Indian Snakes An Elementary Treatise On Ophiology With A Descriptive Catalogue Of The Snakes Found In India And The Adjoining Countries Classic Reprint

Author : F. Wall
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781332179657
Total Pages : 668 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (796 download)

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Download or read book Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, Vol. 16 written by F. Wall and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-04 with total page 668 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, Vol. 16: A Popular Treatise on the Common Indian Snakes I shall not attempt to treat the subject exhaustively, as it seems to me a more useful purpose will be served by dealing with the commonest and most widely distributed species. Where a resemblance exists between two or more species, especially where one is poisonous and the others harmless, they will be shown together and an attempt will be made to frame easy rules whereby they may be distinguished, but here I must repeat what I have said in previous papers in this Journal, viz., that of all fallacious methods of identifying snakes, the usual one adopted with relation to colour and markings is the most unreliable. Attention must be given to the arrangement of the scales and shields. We mast again appeal to our readers to render every assistance by procuring living specimens without which the true colouring cannot be shown by our artists. The plates will show only a few inches in the middle of the body, in preference to a full-length drawing which would necessarily be on too small a scale in many cases to show the detail required for identification. Our first plate represents the common green pit viper (Lachesis gramineus), and the common green whip snake (Dryophis mycterizans). Before describing our first snake I think it advisable to make a few remarks on vipers in general so as to indicate their position in the snake world, and the relationship of this to other vipers. The word viper is derived from the Latin vivus alive and pario I bring forth, in reference to a method of birth unusual among ophidians, but not peculiar to this family.f Among our Indian representatives the true fresh water snakes (Homalopsid ) and the sea snakes (Hydrophiid ) also produce young. It is probably this viviparous habit which has led to the belief still hard to dispel from credulous minds, that vipers protect their young by swallowing them. A pregnant mother approaching parturition is killed, and living young found within her, or observed to escape from her: the erroneous conclusion is drawn that these must have been swallowed, especially as it is popularly understood that snakes produce eggs. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."