Ophiophagus elaps (Hamadryas)

The Museum’s collection of rare books on natural history includes a second edition of Joseph Fayrer’s The Thanatophidia Of India, which is a large folio book of scientific illustrations by artists from the Calcutta School of Art, under the supervision of Sir Joseph Fayrer, an English physician interested in ophiology (the study of snakes). There are 28 chromolithographs in the book with colour plates showing various venomous serpents found in the Indian subcontinent. Thanatophidia refers to serpents with poison glands and fangs, whose bite may or may not be fatal to humans. Fayrer studied all aspects of snake poisoning and was responsible for many advances in finding the cure for snakebites. During the late 19th century, the British administration started a campaign to reduce the number of deaths by venomous snakebites in the Indian subcontinent. The book is considered a pioneering work in the study of modern ophiology.

The curator of the Museum, Dr. Duncan MacDonald (1880-1903), even kept a display of live snakes in the Museum till 1887. The practice was discontinued after a staff member was bitten by one of the snakes while preparing them for display.