The seventeenth family are 1Vart Snakes, Acroehordidie.
Chersydrus gmnulatus is found in the rivers and on the sea-coasts of numerous islands of the Archipelago, extending to New Guinea, and the Philippines. It inhabits also the eastern coasts of Southern India and the Malayan Peninsula, and sometimes it may be seen three or four milm distant from the shore. It is not venomous, a.% has been stated by miters.
The terrestrial family of Elapides, or Elapid.r, are venomous colubrine snakes ; the fang is grooved, with a foratnen at its extremity ; one or two small ordinar,y teeth at a short distance behind it.
Naja tripudians, Herr., has eight varieties, forming but one species, which is widely spread all over the E. Indies. Its chief enemies are the jungle fowl, which destroy the young brood, and the her pestes or ichneumons, which will attack and master the largeat cobra. In districts where the cobras or other venomous snakes have too much increased in number, the most efficient way of destroying them is to protect their natural enemies. The cobra is the most common venomous snake of the East Indies.
Ophiophagus claps. This remarkable snake is easily recognised by the large shields surrounding the occipitals. Although rather rare, it has a very wide geographical range : in alniost every part of the Indian continent, the Andaman Islands, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippine Islands, and, according to Dumeril, also in New Guinea. It is one of the largest and most deadly venomous snakes, attaining to a length of more than 12 feet, of which the tail is about one-fifth. It inhabits hollow trees, and is sometimes found resting between the branches ; it feeds on other anakea.
Bungarus species are not numerous in. the Malayan countriess, but B. candidus and B. fasciatus are of no uncommon occurrence in Bengal and on the Coromandel coast, where, however, it should be observed, a class of the natives e serpent charmers') earn a livelihood by c,apturing and exhibiting serpents ; this craft is unknown among the Malays. B. flaviceps, B. candidus, and B. fasciatus, like the rest of the venomous serpents, are very ferocious when attacked, but unpro vokedly they are not known to attack man ; on the contrary, when met in the jungle, they attempt to escape. When trod upon, or struck, their rage is instantly excited ; in self-defence they will even turn from their retreat, and then their habitual sluggishness is roused to furious activity. Preparing to attack, the head is, by a short curve of the neck, brought closely to the body, and drawn far backwards, when, suddenly darting the anterior part of the body obliquely upwards, they bite. The height of the place where the wound is inflicted of course depends on the length of the serpent, which is capable of darting nearly the anterior half of the body. Notwithstanding the circular pupil, they appear to shun the light, hiding the head under the folds of the body ; and they are singularly uncertain in their movements, often suddenly jerking the head or tail without any apparent object. Like all serpents of tropical
Asia, they seldom expose themselves to the sun ; when during the day they leave their hiding places, they select the shade. The genus Bun garus is terrestrial, feeding on mts, mice, serpents (Col. mucosus, Linn.), and toads. Like other venomous serpents, when the venom has been inflicted on their prey, they disengage it from the fangs, sheath and place them as horizontally as possible, in order that they may offer no resistance to the introduction into the mouth of the lifeless prey, which is now seized head-foremost. The innocuous serpents bite or strangle their prey, which, when life is extinct, is either swallowed at once, or, if it happen to have been killed in a position likely to render the deglutition difficult, is often disengaged from between the teeth, and seized a second time by the head. In captivity these serpents refuse food, but greedily lap up and swallow water. A fowl, four minutes after it had been bitten on the inner side of the thigh by a Bungarus fasciatus, fell on the wounded side, and was shortly after seized with slight purging. The eyes were half closed, the pupils alternately dilated and contracted, imtnobile. _In 17 minutes slight spasms occurred, under which the bird expired 43 minutes after it had been wounded. Another fowl, wounded in the same place as the former, by the same serpent, but after an interval of seven hours, expired under similar symptoms, only more violent spasms, in the course of 28 minutes. Venom taken from another serpent, the 'fangs of which had been extracted, was inoculated by a lancet-incision in the right thigh ; four minutes after, the fowl was seized with trembling, fell, and remained lying on the wounded side, with the eyes closed, but it gradually recovered, and rose, apparently recovered, 30 minutes after the inoculation of the venom. Other fowls were killed by different serpents of this species in 20 to 31 minutes. Fowls bitten by Bungarus candidus expired under similar symp toms, within 30 to 45 minutes ; dogs from within 1 hour 10 minutes to 2 hours, under symptoms noted in Russell's Experiments. The venom of Naja lutescens, Laurenti, was carefully obtained, so as to avoid any admixture of saliva, by com pressing the venomous glands. It issued from the lower aperture of the fangs in viscid drops of a syrupy consistency, and was received as it fell from the fangs in platina capsules. The serpents operated upon were an adult cobra di even°, Naja lutescens, Laurenti, and one of its varieties, Naja kaoutdia, Belanger. In every instance the venom readily changed the blue of litmus to red, and restored the bright yellow to turmeric paper that had been reddened by the application of caustic alkali,—an unequivocal proof of acidity. When left to spontaneous evaporation, it dried into a varnish resembling mucilage, or the glair of au egg, cracking- in all directions ; and on being heated, it deposited an abundant coagulum, apparently albuminous. In either instance, when redissolved it retained its acid property.