The fishermen and bitten in the Salt Lake near Calcutta-all fatal. sailors on the coasts know their dangerous properties and avoid them. The hydrophidae have smaller heads, jaws, and fangs than the land snakes; the fangs have open grooves in some, but not all. The virus is very active, and appears to operate as speedily and certainly as that of the land snakes. They have an elongated body like the land snakes; in some instances it is short and thick; in others it is very thick towards the tail, and most disproportionately elongated and attenuated in the neck, whilst the head is very minute. The colouration is varied, often brilliant and beautiful. The hinder part of the body and tail is flattened and compressed vertically, almost like the fin or tail of a fish, and it answers the same purpose, for with it they swim with ease and rapidity. They live, with rare excep tions, in the sea or tidal water; when thrown on the land by the surf, as they frequently are, at Poorie and other places along the coast, they are helpless and almost blind. Their food is fish and small aquatic creatures which they pursue and overtake in the sea. There are certain parts of the Bay of Bengal where they are seen in great numbers, and their movements in the blue water are agile and beautiful. There are four genera of the family in the Indian seas: Platurus, Enhydrina, Pelamis, Hydrophis. Platurus has two species, P. scutatus and P. fischeri (Bay of Bengal, tidal streams near Calcutta). This genus has several characters of the land snakes, e.g. well-marked ventral shields; body sub-cylindrical and not compressed like the hydrophis; colour is black, tinged with yellow. Enhydrina has only one species-Enhydrina bengalensis (Valakadyen); it is very poisonous, body compressed, belly carinate, tail flat and compressed, almost like a fish's fin; colour bluish-grey, with dark bands of the same, though deeper colour; no ventral shields. Pelamis has only one species-P. bicolor.-one of the most curious sea snakes in the Bay of Bengal; no ventral shields; body flattened, yellow sides and belly, back black; it is called kullundur and is very poisonous. The species of hydrophis are numerous; in the Indian Seas about thirty have been described, and there are probably others. They present a considerable variety of form and colouration; some have elongated necks and small heads, the posterior part of the body being larger than the anterior; others have not this characteristic; but they have all a strong family likeness, and may be recognised at once by their compressed bodies, finlike tails, and the general absence of well-marked ventral scutæ. Their colouring is also remarkable, green, yellow, black, in bands or rings, being a common pattern. They are all poisonous, and, in a few experimented with, the virus was most deadly. The fangs are small and in some partially grooved. They are entirely pelagic, though they enter the tidal rivers, and, when thrown on shore, are helpless. They are delicate, and seldom live long in captivity. A H. coronata sent to me from one of the tidal streams near Calcutta lived some days in a large tub of salt water, which was frequently changed; it proved its venomous character by biting and rapidly killing a fowl. This snake had a very small head and slender neck, which was more than one-third of the creature's entire length. It was of yellowish olive ground-colour, with about fifty blackish rings, which were broader than the interspaces. Head and ventral side of the neck black, the form er with a yellow horseshoe-shaped mark across the frontal and nasal shields; tail had ten or twelve back cross-bars; ventral shields distinct, being rather larger than the ordinary scales. Space does not admit of more detailed description of the other species. This one may be taken as a type of all. It is impossible to mistake them, and they are all, as far as known, poisonous. They cause occasional accidents to swimmers or to fishermen, or others who handle them when taken out of nets, or picked up on the shore; but they certainly do not contribute to any extent to the death-rate of either men or domestic animals. It is difficult to conceive of what use the poison can be to them. The average loss of human beings, and The mortality from snake-bite is very great. life during the last eight years has been 19,880 2,100 head of cattle yearly. I regret that I am unable to state how many of these deaths are to be ascribed to the cobra, or each particular snake, as I have been unable to obtain any reliable returns which entered into this special detail. But when conducting an investigation into this subject in India some years ago, I was then able to make out that of 11,416 deaths of human beings in 1869, out of a population of 120,914,283, 2,690 were assigned to cobras, 359 to kraits, the balance being caused by snakes unnamed. This return is of little value, but it indicates what is well known, that the cobra is by far the most destructive of the venomous snakes of India. Mr. V. Richards, who has investigated the subject closely, says the cobra causes nine-tenths of the human deaths. The snakes which are most destructive to life are probably in the following order: The cobra, Naja tripudians; the krait, Bungarus cæruleus; the kuppur, Echis carinata ; Russell's viper, Daboia russelli; the hamadryas, Ophiophagus elaps; the Raj-samp, Bungarus fasciatus. The hydrophidæ are probably not less dangerous, but they are comparatively rare, and seldom brought in contact with human beings, and thus do not contribute so largely to the death-rate. The number of snakes destroyed, in 1887, amounted to 562,221, for which rewards amounting to Rs. 37,912 were paid. The table shows in detail the number of human beings and cattle killed by all poisonous snakes together, the number of snakes killed, and the amounts paid for their destruction each year from 1880 to 1887 inclusive. Appended also is a short statement showing the deaths from snake-bites in different parts of India during the year 1887, the latest reports we possess; with a late resolution in the Home Department, which shows how far the Government of India is interesting itself in this question. Destruction of life in India by snakes from 1880 to 1887. DEATHS FROM SNAKE-BITE IN 1887. In Madras, 1,263 people were killed and 1,070 cattle; 302 snakes were destroyed, and no rewards paid. In Bombay, 1,168 people were killed and 48 cattle; 311,476 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 6,269 paid in rewards. In Bengal, 9,131 people were killed and 509 cattle; 35,054 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 4,433 paid in rewards. In the N.W. Provinces and Oude, 5,765 people were killed and 216 cattle; 25,864 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 3,140 paid in rewards. In the Punjab, 843 people were killed and 77 cattle; 177,080 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 22,826 paid in rewards. In the Central Provinces, 928 people were killed and 44 cattle; 2,065 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 844 paid in rewards. In Burmah, 213 people were killed and 428 cattle; 8,431 snakes were destroyed, and no rewards paid. In Assam, 198 persons were killed and 190 cattle; 269 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 15 paid in rewards. In Coorg, 1 person was killed and no cattle; 48 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 8 paid in rewards. In the Hyderabad Assigned Districts, 182 people were killed and 134 cattle; 697 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 140 paid in rewards. In Ajmere and Merwara, 47 persons were killed and no cattle ; 575 snakes were destroyed, and no rewards paid. In Bangalore, 2 people were killed and no cattle; 660 snakes were destroyed, and Rs. 236 paid in rewards. Extracts from Home Department Resolution for 1886, referring to Venomous Snakes. The number of deaths from snake-bite rose from 20,142 in 1885 to 22,134 in 1886. Of the total mortality by wild animals and snakes, no fewer than 18,805 cases occurred in the Lower Provinces of Bengal and in the N.W. Provinces and Oude, and of this number 16,926 deaths were caused by snakes alone. . . . ... The mortality in the several provinces does not vary much when compared with the figures of the preceding year, except in the N.W. Provinces and Oude, where there was an increase in deaths from snake-bite of 1,499, which chiefly accounts for the somewhat large increase in the total mortality of the year. 2 ... There was a falling-off in the number of snakes killed from 420,044 to 417,596. As in previous years, the provinces in which snakes were largely destroyed are Bombay, Bengal, the N. W. Provinces and Oude, and the Punjab. The decline is due to a large decrease in the number of snakes destroyed during the year in Bengal, the cause assigned being the same as that alleged for the falling-off in the number of wild animals killed, namely, the small amount available for the payment of rewards. This matter is also being inquired into by the Local Government. In the Hyderabad Assigned Districts, the system of granting rewards for the destruction of snakes, which was in force only in municipal towns, has been extended to towns with dispensaries, and rewards are now paid on the authority of certificates granted by hospital assistants a measure which the Resident believes will act as an inducement towards the destruction of snakes. As regards the measures to be adopted for reducing the annual loss of life by snake-bite, I stated my views in 1872, and they are much the same now as they were then. The chief points are, to make known the appearance and habits of the poisonous snakes, and to institute proper rewards for their destruction. With a plain description and a faithful representation in colour of each species, such as is given in the Thanatophidia of India, the people can be made acquainted with the characters that distinguish the venomous from the harmless snakes, and thus learn to avoid or to destroy them. A rate of rewards varying from 8 annas to 2 annas, according to the species, was and is again suggested. From the last reports published it appears that rewards, when offered at all, are too small; while some local authorities consider the plan of rewards to be altogether futile, some hold that it conduces to the breeding of serpents and their increase rather than diminution. The subject has often received the careful consideration of the Indian Government, and a variety of measures have been resorted to with a certain amount of success; but it is to be feared that, until a well-organised system be adopted and carried out on the lines suggested, the evil will not be fairly grappled with and overcome. Something has been, but still more might be, done. There should be more concentration and organisation; regulations should be laid down and uniformly enforced throughout the whole of India ; whilst every encouragement should be afforded to those to whom is entrusted the duty of dealing with an evil which is, to a certain extent, removable, whilst a higher scale of rewards should be offered for the destruction of the snakes. Until some such measures are generally and systematically resorted to, there will be no material diminution in the loss of human life from snake-bite, which cannot now be rated at much under 20,000 annually. 2 1885 53,995. 1886: 31,204. J. FAYRER. NOTICEABLE BOOKS. 1 1. 'MEMORIALS OF A SOUTHERN PLANTER.'1 THE downfall of the Southern cause in the great American civil war, and the steady growth of Christian and civilised sentiment for more than half a century in a sense condemnatory of negro slavery, have placed at a disadvantage, before the bar of public opinion, the character of the planters of the South. As cast-off clothes are in no great repute, so society is usually severe to excess with respect to its cast-off opinions. Thus it was that the just repudiation of religious persecution, and the horrors and calamities of which history shows it to have been the parent, led many to the unjust belief that persecutors were personally monsters. A book, which aims at presenting in a favourable light the character of a Southern slave-owner, will be doubly useful if it attains its aim. First, in the person and through the picture of an individual, it will have the merit of doing justice to a class. Secondly, it will teach anew a lesson most needful for our daily use. We are not to judge individuals hastily on account of social mischiefs, that may be due to them as a body, through their holding a position inherited from their forefathers, the whole nature of which they have not had strength and depth of wisdom sufficient to detect. But The Memorials of a Southern Planter, by Mrs. Smedes, one of his daughters, do more than this. They establish the utter and final condemnation of slavery. For they show that the deformities of the system are incurable where it is worked by men exceptionally good, and thus enable us to measure its tremendous aggravations in the case, not only of monsters, but of the average human beings who necessarily form the mass. And finally, in the present instance, they introduce us to a character of such a lofty nobleness as is seldom reared even with the most favourable environment; to a man at whose feet, except in the fact of slave-owning, any of us may be well content to sit. From one point of view, the volume is counterblast, perhaps in some ways needed, to Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1 Memorials of a Southern Planter. By Mrs. Smedes. Baltimore: 1888. |