Return to Herpetology Catalogue of IndiaThe Poisonous Terrestrial Snakes of Our British Indian Dominions (including Ceylon) and How to Recognize them. With Symptoms of Snake Poisoning and Treatment/Col. F. Wall. Reprint of fourth edition published in 1928. 1994, 173 p., figures, $17.
Contents: I. The identification of Indian land snakes: 1. Introductory remarks. 2. Key to distinguish the poisonous snakes: i. Sea snakes. ii. The Kraits. iii. Cobras and Coral snakes. iv. The Pit-Vipers. v. Pitless Vipers. Part II: 1. Snake bite and snake poisoning. 2. Complicating effects of fright. 3. Snake poisons, with analysis of the action of their constituent toxins, symptoms of poisoning and illustrative cases in the human subject: i. Cobra. ii. Hamadryad or King Cobra. iii. Common Krait. iv. Banded Krait. v. Ceylon Krait. vi. Daboia or Russell's Viper. vii. Saw-scaled Viper. viii. Common Himalayan Viper. ix. Large spotted Viper. x. Green Pit Viper. xi. Cantor's Viper. xii. Anamallay Viper. 4. Uncertainty of the effects of snake bite. Part III: 1. Treatment of snake poisoning: i. Preventive treatment. ii. Antidotal treatment (Antivenene). iii. Symptomatic treatment. iv. Local treatment. v. Special treatment in the case of the commoner snakes: (a) Cobra poisoning. (b) Hamadryad poisoning. (c) Common Krait poisoning. (d) Banded Krait poisoning. (e) Daboia poisoning. (f) Saw-scaled Viper poisoning. (g) Other Viperine poisonings. vi. Treatment to be adopted by non-professional people. 2. Syncope and its treatment.
"The book Poisonous Terrestrial Snakes by Colonel F. Wall deals with the kinds of snakes found in India and Ceylon. In this book it has been clearly described how to identify and recognize the different kinds of poisonous terrestrial snakes.
"The snakes have been classified in different ways. It is to be noted that the colour of different snakes and their young ones do not have the same marking and as such cannot be taken as the authentic means of identification. The author has done well to divide the book in 3 parts.
"The first part deals with the identification of the India land snakes. In the second part, snake bite and snake poisoning have been described and in the third part, full details have been given for treatment of snake poisoning, preventive measures to be adopted and local and special treatment in case of the commoner snakes." (jacket)
[Colonel F. Wall also wrote The Snakes of Ceylon and How to Identify the Snakes of India.] No. 9546