Venoms: Venomous Animals and Antivenomous Serum-therapeutics. A. Calmette
bitten by B. fasciatus die in from four to five hours.
Fig. 24.—Bungarus fasciatus (India). (After Sir Joseph Fayrer.)
2. B. candidus.
Blackish-brown or bluish, with narrow transverse white streaks, or small white spots, or alternate rings of yellow and dark brown; belly white. Smaller than the foregoing, scarcely exceeding 1,000 millimetres in length. It is known as the “Krait” in India, where, after the Cobra, the variety cæruleus causes most deaths among human beings. It is found in jungles and rice-fields, and commonly secretes itself in old trees and old walls. It frequently penetrates into houses, verandahs, bathrooms, and even beds. Sir Joseph Fayrer relates the story of a lady, who, when travelling in a palanquin, found on arriving at her destination a “Krait” coiled up in her luggage, the snake having thus made the journey with her throughout a whole night.
The Krait may easily be confused with Lycodon aulicus, a harmless snake which closely resembles it, though it can at once be distinguished by examining its mouth.
(b) Naja.
(Fig. 25.)
Head scarcely distinct from the neck; eyes with round pupils; nostril between two nasal shields and an internasal. A pair of solid grooved poison-fangs. Body elongate, cylindrical, terminated by a conical and pointed tail. Scales smooth, disposed obliquely, in 15–25 rows. Ventral scales round.
N. tripudians (Cobra-di-Capello). (Fig. 26.)
Head small, covered with large shields, a frontal as long as broad, a supraocular, a præocular, 3 postoculars, 2 + 3 or 3 + 3 temporals, 7 upper labials, 4 lower labials. Neck dilatable by the separation of the first cervical ribs; 21–35 scales round the neck, 17–25 round the middle of the body; 163–205 ventrals; 42–75 subcaudals.
Total length, 1,500–1,900 millimetres; tail 230.
Coloration very variable, usually cinereous grey or almost black with a bluish sheen; belly lighter, sometimes tinted with red. The head is frequently tinged with golden-yellow; it is spotted with yellowish-white above, and is pure white underneath.
This species is distributed throughout the whole of Southern Asia, from the south of the Caspian Sea to South China and the Malay Archipelago.
Fig. 25.—Skull of Naja tripudians. (After G. A. Boulenger, op. cit.)
Several varieties occur, and of these the principal are:—
(1) Var. Typica (fig. 27), with a black-and-white spectacle-shaped mark on the middle of the dorsal surface of the most dilatable portion of the neck, and one or more dark transverse bands on the ventral surface, behind the head.
Habitat: India, Ceylon.
(2) Var. Cæca.—Colour, pale brown or uniform dark grey, without mark on the neck, and with one or more dark transverse bands on the anterior part of the belly.
Habitat: Transcaspian region, India, Java.
Fig. 26.—Naja tripudians (Cobra-di-Capello) on the Defensive, preparing to Strike.
(3) Var. Fasciata.—Colour, brown, olive, or black, with more or less distinct light transverse bands. White spot edged with black in the shape of a ring or of a U on the neck, behind; a black spot on each side in front.
Habitat: India, Indo-China and South China, Hainan, Cambodia, Siam, Malay Peninsula.
(4) Var. Sputatrix.—Black or dark brown, with yellow or orange-coloured spots on the sides of the head and neck. The young have a pale spot in the shape of a U or an O on the middle of the dorsal surface of the neck, and the throat is whitish.
Habitat: Chusan Islands and South China, Burma, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java.
(5) Var. Leucodira.—Brown or black, without mark on the neck. Throat yellowish-white, followed by a black transverse band.
Habitat: Sumatra, Malay Peninsula.
(6) Var. Miolepis.—Brown or black; sides of the head and throat yellowish, no mark on the neck. Young with white rings completely encircling the body and tail.
Habitat: Sarawak, Labuan, Borneo.
Fig. 27.—Naja tripudians (Cobra-di-Capello). (After Sir Joseph Fayrer.)
Naja samarensis.
Internasal shields shorter than the præfrontals, and in contact with the præoculars; 1–3 large occipital shields behind the parietals; 1 præocular and 3 postoculars; 2 + 2 or 2 + 3 temporals; 7 supralabials, 4 infralabials; 21–23 scales across the neck, 17–19 across the middle of the body; 159–175 ventrals; 45–50 subcaudals.
Coloration black or sometimes yellowish above; pale brown or yellowish on the belly; neck black.
Total length, 1,000 millimetres; tail 160.
Habitat: Philippine Islands.
Naja bungarus (Ophiophagus or Hamadryas elaps).
(King Cobra or Hamadryad.)
A pair of large occipital shields; 1 præocular; 3 postoculars; 2 + 2 temporals; 7 supralabials, 4 infralabials; 19–21 scales across the neck, 15 across the middle of the body; 215–262 ventral scales, 80–117 subcaudals. Neck dilatable.
Coloration very variable, yellowish, brown, olive, or black, with or without dark transverse bands.
Total length, 3,900 millimetres; tail 630.
Habitat: India, Burma, Indo-China, Siam, Southern China, Malay Peninsula and Archipelago.
The species of Naja are oviparous, and usually lay some twenty eggs, elliptical in shape and as large as those of a pigeon, with a soft shell.
These snakes do not fear the proximity of man, and feed upon rats, mice, and birds; they seek their prey chiefly in the evening, after sunset.
They swim extremely well, and frequent the neighbourhood of water-courses.
Indian legends relate that Brahma, having descended on earth and fallen asleep one day at high noon, a Naja placed itself in front of him and, dilating its broad neck, procured for him kindly shade. In order to repay it for the service rendered, Brahma gave Naja the marks that it bears on its neck, intended to frighten the kites and other birds of prey, which are implacable enemies of this snake.
When a native of the Malabar Coast finds a Naja in his dwelling, he begs it in a friendly way to depart; if the request be without avail, he offers it food in order to attract it outside; if the snake still does not move, the Hindu goes in search of the pious servitors of one of his divinities, who, procuring an offering, address the most touching supplications to it (Brehm).
The mortality due to the bite of this snake, which is by far the most common in India, is considerable. In the course of a period of eight years, from 1880 to 1887, it amounted on the average to 19,880 human beings and 2,100 head of cattle every year.
In 1889, 22,480 persons and 3,793 head of cattle perished from snake-bite. Since then, the annual tale of fatalities always fluctuates between 16,000 and 22,000,