Annulated sea snake
Date
1872
Creator
Behari lal Das (Indian) , Artist
Creator - Organisation
M & N Hanhart, Lithographer
Object type
Library reference
38927
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (page): 455mm
width (page): 330mm
width (page): 330mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Herpetological study of an annulated sea snake, Hydrophis cyanocinctus, here referred to as Hydrophis cyanocinta. Viewed from above, with full body depicted, and three sketched details, showing scalation of the body and head, and the specimen’s head in profile, with mouth open.
Inscribed: ‘HYDROPHiS CYANOCINTA. Plate 23./ FROM NATURE./ Ind. Mus./ Length including tail 5’9”/ Tail 6”/ Girth of body 4 ½”/ Drawn by Behari lal Dass Student. M & N HANHART CHROMO LITH. Govt. Sch. of Art. Calcutta.’
Written in the associated description: ‘This is one of the commonest sea-snakes, occurring on the coasts of Ceylon, Madras, in the Bay of Bengal, in the East Indian Archipelago, and in the seas of China and Japan.’
Plate 23 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.
Behari lal Das, 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: ‘HYDROPHiS CYANOCINTA. Plate 23./ FROM NATURE./ Ind. Mus./ Length including tail 5’9”/ Tail 6”/ Girth of body 4 ½”/ Drawn by Behari lal Dass Student. M & N HANHART CHROMO LITH. Govt. Sch. of Art. Calcutta.’
Written in the associated description: ‘This is one of the commonest sea-snakes, occurring on the coasts of Ceylon, Madras, in the Bay of Bengal, in the East Indian Archipelago, and in the seas of China and Japan.’
Plate 23 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.
Behari lal Das, 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