The study of the Indian snakes has always been very facinating. Still more interesting is the study of the Indian snake poisons; their nature and effects. The present book deals with both. The book attempts to present in a concise form some of the more important types of the Indian snakes. It also discusses the chief features of snake poisoning as seen in India. The snakes mentioned have been referred to by their scientific names. Had vernacular terms been employed, it would not have been possible to select any that would have been intelligible except in very limited areas. Thus the Bungarus coeruleus is the Krait of Bengal, but the Gedi Paragudu of the Coromandel. The Echis carinata is the Afae of Delhi, the Kupper of sindh, and the Foorsa of Bombay. The word Cobra has been used as it is throughout the book.Another object that has been kept in view has been to define, as closely as possible, the conditions on which the mortality from the Indian snake bite depends, both as regards the physiological nature of the poisoning process, and the relation between the reptiles and their victims so as to indicate the way in which one should best proceed with the hope of diminishing the fearful mortality that exists.
