Abstract
THIS list contains the names of 350 species of snakes represented in the collection of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Of the 350 a large majority, 210, are from the Indian Empire (inclusive of Burma and Ceylon), leaving 68 forms that are known to inhabit parts of British India unrepresented in the collection. When it is remembered how rare and local many snakes are, how many species are known by a single specimen, and how seldom opportunities of collecting occur in such tracts as the remoter hills of Southern India, the Assam ranges, the forests of Tenasserim, &c., which abound in peculiar forms, those who have had charge of the Indian Museum may be congratulated on having succeeded in bringing together representatives of so large a proportion of the Indian Ophidian fauna. The number of species represented in the Museum of the Asiatic Society, the nucleus of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, when the reptiles were catalogued by Mr. W. Theobald in 1865, was about 120, so that there has been an increase of 75 per cent. in 26 years. Altogether, as regards Indian snakes, the Calcutta collection is probably only inferior to that in the British Museum.
List of the Snakes in the Indian Museum.
By W. L. Sclater.
Enjoying our latest content?
Log in or create an account to continue
- Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team
- Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research
or
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
B., W. Our Book Shelf. Nature 45, 317 (1892). https://doi.org/10.1038/045317a0
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/045317a0
