The Asp (Naja haje) has a less dilatable neck; it is of a greenish colour, and marked with brownish spots. It is smaller than the former; is found in the west and south of Africa; and is especially common in Egypt. It was said to have been this Reptile which caused the death of Cleopatra.
[The genus Hamadryas of Cantor (Ophiophagus of Günther) differs very little from the true Cobras, but has a less developed hood, and a single small tooth placed at some distance behind the fang. The only species, H. elaps, attains to thirteen feet in length, and is proportionately formidable, being much less timid and retiring in its habits than the Cobras of the genus Naja. It preys habitually on other Snakes, and seems to be more plentiful eastward of the Bay of Bengal than it is in India. In Burmah it is styled the Gnán, and Mr. Theobald tells us that its venom is fatal in a few minutes. "One of these Snakes," he adds, "was brought in alive, and a snake-charmer came up to display his command over the animal. At first (as I am told) the Snake seemed cowed by the authoritative 'Hah' of the man; but suddenly, through some carelessness on his part, the Snake struck him on the wrist. The poor fellow at once ran off home to get an antidote, but fell down before reaching his own door, and died in a few minutes. When at Tonghu," continues Mr. Theobald, "I heard a case of an Elephant being killed by one of these Snakes, which I have no reason for doubting. The Elephant was a fine powerful male, and was pulling down with his trunk some creepers or boughs, when a large 'Gnán,' which was disturbed in the tree, struck the Elephant on the trunk between the eyes. The Elephant at once retreated, became faint, and died in about three hours." This terrible Snake would appear to be not uncommon in the Andaman Islands, and its range of distribution extends through the Malay countries to the Philippines and to New Guinea.
The genus Bungarus is so called from the vernacular appellation of Bungarum, which is applied to one of the species on the Coromandel coast. Some of them are very like Cobras without the hood, as the "Kerait" (B. cæruleus), which is a much-dreaded Snake in India, but the geographic range of which extends neither to the countries eastward nor to Ceylon. The Snakes of this genus have a row of broad hexagonal scales along the middle of the back. The Kerait grows to four feet and a half in length, and has the upper parts of a bluish or brownish black, either uniform or more generally marked with numerous narrow white cross-lines, which mostly radiate from a white vertebral spot. In its habits it resembles the Cobra, preying on small Mammalia, Lizards, Toads, and probably other Snakes occasionally. The "Raj-sámp" (literally Lord Snake) is a larger and thicker species than the Kerait, beautifully marked throughout with alternate broad rings of black and golden-yellow. This one is found almost generally throughout the Indian region, and would seem to prey entirely on other Snakes, especially of the Tropidonotus genus. It is of very sluggish habits, and frequents moist places and the vicinity of water. A species, or local variety (B. ceylonicus), takes its place in Ceylon, and there is also a kindred species (B. semifasciatus) in China and Formosa. According to Cantor, the Bungarums are capable of darting nearly the anterior half of the body. Their bite is very dangerous; but "the magnitude of the danger," remarks Dr. Günther, "depends, as in other venemous Snakes, on many circumstances—chiefly on the size and energy of the individual Snake and on the place of the wound. As the fangs of the Bungarums are comparatively short, the wound is always superficial, and can be easily excised and cauterised; also, experiments made on some of the lower animals show that the general effect on the whole system becomes visible only after a lapse of time."
Of poisonous Snakes akin to the Bungarums, there are the Xenurelaps bungaroides, founded on a single specimen received from the Khásya hills (north of Sylhet); and the Megærophis flaviceps, which inhabits the Indo-Chinese and the Malayan countries, but not India. The latter attains to more than six feet in length, and when alive or fresh the head and neck are vivid blood-red, which soon fades to a pale buff hue in specimens immersed in spirit, and hence the faulty name of flaviceps. As many as seven genera—Glyphodon, with two ascertained species; Diemansia, with four; Hoplocephalus, with eight; Pseudechis, with one; Pseudo-naja, with one; Brachysoma, with three; and Vermicalla, with one—are peculiar to Australia with Tasmania, making twenty known species of Colubriform Venemous Snakes in that range of territory, where others doubtless remain to be discovered; and there is one described as Pseudo-elaps superciliaris, which is suspected to be a second species of Pseudo-naja. The Cyrtophis scutatus of South Africa is a sort of hoodless Cobra, without any small teeth behind its fangs. In America there is only the genus Elaps, with numerous species, which are mostly of small size, and in some instances are very brightly coloured, as one of the Coral Snakes[15] of Brazil (E. corallinus), which is beautiful coral-red, with the body encircled by equidistant black rings. The genus Elaps in America is represented in Africa by Homorelaps, in the Indian region by Callophis, and in Australia by Vermicalla. In general, these are small and slender Snakes, too much so to be held in much dread. What Dr. Günther remarks of the species of Callophis will apply, as we believe, equally to the others:—"They appear to prefer hilly countries to the plains, live constantly on the ground, and are slow in their movements. In their habits, in their form, and in their powerless muscular organization, they show the greatest similarity to the Calamariæ; and this is why the Callophides feed almost entirely on the latter, the venemous Snake being able to overpower the non-venemous. Both of these genera have also the same geographical distribution; and Ceylon, where we do not find the Calamariæ, is not inhabited by a single Callophis. If we are allowed to judge from the number of individuals of both genera brought to Europe in collections, the Calamariæ are about twice as numerous as the Callophides." Cantor, who had opportunities of observing them, states that they are generally seen lying motionless, with the body thrown into many irregular folds, but not coiled. Although they are diurnal, their sight, from the minuteness of the pupil, appears to be as defective as their sense of hearing, and they may be closely approached without apparently being aware of danger. He never observed them to strike voluntarily, even when provoked, and he had difficulty in making an adult C. gracilis bite a Fowl; although, of course, the venom of these Snakes is as virulent as that of a Viper, the animals used for the experiments having died in the course of from one to three hours after they had been wounded. Therefore the greatest caution should be observed in catching or handling these Snakes. The shortness of their fangs and the small quantity of their poisonous fluid, however, will always give a very fair chance of recovery if the proper remedies be applied, should an accident occur. Two or three species of this genus inhabit India, and the rest are found in the Indo-Chinese and Malayan countries, one of the most common of them (C. intestinalis) having likewise been received from the Philippines. The C. nigrescens of the mountains of southern India attain to four feet in length, but they are mostly about half of that size, or even smaller.
Lastly, we arrive at
The Viperine Snakes,
Which have a long, perforated, erectile fang on the maxillary bone, which is extremely short and bears no other teeth. This is described in greater detail subsequently (pp. 93, 94). They are arranged under the two families Crotalidæ and Viperidæ.
The Crotalidæ, or Pit Vipers, have the body robust, the tail of moderate length, or rather short, sometimes prehensile; head broad, sub-triangular, frequently scaly above or imperfectly shielded; a deep pit on the side of the snout, between the eye and nostril; the eye of moderate size, with vertical pupil. They are viviparous. The Pit Vipers are found only in Asia and America; those of the New World surpassing the Asiatic species in size, and therefore they are much more dangerous. Some live in bushes, others on the ground. A rudiment of the curious caudal appendage of the American Rattlesnakes is found as a simple spine-like scale in the Asiatic species, constituting the genus Halys.
Some have the head covered with scales, having small shields on the edge of the forehead and brows; the cheeks are scaly, and the tail ends in a spine. Of these, the American genus Craspedocephalus and the Asiatic genus Trimeresurus have the subcaudal plates two-rowed to the tip.
The genus Craspedocephalus comprises the terrible Fer-de-lance of certain islands in the West Indies, which occurs on the mainland of South America, where four other species are recognised—one of them being found as far north as Mexico.]