Page:Fayrer - The Thanatophidia of India, 1872.djvu/7

 PREFACE.

The object of this work is to supply a want I have often heard expressed — that of reliable information on the Venomous Snakes of India.

Beyond the pale of science but little is known on the subject of Ophiology, and though the information contained in the great works of Giinther, Jan, and others is very ample, it is not generally available.

The most vague ideas prevail as to the properties of the Ophidia; the most innocent are confounded with the most deadly, and this ignorance is not confined to the nature of the snakes themselves, but extends to the effects of their poison and those of the reputed antidotes. India has a large share of Ophidia ; about twenty families with numerous genera and species being known to naturalists. Of these only four families are poisonous, but among them are some of the most deadly snakes. I have endeavoured to illustrate all the principal forms, and to give a description of each, including an account of the action of its poison on Man and the lower animals. The annual mortality from snake-bite in India is very great, and if a* more extended knowledge of these reptiles and their habits should tend in any way to its diminution, my principal aim in producing the work would be accomplished.

There is no pretension to novelty in the description of the characters of the snakes.

The classifications and definitions are chiefly taken from, or based on, Giinther, or other authors of repute, the anatomical descriptions from Owen and Huxley, and to these authorities I make my acknowledgments for much valuable information, remarking at the same time that I have carefully verified their descriptions by comparison with, and by careful dissections of the snakes themselves. Close observation of the principal Indian forms of poisonous snakes during life, for a period of more than three years, enables me to confirm their accuracy, and occasionally to supplement with additional facts.

In that part of the work where the experiments are described, I believe I have added something to our previous knowledge both of the action of the poison and of the effects of remedies; on the whole, I trust I have gathered together an amount of information on the subject of the poisonous snakes of India that may be "generally useful.

In collecting materials I have been much indebted to the several Governments ; to Dr. Murray, the head of the Medical Department, and to the officers by whose permission, and through whose aid, I have obtained the return of deaths during the year 1869, as well as details of cases of snake-bite, and other information.

I would express my thanks to those gentlemen who have assisted me in my investigations and been present at the experiments. To Dr. J. Anderson, Curator of the Indian Museum, and Dr. F. Stoliezka, of the Geo- logical Survey, I am under great obligation for much valuable information, and for aid in arranging, collecting,