round Ceylon, as compared with their numbers in other places. Their
principal habitat is the ocean between the southern shores of China and
the northern coast of New Holland; and their western limit appears to be
about the longitude of Cape Comorin. It has long since been ascertained
that they frequent the seas that separate the islands of the Pacific;
but they have never yet been found in the Atlantic, nor even on the
western shores of tropical America. And if, as has been stated[1], they
have been seen on a late occasion in considerable numbers in the Bay of
Panama, the fact can only be regarded as one of the rare instances, in
which a change in the primary distribution of a race of animals has
occurred, either by an active or a passive immigration. Being
exclusively inhabitants of the sea, they are liable to be swept along by
the influence of currents; but to compensate for this they have been
endowed with a wonderful power of swimming. The individuals of all the
groups of terrestrial serpents are observed to be possessed of this
faculty to a greater or a less degree; and they can swim for a certain
distance without having any organs specially modified for the purpose;
except, perhaps, the lung, which is a long sac capable of taking in a
sufficient quantity of air, to keep the body of the snake above water.
Nor do we find any peculiar or specially adapted organs even in the
freshwater-snakes, although they can catch frogs or fishes while
swimming. But in the _hydrophids_, which are permanent inhabitants of
the ocean, and which in an adult state, approach the beach only
occasionally, and for very short times, the tail, which is rounded and
tapering in the others, is compressed into a vertical rudder-like organ,
similar to, and answering all the purposes of, the caudal fin in a fish.
When these snakes are brought on shore or on the deck of a ship, they
are helpless and struggle vainly in awkward attitudes. Their food
consists exclusively of such fishes as are found near the surface; a
fact which affords ample proof that they do not descend to great depths,
although they can dive as well as swim. They are often found in groups
during calm weather, sleeping on the sea; but owing to their extreme
caution and shyness, attempts to catch them are rarely successful; on
the least alarm, they suddenly expel the air from their lungs and
descend below the surface; a long stream of rising air-bubbles marking
the rapid course which they make below. Their poisonous nature has been
questioned; but the presence of a strong perforated tooth and of a
venomous gland sufficiently attest their dangerous powers, even if these
had not been demonstrated by the effects of their bite. But fortunately
for the fishermen, who sometimes find them unexpectedly among the
contents of their nets, sea-snakes are unable, like other venomous
serpents, to open the jaws widely, and in reality they rarely inflict a
wound. Dr. Cantor believes, that, they are blinded by the light when
removed from their own element; and he adds that they become sluggish
and speedily die.[2]
[Footnote 1: Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858.]
[Footnote 2: _Catal. Mal. Rept_. p. 136.]
[Illustration: SEA SNAKE Hydrophis subloevis]
Those found near the coasts of Ceylon are generally small,--from one to
three feet in length, and apparently immature; and it is certain that
the largest specimens taken in the Pacific do not attain to greater
length than eight feet. In colour they are generally of a greenish
brown, in parts inclining to yellow, with occasionally cross bands of
black. The species figured in the accompanying drawing is the _Hydrophis
subloevis_ of Gray; or _Hydrus cyanocinctus_ of Boie.[1] The specimen
from which the drawing is taken, was obtained by Dr. Templeton at
Colombo.
[Footnote 1: Its technical characteristics are as follows,--Body rather
slender; ground colour yellowish with irregular black rings. Scales
nearly smooth; ventral plates broad, six-sided, smooth, some divided
into two, by a slight central groove. Occipital shields large,
triangular, and produced, with a small central shield behind them; a
series of four large temporal shields; chin shields in two pairs; eyes
very small, over the fourth and fifth labials; one ante-and two
post-oculars; the second upper labial shield elongated.]
The use of the Pamboo-Kaloo, or snake-stone, as a remedy in cases of
wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the
Singhalese by the itinerant snake-charmers who resort to the island from
the coast of Coromandel; and more than one well-authenticated instance
of its successful application has been told to me by persons who had
been eye-witnesses to what they described. On one occasion, in March,
1854, a friend of mine was riding, with some other civil officers of the
Government, along a jungle path in the vicinity of Bintenne, when he saw
one of two Tamils, who were approaching the party, suddenly dart into
the forest and return, holding in both hands a cobra de capello which he
had seized by the head and tail. He called to his companion for
assistance to place it in their covered basket, but, in doing this, he
handled it so inexpertly that it seized him by the finger, and retained
its hold for a few seconds, as if unable to retract its fangs. The blood
flowed, and intense pain appeared to follow almost immediately; but,
with all expedition, the friend of the sufferer undid his waistcloth,
and took from it two snake-stones, each of the size of a small almond,
intensely black and highly polished, though of an extremely light
substance. These he applied, one to each wound inflicted by the teeth of
the serpent, to which they attached themselves closely; the blood that
oozed from the bites being rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the
article applied. The stones adhered tenaciously for three or four
minutes, the wounded man's companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm
downwards from the shoulder towards the fingers. At length the
snake-stones dropped off of their own accord; the suffering of the man
appeared to subside; he twisted his fingers till the joints cracked, and
went on his way without concern. Whilst this had been going on, another
Indian of the party who had come up took from his bag a small piece of
white wood, which resembled a root, and passed it gently near the head
of the cobra, which the latter immediately inclined close to the ground;
he then lifted the snake without hesitation, and coiled it into a circle
at the bottom of his basket. The root by which he professed to be
enabled to perform this operation with safety he called the _Naya-thalic
Kalanga_ (the root of the snake-plant), protected by which he professed
his ability to approach any reptile with impunity.
In another instance, in 1853, Mr. Lavalliere, then District Judge of
Kandy, informed me that he saw a snake-charmer in the jungle, close by
the town, search for a cobra de capello, and, after disturbing one in
its retreat, the man tried to secure it, but, in the attempt, he was
bitten in the thigh till blood trickled from the wound. He instantly
applied the _Pamboo-Kaloo_, which adhered closely for about ten minutes,
during which time he passed the root which he held in his hand backwards
and forwards above the stone, till the latter dropped to the ground. He
assured Mr. Lavalliere that all danger was then past. That gentleman
obtained from him the snake-stone he had relied on, and saw him
repeatedly afterwards in perfect health.
The substances used on both these occasions are now in my possession.
The roots employed by the several parties are not identical. One appears
to be a bit of the stem of an Aristolochia; the other is so dried as to
render its identification difficult, but it resembles the quadrangular
stem of a jungle vine. Some species of Aristolochia, such as the _A.
serpentaria_ of North America, are supposed to act as specifics in the
cure of snakebites; and the _A. indica_ is the plant to which the
ichneumon is popularly believed to resort as an antidote when bitten[1];
but it is probable that the use of any particular plant by the
snake-charmers is a pretence, or rather a delusion, the reptile being
overpowered by the resolute action of the operator[2], and not by the
influence of any secondary appliance. In other words, the confidence
inspired by the supposed talisman enables its possessor to address
himself fearlessly to his task, and thus to effect, by determination and
will, what is popularly believed to be the result of charms and
stupefaction. Still it is curious that, amongst the natives of Northern
Africa, who lay hold of the _Cerastes_ without fear or hesitation,
impunity is ascribed to the use of a plant with the juice of which they
anoint themselves before touching the reptile[3]; and Bruce says of the
people of Sennar, that they acquire exemption from the fatal
consequences of the bite by chewing a particular root, and washing
themselves with an infusion of certain plants. He adds that a portion of
this root was given him, with a view to test its efficacy in his own
person, but that he had not sufficient resolution to make the
experiment.
[Footnote 1: For an account of the encounter between the ichneumon and
the venomous snakes of Ceylon, see Ch. I. p. 39.]
[Footnote 2: The following narrative of the operations of a
snake-charmer in Ceylon is contained in a note from Mr. Reyne, of the
department of public works: "A snake-charmer came to my bungalow in
1851, requesting me to allow him to show me his snakes dancing. As I had
frequently seen them, I told him I would give him a rupee if he would
accompany me to the jungle, and catch a cobra, that I knew frequented
the place. He was willing, and as I was anxious to test the truth of the
charm, I counted his tame snakes, and put a watch over them until I
returned with him. Before going I examined the man, and satisfied myself
he had no snake about his person. When we arrived at the spot, he played
on a small pipe, and after persevering for some time out came a large
cobra from an ant hill, which I knew it occupied. On seeing the man it
tried to escape, but he caught it by the tail and kept swinging it round
until we reached the bungalow. He then made it dance, but before long it
bit him above the knee. He immediately bandaged the leg above the bite,
and applied a snake-stone to the wound to extract the poison. He was in
great pain for a few minutes, but after that it gradually went away, the
stone falling off just before he was relieved. When he recovered he held
a cloth up which the snake flew at, and caught its fangs in it; while in
that position, the man passed his hand up its back, and having seized it
by the throat, he extracted the fangs in my presence and gave them to
me. He then squeezed out the poison on to a leaf. It was a clear oily
substance, and when rubbed on the hand produced a fine lather. I
carefully watched the whole operation, which was also witnessed by my
clerk and two or three other persons. _Colombo, 13th January_
1860.--H.E. REYNE."]
[Footnote 3: Hasselquist.]
As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the application of which
I have been describing, to Mr. Faraday, who has communicated to me, as
the result of his analysis, his belief that it is "a piece of charred
bone which has been filled with blood perhaps several times, and then
carefully charred again. Evidence of this is afforded, as well by the
apertures of cells or tubes on its surface as by the fact that it yields
and breaks, under pressure; and exhibits an organic structure within.
When heated slightly, water rises from it, and also a little ammonia;
and, if heated still more highly in the air, carbon burns away, and a
bulky white ash is left, retaining the shape and size of the stone."
This ash, as is evident from inspection, cannot have belonged toany
vegetable substance, for it is almost entirely composed of phosphate of
lime. Mr. Faraday adds that "if the piece of matter has ever been
employed as a spongy absorbent, it seems hardly fit for that purpose in
its present state: but who can say to what treatment it has been
subjected since it was fit for use, or to what treatment the natives may
submit it when expecting to have occasion to use it?"
The probability is, that the animal charcoal, when instantaneously
applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent to extract the venom
from the recent wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it
has had time to be carried into the system; and that the blood which Mr.
Faraday detected in the specimen submitted to him was that of the Indian
on whose person the effect was exhibited on the occasion to which my
informant was an eye-witness. The snake-charmers from the coast who
visit Ceylon profess to prepare the snake-stones for themselves, and to
preserve the composition a secret. Dr. Davy[1], on the authority of Sir
Alexander Johnston, says the manufacture of them is a lucrative trade,
carried on by the monks of Manilla, who supply the merchants of
India--and his analysis confirms that of Mr. Faraday. Of the three
different kinds which he examined--one being of partially burnt bone,
and another of chalk, the third, consisting chiefly of vegetable matter,
resembled bezoar,--all of them (except the first, which possessed a
slight absorbent power) were quite inert, and incapable of having any
effect except on the imagination of the patient. Thunberg was shown the
snake-stone used by the boers at the Cape in 1772, which was imported
for them "from the Indies, especially from Malabar," at so high a price
that few of the farmers could afford to possess themselves of it; he
describes it as convex on one side, black and so porous that "when
thrown into water, it caused bubbles to rise;" and hence, by its
absorbent qualities, it served, if speedily applied, to extract the
poison from the wound.[2]
[Footnote 1: _Account of the Interior of Ceylon_, ch. iii. p. 101.]
[Footnote 2: _Thunberg_, vol. i. p. 155. Since the foregoing account was
published, I have received a note from Mr. HARDY, relative to the
_piedra ponsona_, the snake-stone of Mexico, in which he gives the
following account of the method of preparing and applying it: "Take a
piece of hart's horn of any convenient size and shape; cover it well
round with grass or hay, enclose both in a thin piece of sheet copper
well wrapped round them, and place the parcel in a charcoal fire till
the bone is sufficiently charred.
"When cold, remove the calcined horn from its envelope, when it will be
ready for immediate use. In this state it will resemble a solid black
fibrous substance, of the same shape and size as before it was subjected
to this treatment.
"USE.--The wound being slightly punctured, apply the bone to the
opening, to which it will adhere firmly for the space of two minutes;
and when it falls, it should be received into a basin of water. It
should then be dried in a cloth, and again applied to the wound. But it
will not adhere longer than about one minute. In like manner it may be
applied a third time; but now it will fall almost immediately, and
nothing will cause it to adhere any more.
"These effects I witnessed in the case of a bite of a rattle-snake at
Oposura, a town in the province of Sonora, in Mexico, from whence I
obtained my recipe; and I have given other particulars respecting it in
my Travels in the Interior of Mexico, published in 1830. R.W.H. HARDY.
_Bath_, 30_th January_, 1860."]
_Coecilia_.--The rocky jungle, bordering the higher coffee estates,
provides a safe retreat for a very singular animal, first introduced to
the notice of European naturalists about a century ago by Linnæus, who
gave it the name _Coecilia glutinosa_, to indicate two peculiarities
manifest to the ordinary observer--an apparent defect of vision, from
the eyes being so small and embedded as to be scarcely distinguishable;
and a power of secreting from minute pores in the skin a viscous fluid,
resembling that of snails, eels, and some salamanders. Specimens are
rare in Europe owing to the readiness with which it decomposes, breaking
down into a flaky mass in the spirits in which it is attempted to
preserve it.
The creature is about the length and thickness of an ordinary round desk
ruler, a little flattened before and rounded behind. It is brownish,
with a pale stripe along either side. The skin is furrowed into 350
circular folds, in which are imbedded minute scales. The head is
tolerably distinct, with a double row of fine curved teeth for seizing
the insects and worms on which it is supposed to live.
Naturalists are most desirous that the habits and metamorphoses of this
creature should be carefully ascertained, for great doubts have been
entertained as to the position it is entitled to occupy in the chain of
creation.
_Batrachians._--In the numerous marshes formed by the overflowing of the
rivers in the plains of the low country, there are many varieties of
frogs, which, both by their colours and by their extraordinary size, are
calculated to excite the surprise of a stranger. In the lakes around
Colombo and the still water near Trincomalie, there are huge creatures
of this family, from six to eight inches in length[1], of an olive hue,
deepening into brown on the back and yellow on the under side. A Kandyan
species, recently described, is of much smaller dimensions, but
distinguished by its brilliant colouring, a beautiful grass green above
and deep orange underneath[2].
[Footnote 1: A Singhalese variety of the _Rana cutipora?_ and the
Malabar bull-frog, _Hylarana Malabarica_. A frog named by BLYTH _Rana
robusta_ proves to be a Ceylon specimen of the _R. cutipora_.]
[Footnote 2: _R. Kandiana_, Kelaart.]
In the shrubberies around my house at Colombo the graceful little
tree-frogs[1] were to be found in great numbers, sheltered under broad
leaves to protect them from the scorching sun;--some of them utter a
sharp metallic sound at night, similar to that produced by smacking the
lips.
[Footnote 1: _Polypedates maculatus,_ Gray.]
In the gardens and grounds toads[1] crouch in the shade, and pursue the
flies and minute coleoptera. In Ceylon, as in Europe, these creatures
suffer from the bad renown of injecting a poison into the wound
inflicted by their bite.[2] The main calumny is confuted by the fact
that no toad has yet been discovered furnished with any teeth
whatsoever; but the obnoxious repute still attaches to the milky
exudation sometimes perceptible from glands situated on either side
behind the head; nevertheless experiments have shown, that though acrid,
the secretions of the toad are incapable of exciting more than a slight
erythema on the most delicate skins. The smell is, however, fetid and
offensive, and hence toads are less exposed to the attacks of
carnivorous animals and of birds than frogs, in which such glands do not
exist.
[Footnote 1: _Bufo melanostictus_, Schneid.]
[Footnote 2: In Ceylon this error is as old as the third century, B.C.,
when, as the _Mahawanso_ tells us, the wife of "King Asoka attempted to
destroy the great bo-tree (at Magadha) _with, the poisoned fang of a
toad._"--Ch. xx. p. 122.]
In the class of Reptiles, those only are included in the order of
Batrachians which undergo a metamorphosis before attaining maturity; and
as they offer the only example amongst Vertebrate animals of this
marvellous transformation, they are justly considered as the lowest in
the scale, with the exception of fishes, which remain during life in
that stage of development which is only the commencement of existence to
a frog.
In undergoing this change, it is chiefly the organs of respiration that
manifest alteration. In its earliest form the young batrachian, living
in the water, breathes as a fish does by _gills_, either free and
projecting as in the water-newt, or partially covered by integument as
in the tadpole. But the gills disappear as the lungs gradually become
developed: the duration of the process being on an average one hundred
days from the time the eggs were first deposited. After this important
change, the true batrachian is incapable any longer of living
continuously in water, and either betakes itself altogether to the land,
or seeks the surface from time to time to replenish its exhausted
lungs.[1]
[Footnote 1: A few Batrachians, such as the _Siren_ of Carolina, the
_Proteus_ of Illyria, the _Axolotl_ of Mexico, and the _Menobranchus_ of
the North American Lakes, retain their gills during life; but although
provided with lungs in mature age, they are not capable of living out of
the water. Such batrachians form an intermediate link between reptiles
and fishes.]
The change in the digestive functions during metamorphosis is scarcely
less extraordinary; frogs, for example, which feed on animal substances
at maturity, subsist entirely upon vegetable when in the condition of
larvæ, and the subsidiary organs undergo remarkable development, the
intestinal canal in the earlier stage being five times its length in the
later one.
Of the family of tailed batrachians, Ceylon does not furnish a single
example; but of those without this appendage, the island, as above
remarked, affords many varieties; seven distinguishable species
pertaining to the genus _rana_, or true frogs with webs to the hind
feet; two to the genus _bufo_, or true toads, and five to the
_Polypedates_, or East Indian "tree-frogs;" besides a few others in
allied genera. The "tree-frog," whose toes are terminated by rounded
discs which assist it in climbing, possesses, in a high degree, the
faculty of changing its hues; and one as green as a leaf to-day, will be
found grey and spotted like the bark to-morrow. One of these beautiful
little creatures, which had seated itself on the gilt pillar of a lamp
on my dinner-table, became in a few minutes scarcely distinguishable in
colour from the or-molu ornament to which it clung.
* * * * *
_List of Ceylon Reptiles._
I am indebted to Dr. Gray and Dr. Günther, of the British Museum, for a
list of the reptiles of Ceylon; but many of those new to Europeans have
been carefully described by the late Dr. Kelaart in his _Prodromus Fauna
Zeylanicæ_ and its appendices, as well as in the 13th vol. _Magaz. Nat.
Hist._ (1854).
SAURA.
Hydrosaurus
salvator, _Wagler._
Monitor
dracæna, _Linn._
Riopa
punctata, _Linn._
Hardwickii, _Gray._
Brachymeles
Bonitæ, _Dum. & Bib._
Tiliqua
rufescens, _Shaw._
Eumeces
Taprobanius, _Kel._
Nessia
Burtoni, _Gray._
Acontias
Layardi, _Kelaart._
Argyrophis
bramicus, _Daud._
Lygosoma
fallax, _Peters._
Rhinophis
oxyrhynchus, _Schn._
punctatus, _J. Müll_
philippinus, _J. Müll_
homolepis, _Hempr._
planiceps, _Peters._
Blythii, _Kelaart._
melanogaster, _Gray._
Uropeltis
grandis, _Kelaart._
_saffragamus, Kelaart._
Silybura
Ceylonica, _Cuv._
Hemidactylus
frenatus, _Schleg._
Leschenaultii, _Dum. & Bib._
trihedrus, _Daud._
maculatus, _Dum. & Bib._
Piresii, _Kelaart._
Coctoei, _Dum. & Bib._
pustulatus, _Dum._
sublævis, _Cantor._
Peripia
Peronii, _Dum. & Bib._
Gymnodactylus
Kandianus, _Kelaart._
Sitana
Ponticereana, _Cuv._
Lyriocephalus
scutatus, _Linn._
Ceratophora
Stoddartii, _Gray._
Tennentii, _Günther._
Otocryptis
bivittata, _Wiegm._
_Salea Jerdoni, Gray._
Calotes
ophiomachus, _Merr._
nigrilabris, _Peters._
versicolor, _Daud._
Rouxii, _Dum. & Bib._
mystaceus, _Dum._
Chameleo
vulgaris, _Daud._
OPHIDIA.
Megæra
trigonocephala, _Latr._
Trigonocephalus
hypnalis, _Merr._
Daboia
elegans, _Daud._
_Pelamys_
_bicolor, Daud._
_Aturia_
_lapemoides, Gray._
Hydrophis
sublævis, _Gray._
cyanocinctus, _Daud._
Chersydrus
granulatus, _Schneid_.
Cerberus
cinereus, _Daud._
Tropidophis
schistosus, _Daud._
Python
reticulatus, _Gray._
Cylindrophis
rufa, _Schneid._
maculata, _Linn._
Aspidura
brachyorrhos, _Boie._
trachyprocta, _Cope._
Haplocercus
Ceylonensis, _Günth._
Oligodon
subquadratus, _Dum. & Bib._
subgriseus, _Dum. & Bib._
sublineatus, _Dum. & Bib._
Simotes
Russellii, _Daud._
purpurascens, _Schleg._
Ablabes
collaris, _Gray._
Tropidonotus
quincunciatus, _Schleg._
var. funebris.
var. carinatus.
stolatus, _Linn._
chrysargus, _Boie._
Cynophis
Helena, _Daud._
Coryphodon
Blumenbachii, _Merr._
Cyclophis
calamaria, _Günth._
Chrysopelea
ornata, _Shaw._
Dendrophis
picta, _Gm._
Passerita
mycterizans, _Linn._
fusca.
Dipsadomorphus
Ceylonensis, _Günth._
Lycodon
aulicus, _Linn._
Cercaspis
carinata, _Kuhl._
Bungarus
fasciatus, _Schneid._
var. Ceylonensis, _Gthr._
Naja
tripudians, _Merr._
CHELONIA.
Testudo
stellata, _Schweig._
Emys
Sebæ, _Gray._
trijuga, _Schweigg._
Caretta
imbricata, _Linn._
Chelonia
virgata, _Schweigg._
EMYDOSAURI.
Crocodilus
biporcatus. _Cuv._
palustris, _Less._
BATRACHIA.
Rana
hexadactyla, _Less._
Kuhlii, _Schleg._
cutipora, _Dum. & Bib._
tigrina, _Daud._
vittigera, _Wiegm._
Malabarica, _Dum. & Bib._
Kandiana, _Kelaart._
Neuera-elliana, _Kel._
Bufo
melanostictus, _Schneid._
Kelaartii, _Günth._
Ixalus
variabilis, _Günth._
leucorhinus, _Martens._
poecilopleurus, _Mart._
aurifasciatus, _Schleg._
schmardanus, _Kelaart._
Polypedates
maculatus, _Gray._
microtympanum, _Gth._
eques, _Günth._
Limnodytes
lividus, _Blyth._
macularis, _Blyth._
mutabilis, _Kelaart._
maculatus, _Kelaart._
Kaloula
pulchra, _Gray._
balteata, var. _Günth._
stellata, _Kelaart._
Adenomus
badioflavus, _Copr._
Pyxicephalus
fodiens, _Jerd._
Engystoma
rubrum, _Jerd._
PSEUDOPHIDIA.
Cæcilia
glutinosa, _Linn._