Sri Lankan hump-nosed viper and yellow-bellied sea snake
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 Sri Lankan humped-nose viper, Hypnale nepa, and right, a yellow-bellied sea snake, Hydrophis platurus, here referred to as Pelamis bicolor, each showing full body, the latter with details of scalation.
Inscribed: ‘HYPNALE NEPA (CARAWALA)/ From a drawing of Dr. Shortts./ Madras./ Copied by Hurrish Chunder Khan from an original drawing by C. Abboy Madras [Left as viewed]/ Plate 17./ PELAMIS BICOLOR./ From Poorie./ Length 1’ ½”, Circum 1 ½”./ Drawn by Hurrish Chunder Khan Student/ Gov. Sch of Art Calcutta. [Right]/ HANHART CHROMO LITH.’
Written in the associated description of the Sri Lankan hump-nosed viper: ‘It is found in Southern India, Malabar, and the Anamallay Mountains; also in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. The largest specimen Gunther has seen is 19 inches long, the tail measuring 2 ½ inches. It is viviparous.’
Plate 17 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: ‘HYPNALE NEPA (CARAWALA)/ From a drawing of Dr. Shortts./ Madras./ Copied by Hurrish Chunder Khan from an original drawing by C. Abboy Madras [Left as viewed]/ Plate 17./ PELAMIS BICOLOR./ From Poorie./ Length 1’ ½”, Circum 1 ½”./ Drawn by Hurrish Chunder Khan Student/ Gov. Sch of Art Calcutta. [Right]/ HANHART CHROMO LITH.’
Written in the associated description of the Sri Lankan hump-nosed viper: ‘It is found in Southern India, Malabar, and the Anamallay Mountains; also in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. The largest specimen Gunther has seen is 19 inches long, the tail measuring 2 ½ inches. It is viviparous.’
Plate 17 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