Horseshoe pit viper and Himalayan pit viper
Date
1872
Creator
Hurrish Chunder Khan (Indian) , Artist
Creator - Organisation
M & N Hanhart, Lithographer
Object type
Library reference
38927
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (page): 330mm
width (page): 455mm
width (page): 455mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Herpetological study of two snake species: left as viewed, a horseshoe pit viper, Craspedocephalus strigatus, referred to here as Trimersurus strigatus, and right, a Himalayan pit viper, Gloydius himalayanus, referred to here as Halys himalayanus, each showing full body with details of scalation.
Inscribed: ‘TRIMERESURUS STRICATUS./ Specimen in Indian Musuem./ Length 1’ 2 ½” Circum 1 ¼” [Left as viewed]/ Plate 16./ HALYS HIMALAYANUS./ Specimen in Indian Museum./ Length 1’11” Circum 2 ¼”/ Drawn by Hurrish Chunder Khan Student. M & N HANHART CHROMO LITH/ Govt. School of Art. Calcutta’.
Written in the associated description of the horseshoe pit viper: ‘This species is found on the Nilgherries and Deccan, and is common about Ootacamund.’
Written in the associated description of the Himalayan pit viper: ‘This species is very common all over the north-west Himalayas.’
Plate 16 from Joseph Fayrer’s The Thanatophidia of India; being a description of the venomous snakes of the Indian Peninsula, with an account of the influence of their poison on life, and a series of experiments (London, 1872). A study of various Indian snake species and how to treat their bites. Complete with colour illustrations to aid classification and identification created by students of the Kolkata School of Art. Published by the colonial government.
Hurrish Chunder Khan, student at the Government School of Art, Kolkata.
Sir Joseph Fayrer, first baronet, (1824-1907), surgeon and author, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1877. Fayrer worked in colonial India between 1850 and 1872 and is best known for The Thanatophidia of India.
Inscribed: ‘TRIMERESURUS STRICATUS./ Specimen in Indian Musuem./ Length 1’ 2 ½” Circum 1 ¼” [Left as viewed]/ Plate 16./ HALYS HIMALAYANUS./ Specimen in Indian Museum./ Length 1’11” Circum 2 ¼”/ Drawn by Hurrish Chunder Khan Student. M & N HANHART CHROMO LITH/ Govt. School of Art. Calcutta’.
Written in the associated description of the horseshoe pit viper: ‘This species is found on the Nilgherries and Deccan, and is common about Ootacamund.’
Written in the associated description of the Himalayan pit viper: ‘This species is very common all over the north-west Himalayas.’
Plate 16 from Joseph Fayrer’s The Thanatophidia of India; being a description of the venomous snakes of the Indian Peninsula, with an account of the influence of their poison on life, and a series of experiments (London, 1872). A study of various Indian snake species and how to treat their bites. Complete with colour illustrations to aid classification and identification created by students of the Kolkata School of Art. Published by the colonial government.
Hurrish Chunder Khan, student at the Government School of Art, Kolkata.
Sir Joseph Fayrer, first baronet, (1824-1907), surgeon and author, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1877. Fayrer worked in colonial India between 1850 and 1872 and is best known for The Thanatophidia of India.
Object history
This volume was presented to the Royal Society on 27 July 1872 with an accompanying letter from the author [‘May I beg the Royal Society’s acceptance of a copy of my work on the Poisonous Snakes of India’].
Related fellows
Joseph Fayrer (1824 - 1907, British) , Surgeon
Associated place