Snake dissections
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
Various herpetological and anatomical studies:
Top right as viewed: Depiction of the head of an Indian ratsnake, Ptyas mucosa, here styled Ptyas mucosus, from above, below and in profile.
Left: Depiction of the head of a Russell’s Viper in right profile, Daboia Russellii, dissected, with pins holding flesh back to reveal the poison duct and gland.
Bottom right: Depiction of the head of a Russell’s viper, Daboia Russellii, dissected, with pins holding back the flesh of the underside of the head to show the fangs.
Inscribed: ‘Plate 30/ DABOIA RUSSELLII/ Muscular Apparatus for erecting fangs […] Drawn by Hurrish Chunder Khan Student from a dissection by J. Fayrer […]/ Diagrams of the Shields on the head of a Colubrine Snake./ From Life/ Ptyas mucosus […] Drawn by Annoda Prosad Bagchee Studt. […]/ DABOIA RUSSELLI/ Muscles of head and poison gland […] M & N HANHART LITH. Govt. Sch. of Art. Calcutta’.
Plate 30 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 India between 1850 and 1872 and is best known for The Thanatophidia of India.
Top right as viewed: Depiction of the head of an Indian ratsnake, Ptyas mucosa, here styled Ptyas mucosus, from above, below and in profile.
Left: Depiction of the head of a Russell’s Viper in right profile, Daboia Russellii, dissected, with pins holding flesh back to reveal the poison duct and gland.
Bottom right: Depiction of the head of a Russell’s viper, Daboia Russellii, dissected, with pins holding back the flesh of the underside of the head to show the fangs.
Inscribed: ‘Plate 30/ DABOIA RUSSELLII/ Muscular Apparatus for erecting fangs […] Drawn by Hurrish Chunder Khan Student from a dissection by J. Fayrer […]/ Diagrams of the Shields on the head of a Colubrine Snake./ From Life/ Ptyas mucosus […] Drawn by Annoda Prosad Bagchee Studt. […]/ DABOIA RUSSELLI/ Muscles of head and poison gland […] M & N HANHART LITH. Govt. Sch. of Art. Calcutta’.
Plate 30 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 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