experience only can decide on the justness of this conjecture; and experience hitherto, so far as respects
the human subject, affords but little assistance. It is therefore a matter highly meriting future attention in
India, as tending to regulate or direct the practice of ligatures, as well as of amputation, both which have
been found for certain animals, the only infallible remedies against the deleterious power of the poison of
the European viper, when employed in due time.

The operation of viperine poison, though very rapid, is not instantaneous; a certain time intervenes before
its effects become visible; and this in some animals, has been nearly ascertained by experiments. In pigeons,
where amputation, or ligature, was employed within twenty seconds after the bite; and, in guinea pigs, within
five minutes; mortal consequences were prevented : but if longer deferred, the animals infallibly died.'jj

In respect to the human body, the precise time within which amputation, or ligatures, may be employed
with success, remains as yet unknown; and, as experiments here are not admissible, it can only be discovered
in the tedious progress of incidental observation. In the mean time, the efficacy of both, may not only be
inferred by analogy, from their success in brutes, but is supported in some degree, by experience in the
human species. Difficulty must, indeed, arise from ignorance of such circumstances as render amputation
absolutely necessary; but ligature is not liable to the same objections.

A circumstance, in regard to amputation, which occurred in the course of the Abbe Fontana’s experiments
on pigeons, deserves particular notice. Where it was performed too late to prevent the mortal effect of the
poison, death seemed rather to be accelerated than retarded, by the removal of the local malady with the limb,§
which could not be considered as a consequence of the simple amputation, because pigeons, when not poisoned,
always survived the operation.

In regard to ligature, he ascertained its success, though not applied so tight as entirely to stop the circu¬
lation; || and he considers this as confirming an opinion, that the poison was communicated by the blood,
not by the more minute vessels : having found by former experiments, that when applied to superficial wounds
of the skin, no ill effects followed.

The Abbe’s experiments on this head are more particularly interesting, as ligature, if equally secure, must
always be preferable to amputation: besides its being suited for more general application. **

* Traite sur le Venin de la Vipere, Tome II. p. 51. f lb. p. 24. J lb. Tome I. p. 237. 243. 249. Tome II. p. 15. 28.

§ lb. Tome I. p. 246. 250. || lb. Tome II. p. 22.

** Ligature in the case of venomous bites, made part of the practice of the ancients. “ Igitur in primis supra vulnus id membrum deligandum est:
“ non tamen nimium vehementer, ne torpeat.” (De Medicina, Lib. V. cap. 27.) In this, which Celsus had borrowed from his predecessors, he was
followed by Galen, and the subsequent Greek physicians, as also by the Arabians. (Galen de Locis Affect. Lib. III. c. 7. Aitius, Tetrab. IV. Serm. i.
c. 25. Avicenn. Lib. IV. Fen. 7. Trac. 4. cap. 27.)

From the Abbe Fontana’s manner of expressing himself on the subject of ligature, it would seem that he had not adverted to its being practised by the
ancients. (Traite, Tome II. p; 41.) He remarks, that neither Redi nor Mead made any mention of it, and that what Kempfer had said of it, would
rather have discouraged the trials he was induced to make from his own discoveries, (p. 44.) As to Kempfer, he surely is, without cause, accused of
credulity in the passage alluded to, (Amcenit. Exot. Fascic. III. p. 573.) and his character as a careful and faithful observer, unjustly called in question.
(Traite, Tome II. p. 44,) The Abbe, indeed, afterwards discovered, (p. 69. 77.) that he had misstated Kempfer’s opinion of the snake-stone; and it is only
to be regretted, that he had not more explicitly retracted the harsh insinuation contained in page 41. His respect, however, for Kempfer’s authority,
induced him to make many trials of the method by ligature, scarification, and application of Theriae, conjoined; but the result of his experiments was
unfavourable to the practice, (p. 79.)

84

MISCELLANEOUS EXPERIMENTS

SECTION VIII.

Miscellaneous Experiments and Remarks on Serpents.

I. May 12.-A mangoose (caught only two days before) being brought to me, I determined to try him

with a Katuka Rekula Poda, which had been long captive, but was in good spirits, and had not been disturbed
for eight days. The mangoose being very wild, was secured by a long string, in such a manner as to prevent
his escape, without impeding his activity.

The snake, when set at liberty in the room, hissed as usual at first, but soon coiled himself, with his head
couched in the centre. The mangoose, when set down in sight of the snake, seemed more disposed to make
his escape than to make an attack ; and when forced to approach near, the snake hissed, but neither offered to
raise his head, nor to move from the place.

After several attempts to bring them to an engagement, which both seemed to decline, the mangoose, hap¬
pening unintentionally to be forced too near, was bitten by the snake on the shoulder ; upon which he seized
the snake by the neck, and held fast for fifteen seconds, the snake all the while wreathing round the man-
goose's limbs.

The instant they were separated, the mangoose fell down on his side, as if dead : in which state he was
carried out of doors, and laid on a grass plat surrounded by a hedge. Breathing was the sole sign of life for
near a quarter of an hour, when, being touched by the hand, he unexpectedly started up, and run a few paces
towards the hedge, but lay down before he reached it, and the fore leg was visibly affected. The string being
first lengthened to allow of a wider range, he was left to himself.

At the end of half an hour, he appeared much revived ; but remained lying on one side, without moving from
his place, except when touched by the hand. After one hour and a half, he appeared so much better, that I
entertained strong hopes of his recovery. He did not now lie on his side, he only couched ; and, though still
lame, he moved much more briskly, when touched. Soon after this, the torpor returned, he again reclined on
one side, and, without visible convulsions, expired in two hours and a quarter after the bite.

The snake's wound bled a good deal; he appeared much duller than before, though he still hissed when
touched. In one hour and a half, he appeared to be dying, and could not be provoked to hiss. He lingered,
however, eight hours before he expired ; retaining life, in appearance, in the tail only, for several hours before
death.

II. May 31.-A Katuka Rekula Poda was set at liberty on a wide green field, and a mangoose in a cage,

where he had been kept a week, was placed at a little distance. The snake moved slowly along, not faster than
usual when in a room, and made towards the cage, as if in search of refuge ; from whence turning off, he came
back to the place he had set out from, and coiled himself up.

The door of the cage being now opened, the mangoose made no offer to come forth ; and when forced out, he
at first looked steadily at the snake, and then run away towards a hedge at some distance. Being secured by a
long string, he was soon brought again close to the enemy : but he showed much less disposition to attack than
to retreat either to the cage or the hedge.

At length he seemed to set the snake, and of himself approached very near; but on the snake raising his head
and hissing furiously, he again fled towards the hedge. He was several times forced back, and as often fled in
the same manner ; till at last seizing the snake as the head was raised, he bit it severely in the mouth, without
being himself visibly hurt. As soon as they were separated, the mangoose run off; and, after running about
on the green, was permitted to retreat into the hedge.

He was preserved with a view of trying him with a Cobra de Capello; but this was prevented by my
snakeman happening unluckily to be disabled by an accident. (See Sect. VII. Case IX.)

III. - 1 was informed by Mr. James Bourchier, that he had more than once made trial of the combat

AND REMARKS ON SERPENTS.

85

between the mangoose and the Cobra de Capello ; and in order to prevent the former from having recourse to
any herb or other remedy, the experiments were made not in the field, but on the terrace at the top of
the house.

“ As soon as the mangoose perceived the snake, he took his station in front, watching his motions ; and when
the snake struck at him, he eluded the blow, by skipping alertly to one side ; returning, however, immediately
to his former station. After a short skirmish of this kind, taking the opportunity, when he was sure of his
mark, he caught the snake’s head in his mouth, and bit quite through the skulk This generally proved mortal;
but where the snake did not die immediately, the mangoose would bite his tail to provoke him to rise again,
which sometimes the snake did ; and then, after some feeble exertions, was sure to be killed by a second
seizure.”

IV. August 16. -A Nooni Paragoodoo, was brought near a Cobra de Capello, which had been left at

liberty in a large room. The Cobra’s hood was extended, and he kept his eyes fixed on the small snake, but
without striking, till pushed very near him, when he struck ; but did not bite. The small snake did not snap
in return, but, after remaining some time quiet, moved slowly off. Being again brought close to the Cobra,
but rather rudely, he was bitten near the tail, though no marks of teeth could be discerned. After a short
while, the Nooni glided under the wreaths of the Cobra, and was permitted to go off quietly, without any offer
to hurt him as he passed.

A very active Mega Rekula Poda, which snapped at every thing opposed to him, being brought close to
the Cobra, did not attempt to snap ; and when the Cobra was provoked to bite, seemed to submit without re¬
sistance. This was the more remarkable, as he continued to snap at every thing else, and seemed to spring
from the ground in eagerness to attack. It did not appear that the fangs had acted, and the bite was attended
with no consequence.

The next subject opposed to the Cobra, was a Gedi Paragoodoo, which, in all its movements was much tamer
than either of the former two, and seemed solely intent on escaping out of the room, or retreating into a dark
corner. When pushed roughly on the Cobra, and consequently struck by him, he made no resistance, nor
snapped in return ; he did not even offer to retreat, but laid himself close to the Cobra, whose body he often
touched in his convolutions, without any apparent offence being taken.

V. -The Cobras de Capello bite each other without any consequence ascribable to their poison, even

where the fangs visibly acted. (See Sect. II. Exp. XVIII. and XIX.)

The bite of a Cobra de Capello proved fatal to a Nooni Paragoodoo, and to a Tar Tutta. (See Sect. II.
Exp. XVII. XIX.

A Cobra de Capello was bitten twice on the body, by a Katuka Rekula Poda ; but though both fangs acted,
no symptoms of poison followed.

VI. -Snakes live a long time without food. I kept two Katuka Rekula Podas from early in March

to the 20th of July, and then they died from neglect; rain water having filled the pots in which they were kept.

They had been fed only once in the first week, yet in the beginning of July, when I left them, though much
emaciated, they were lively, hissed fiercely, and seemingly as active as ever.

But though long abstinence does not destroy, yet it certainly impairs the deleterious power of their poison;
in like manner as long captivity depresses their spirits, and impairs the fine gloss of their skin.

I never could induce the venomous snakes to feed spontaneously ; such nourishment as they had was forced
down their throat by means of a bamboo, and consisted of milk, or a raw egg. Frogs inclosed in the same pot
with them were left untouched, though found dead ; and though the snakes, when provoked to bite, readily
killed new hatched chickens, they never eat them.

When frogs were placed in a corner near to which the snake was coiled up, they remained motionless, as if
enchanted, without attempting to escape ; but the moment the snake was removed, they jumped off, and
escaped to the door.

VII. March. ——Upon a predominant notion that snakes have a natural antipathy to garlic, is founded the

86

MISCELLANEOUS EXPERIMENTS

practice of laying that root bruised, at the doors and windows of bedchambers, and of tying bags of it to the
posts of the bedstead.

The following trials were made with three Katuka Rekula Podas :

One of the snakes, caught only a few days before, being set down in the middle of a room, after hissing for a
minute or two, proceeded directly to the wall, along which he crept slowly, from time to time raising his
head, as if to find a hole for escape. Arrived at the corner of the room, and disappointed in an outlet, he
quietly coiled himself up, and went to sleep. When touched with a stick, he hissed, and could not, without vio¬
lence, be dislodged.

VIII. -Three long sticks being prepared, a bag of bruised garlic was tied to the end of one ; to the end

of the other, some of the root of the aristolochia indica ; a root in high repute as an antidote : the third stick
had nothing tied to it.

This third stick being presented to the snake when moving along, he hissed furiously, and turned aside ; but
if brought too near, he first snapped at it. The two armed sticks being opposed to him in like manner, pro¬
duced the same effect, not apparently in a greater or less degree.

The unarmed stick, and the other with the aristolochia, when softly slid along the ground, behind the head,
so as not to be seen by the snake, had no effect; he continued to proceed straight on : but when the bag of
garlic was produced in the same manner, he seemingly avoided it by turning off to the contrary side.

This experiment repeated several times with the same result, seemed to indicate a certain degree of aver¬
sion : but when the bag of garlic was held close to the snake coiled up in the corner, and not asleep, it made
no visible impression ; even when placed exactly in view before him, he did not offer to move more than at the
approach of the unarmed stick, and snapped at either indifferently, when brought too near.

The usual movements of the snake when undisturbed, having been remarked in the foregoing experiment,
some bruised garlic was spread close to the wall along which he usually creeped to the first corner ; and between
that and the next corner a cross barrier of garlic half a foot in length, was placed half way, which the snake by
turning a little to one side might easily avoid.

Two snakes being then set loose at the same time, the one soon coiled himself up in the middle of the room ;
the other set out on his accustomed tour; the garlic strewed in his track proving no impediment. After a short
rest in the first corner, he set out for the second, and holding a direct course, crossed the barrier opposed to
him, without hesitation ; and notwithstanding garlic had been laid for his reception in the second corner, he
coiled himself up very composedly, and went to sleep.

In a short while, the other snake took exactly the same route ; and, arriving at the second corner, through
the same intended impediments, coiled himself on the body of his sleeping companion.

Both being roused, were strewed over with bruised garlic ; but they maintained their station, though at full
liberty to quit it.

The recent roots of aristolochia employed in the same way, had no more effect than the garlic.

This experiment was not made on any of the other venomous serpents.

IX. -The poisons of all the venomous serpents I have examined, are in colour and consistence very much

alike, at the moment of emission through the fangs. If they differ somewhat in colour from each other, it is
not more than the poison of each individual is found occasionally to differ in itself, according to circumstances
relative to the condition of the animal.

The poison is somewhat mucilaginous when first emitted, but becomes quickly more so when exposed to
the air; while its colour from pale-yellowish white, changes to yellowish: and when dry, it resembles a
yellow flaky resin. This resin, when long kept, grows much darker in colour, and is not easily soluble;
but when recent, or in the intermediate degrees of hardening, it mixes readily enough with water, or
with spirits.

X.-The only poisons I applied to my own tongue were those of the Cobra de Capello and the Katuka

Rekula Poda.

AND REMARKS ON SERPENTS.

87

One drop of the former diluted with water, and quite recent, was applied on the tongue near the tip, and
five minutes allowed to elapse before I rinsed my mouth. I was not sensible of the smallest degree of acrimony.

After an interval of half an hour, I applied less than one drop of the poison, undiluted, to the tongue, as
before ; but the poison being now more viscid, it was necessary, in order to disengage it from the crow quill
employed in applying it, to rub the tongue repeatedly. I remained ten minutes before washing, and kept all the
while as still and attentive as possible. The result was the same as before. It appeared insipid and inert like
pure water. I was neither sensible at first of any saline taste ; nor, though strictly attentive, could I perceive
any subsequent effect whatever on the tongue.

This experiment was repeated more than once, at different times, invariably with the same result.

The poison of the Katuka Rekula Poda was tried, precisely with the same success. Of a quantity which
was emitted through the fangs, I rubbed almost two drops, perfectly recent, on my tongue and palate; but
was neither sensible of pungency, nor any consequence from it, more than from the poison of the Cobra de
Capello.

Whether the case be the same with respect to the poison of the other venomous serpents, may be conjectured,
but can be determined only by trial.

XI. -The recent poison of snakes applied to the eyes of chickens, caused no visible irritation, nor was it

followed by inflammation.

XII. -The recent poisons of the Cobra de Capello and the Katuka Rekula Poda, under the usual trials,

gave no indication of possessing either an acid or alkaline quality. The other poisons were not tried.

XIII. -Two drops of the recent poison of the Katuka Rekula Poda, diluted with four drops of spring

water, were put into a wine glass, No. 1.; and six drops of water into another glass, No. 2.; into each glass was
then permitted to fall a tea-spoonful of blood from the neck of a chicken just decapitated. Both mixtures
being stirred, for five minutes, with small smooth sticks, were left to settle.

The blood in No. 1. appeared of a colour considerably darker than that in the other ; and a clot was found
adhering to the point of the stick, of a darker colour, and more grumous consistence than ordinary. To the
stick belonging to No. 2. a much smaller clot adhered, of a brighter colour, and more loose contexture.

After standing three hours, the difference was more remarkable ; the blood in No. 1. remained uncoagulated,
and much blacker, with a little livid coloured serum above ; in No. 2. it nearly retained its primitive colour ;
the crassamentum was formed, and a little serum of the usual colour remained at top.

Upon repeating this experiment, the glasses were more carefully warmed, and the mixtures stirred only one
minute. Very little blood was found adhering to the sticks.

The same alteration in colour was observed as before ; but the blood in No. 1. was less fluid than in the for¬
mer experiment, though still much more so than in glass No. 2.

XIV. ——As the several poisons differ very little in appearance, so the organs which serve for their secretion
and conveyance, are found, in their structure and situation, nearly the same, in the four principal Indian snakes
which have been dissected : and, at the same time, vary so immaterially from the poisonous organs of the Rattle
Snake and the Viper, that reference in a general way may be made to the anatomical descriptions already given
of those animals, by three celebrated anatomists*

I shall therefore confine myself to a few remarks on the poisonous apparatus of such snakes as have not been
described, made either on the living animal, or on the recently dead subject; leaving other matters more
strictly anatomical, to the explanation of Plates XLV. and XLVI. given by the ingenious anatomist Mr.
Everard Home.

XV. _The poison of snakes being used by the natives in a variety of diseases ; the snake catchers obtain

it from the living, as well as the dead animal. In both they make a gentle pressure from the poison-gland
along the duct, forward to the mouth. In the former, the snake, in attempting to bite the small cup held before

* Dr. Tyson, Phil. Transact. Vol. XIII. p. 35 . Mr. Ranby, ib. Vol. XXXV. p. 377 . Dr. Nicholls. Mead on Poisons, Appendix.

88

MISCELLANEOUS EXPERIMENTS, &c.

it, drops the poison gently from the fang ; owing perhaps to the position in which it is held daring the operation;
but in the fresh dead subject, the poison is ejected through the fang to the distance of five or six inches, by the
same pressure.

XVI. ——A Cobra de Capello which had been divested of his fangs, in order to qualify him for a show,
Was made to bite a roll of white paper; having first had his mouth well cleansed with a wet rag. The liquid
emitted on the paper, had the usual appearance of poison ; but in doubt whether it might not be only saliva, I
had the head cut off, and dissected the poisonous organs remaining.

The sac, on both sides, had been completely destroyed, and there were no vestiges of subsidiary fangs. The
poison glands and ducts were entire, and on pressing along the ducts, a fluid issued from their extremities,
which, in colour as well as consistence, differed somewhat from common poison. It was thicker, and more
opaque, had something of a milky hue, and was longer in drying. As the dissection was preformed in less
than two hours after the head had been separated from the body, this variation was the more remarkable; for
in former dissections, though several hours after death, the poison was found rather pellucid, and of a white
or pale yellowish colour.

It seems wonderful that bad accidents, from the mutilated serpents usually exhibited by the snakemen, are not
oftener heard of. For supposing the sacs to be always as completely destroyed as in the present instance,
yet the poison continues to issue into the mouth upon the jaws acting, and the holders, or common teeth,
wound so as to draw blood. Nevertheless, chickens bitten by a mutilated snake showed no symptoms of
poison, though they were afterwards infected, by having the poison inserted artificially which the same
snake had emitted. *

But it may reasonably be suspected that the sacs are not always so carefully destroyed. Several snakemen
with whom I conversed, appeared to know nothing of any fangs besides the two on each side, generally
emergent from the sacs, and they seemed surprised when shown a number of small subsidiary fangs at bottom.
Where these have been left, they become in time, without being suspected, capable of doing mischief; which
readily accounts for the accidents that certainly happen sometimes to the professed snakemen.

I was told at Vizagapatam, of an old invalid who happened to be present at an exhibition of snakes, and ob¬
serving, among other feats, the snakeman thrust a large Cobra de Capello into his bosom, he asserted he could
himself do the same, swearing, at the same time, that no snake could live an hour in his country, nor would
the most venomous do any mischief to an Irishman. It was in vain that the spectators remonstrated and
warned him ; for resolutely putting the animal between his shirt and his skin, but ignorant of the acquired
art of handling it, he was bitten severely in the breast. The consequence was excruciating pain, some alarm¬
ing symptoms of poison, and a local ulcer, which was a month in healing.

XVII. -The head of a Katuka Rekula Poda, being severed from the body by one stroke, was dissected

at the distance of an hour. The poison gland and other parts concerned were found as represented by Nicholls,
in his description of the Viper. The gland when cut transversely had some resemblance to the epididymis, and
poison oozed out from it, not less glutinous than what is commonly found in the sac.

A small roundish gland, situated near the orbit, had no connection with the poison gland, and, when cut
through, a thinner, serous fluid, bearing no resemblance to the poisonous liquor, oozed from it.

XVIII.-In the Cobra de Capello, the poison gland was of an oblong round form; a texture more

compact; and proportionally shorter. The poison was glutinous as in the other snake, but paler in colour.

The gland near the orbit was wanting here. Several recent heads, which were examined, agreed in the
circumstances now mentioned.

* See Sect. II. Exp. XX.

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X

Fig.22.

EXPLANATION OF THE ANATOMICAL PLATES.

Explanation of Plate XLV.

This Plate contains twelve figures, which represent the different appearances of the palates of innocuous and
poisonous snakes ; and the mechanism by which the poisoning fangs are erected in different species of poisonous
snakes.

The four first figures represent the palates and upper jaws of the following snakes : the Tar Tutta, No. XV.;
the Katuka Rekula Poda, No. VII.; the Cobra de Capello, No. V.; and the Bungarum Pamah, No. III.; in
each of which there is some peculiarity respecting the teeth.

Figure 1. The Tar Tutta, which is an innocuous snake, has in the upper jaw two rows of teeth seem¬
ingly situated in the palate, and one surrounding the edge of the jaw.

Figure 2. The Katuka Rekula Poda has two rows of teeth, seemingly in the palate, but no marginal row.
The teeth are surrounded by a fringed membrane, which almost conceals them ; the points of the teeth alone
being exposed, unless the membrane is pressed down. The space extending from the teeth on each side, to the
edge of the mouth at the anterior part, is filled up by a large, corrugated, membranous bag, which incloses the
poisoning fang. On the right side, in this figure, the mouth of the bag is so much closed as to conceal the
fang, but on the opposite side, the point of the fang is exposed.

Figure 3. The Cobra de Capello has two rows of teeth, seemingly in the palate, and two poisoning fangs,
differing in nothing from the Katuka Rekula Poda, but in the teeth being smaller, and the poisoning fangs
much shorter; consequently the bags that inclose them are less conspicuous.

Figure 4. The Bungarum Pamah has two rows of teeth, seemingly in the palate, and two poisoning fangs,
but these are still smaller than in the Cobra de Capello. It has likewise in the margin of the mouth, on each
side, just behind the orifice of the bag which incloses the poisoning fang, three small teeth, which are not
met with in other snakes ; these may be considered as an imperfect marginal row of teeth.

Figure 5, represents the skeleton of the head of the Tar Tutta. The two rows of teeth, seemingly situated
in the palate, are fixed in that portion of the bone which constitutes the principal part of the upper jaw ; and the
marginal row is fixed in an exterior portion, which is weaker than the other.

In snakes, the lower jaw is not articulated with the upper, as in other animals, but by means of two bones
connected to the occiput; the extreme points of the posterior part of the upper jaw lie exactly between and
within the condyles of the lower, and are loosely connected to them by ligaments. By this mechanism, when
the snake opens its mouth, the condyles of the lower jaw, moving on the occiput by these intermediate bones,
are thrown outwards, and carry the extreme points of the upper jaw along with them, and dilate the fauces to a
very great degree. This motion of the upper jaw also erects the fangs.

Figure 6 , exhibits the same view of the skeleton of the head of the Katuka Rekula Poda, that is represented
in the last figure of the Tar Tutta. The teeth and all the other parts in this snake are much larger. The two
rows of teeth, which in the living animal appeared to be in the palate, are here more distinctly seen to be fixed
in the bones of the upper jaw, than in Fig. 5, as there are no other teeth in it. There is a joint in the jaw bone
of each side near its anterior extremity, which gives the appearance of its having been fractured and united
again. There is also a large, crooked, poisoning fang, fixed in a strong bony socket : and between this socket
and the margin of the mouth laterally, there is a slender bone connected to the socket and jaw, which corre¬
sponds with that portion of the jaw in which the marginal row of teeth is inserted in the Tar Tutta, as well as
in all other innocuous snakes.

Figures 7, 10, and 11, represent the side views of three upper jaws of different species of poisonous snakes,
to show the mechanism by which the poisoning fang is raised and depressed, and to point out a variation in the

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EXPLANATION OF THE ANATOMICAL PLATES.

structure of the parts in each species, which is more distinctly seen by their being all upon one plane, and shown
exactly in the same point of view.

Figure 7, represents a side view of the upper jaw of the Katuka Rekula Poda ; the situation of the jaw is
reversed, as the parts could not be so distinctly seen in any other way. The fang is erected, and its socket, as
well as the articulation with the skull, are distinctly seen. The portion of the jaw bone which connects
the socket of the poisoning fang to the jaw itself, is articulated by a joint to the socket of the fang ; and when
the extreme point of the jaw is moved outwards, along with the condyle of the lower jaw, in the act of opening
the mouth, the upper jaw, from the joint in its anterior part, readily bends, and the bone which connects the
jaw to the socket being pressed forwards, pushes the socket upwards ; by which means the fang is erected.

Figure 8, represents the same parts, to show their appearance when the fang is in its recumbent state.

Figure 9, is a view of the poisoning fang in its socket detached from the skull, to show the orifice at its base,
which receives the poison, and that at the point, by which it is instilled into the wounded animal.

Figure 10, represents the side view of the upper jaw of the Cobra de Capello, in which this difference is re¬
markable, that the lateral process, instead of being immediately articulated with the socket of the fang, as in the
Katuka Rekula Poda, is articulated with a process from the socket of nearly the same length.

Figure 11, represents a side view of the upper jaw of the Bungarum Pamah. In this snake the process from
the socket of the poisoning fang is still longer than in the Cobra de Capello; and has this very remarkable pecu¬
liarity, that there are three holders, or common teeth, inserted into it, which give the appearance of an imper¬
fect marginal row, not met with in any other of the poisonous snakes known.

Figure 12. A view of the upper surface of the upper jaw of the Bungarum Pamah ; to show the appearance
of the joint in the jaw bone, and the joint between the process from the socket of the poisoning fang, and
the lateral bone.

Explanation of Plate XLVI.

This Plate contains seven figures, representing the different appearances of the poison gland in the Cobra de
Capello, and Katuka Rekula Poda.

The poison gland in the two Boa, viz. the Gedi Paragoodoo, No. I.; and the Bungarum Pamah, No. III.;
bears an exact resemblance to that of the Cobra de Capello ; but the gland in the Bodroo Pam resembles that
of the Katuka Rekula Poda.

The four first figures show different views of the poison gland of the Cobra de Capello.

Figure 1, is a side view of the head, from which the common integuments are alone removed ; the poison
gland, which is situated between the eye and angle of the lower jaw, is seen through a semitransparent, mem¬
branous, fascia. This fascia is connected with the muscles at the angle of the lower jaw, and is attached to the
bones of the head, at the anterior part of the gland.

The poison duct passes from the anterior part of the gland immediately below the orbit, till it comes opposite
to the root of the fang, and there enters the inside of the mouth; it is covered by a muscle, the fibres of
which are principally transverse.

The upper part of the poison gland is covered by a large, strong, semilunar, muscle, adapted to the shape
of that part of the gland ; which muscle arises from the bones of the skull, and is inserted into the covering of
the gland, at its lowest posterior part.

By these different muscles, the gland is compressed as well as the duct, so as to expel the poison, with a cer¬
tain degree of velocity.

Figure 2, represents another view, in which the fascia is removed, and the gland, with its duct, as well as the
muscle surrounding its upper part, are more distinctly seen.

Figuie 3. A view of the under surface of the gland, and of the poisoning fangs, with the membrane in
which they are inclosed. To show these parts, the head is necessarily reversed.

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EXPLANATION OF THE ANATOMICAL PLATES.

91

Figure 4. A view of the under surface of the gland and duct completely laid bare as far as the termination of
the duct, at the root of the fang. The membrane which incloses the fang is also removed, to expose the sub¬
sidiary teeth ; these are only connected by soft parts, and are moved forwards into the socket to replace the fang
when it has been pulled out.

Figures 5, 6 , and 7, represent three views of the poison gland of the Katuka Rekula Poda.

Figure 5. In this view the gland is scarcely seen, on account of a fascia which covers it. The muscle that
acts upon this fascia, lies behind the angle of the lower jaw, and its tendon is distinctly seen connected with
the fascia.

Figure 6 . The gland and duct are completely exposed, putting on a very different appearance from that of
the Cobra de Capello.

Figure 7, represents a view of the subsidiary teeth, and their relative situation to the fangs and the mem¬
branes in which they are inclosed.

DIRECTIONS TO THE BOOKBINDER.

The Plates No. I. to XLIV. inclusive, to be placed at the end of the descriptions, after page 50.
Plate XLV. - to face page 89.

-XL VI.. 90.