Destruction of life in India by poisonous snakes / J. Fayrer.

  • Fayrer, Joseph, Sir, 1824-1907.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Destruction of life in India by poisonous snakes / J. Fayrer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    NATURE [Dec. 28, 1882 DESTRUCTION OF LIFE IN INDIA BY POISONOUS SNAKES TN January, 1870, being then in Calcutta, I collected -*• statistical information which afforded proof that the loss of human as well as animal life in India from the bite of venomous snakes was very great; and as it seemed to me that this ought to be, to a great extent, preventible, I extended my investigations with the view of obtaining accurate information as to the characters and peculiarities of the venomous snakes themselves, the localities in which they most abound ; the modus operandi of the poison ; the circumstances under which the bites are inflicted; the value of any known remedies in the treatment of those bitten, and what measures might pos- sibly be devised for diminishing this serious evil. After a long and careful investigation of the whole subject, I drew up a detailed report, containing the re- sults of my inquiry, and presented it to the Government of India, with a request that, when published, it should be distributed throughout India, among civil and medical , officers, with a view of enabling them to take measures for the protection of human life, and the destruction of the creatures which caused such frightful mortality. I also endeavoured to point out the mode in which the poison destroys life, and to indicate such rational mea- sures as might be of service in the treatment of those bitten. I am not aware how far the advice I then tendered has been acted on, but I am glad to find, by a recent resolu- tion published in the Gazette of India, that some progress is being made, and that the mortality of 1881 has been somewhat less than that of 1880, from this cause, and that this desirable result is due to the measures that have been taken by Government to procure the destruction of the poisonous snakes. From the returns furnished to me at the instance of Government in 1870, for the year 1869, I made out that the human deaths from snake-bite were as follows in— Bengal, including Assam and Orissa 6645 North-West Provinces 1995 Punjab ... ... 755 Oude 1205 Central Provinces 606 Central India 90 British Burmah 120 Tnese were the only returns received, and represent not much more than half of the whole area, but the total, large as it is, cannot be regarded as the real mortality in these provinces, as the information from which the re- cords were framed being probably only partial and imper- fect, it rather under-rates than exaggerates the mortality. I expressed a belief that if systematic registration were adopted, the number recorded would prove to be larger, whilst, if information were gathered from the whole of Hindostan, it would be found that not less than 20,000 persons are destroyed annually by snakes. Total 11,416