Observations on snakes and snake bite in the Eastern Mediterranean area.

This paper is based on the author's experience while working in Israel, Egypt and Cyprus and therefore covers only these areas. From the point of view of its snake fauna, the eastern Mediterranean may be divided geographically into two parts, a northern and a southern area. The northern area, which extends north from the latitude of Jerusalem to include the southern shores of Asia Minor,: the Lebanon, Israel and Cyprus, is a fertile green belt containing some mountainous districts. The southern area, with the exception of the Nile delta, is mainly desert as typified by the Suez Canal zone, the Sinai, the Negev and Aqaba. The basic fauna: of these two areas have little in common, although there is some overlap, especially in Israel where the fauna of the two areas may be found side by side. The fauna of the northern l:\rea is a continuation of that found in the European continent, the common snakes being non-poisonous Colubridre and the only common poisonous snakes being Vipera lebetina and Vipera palcestina. In the southern area the snakes are those specifically associated with the deserts of North Mrica and Arabia as typified by the sand vipers and the Egyptian cobra. In the northern area the poisonous snake is a rarity, whereas in the southern area the majority of snakes are poisonous. This paper describes the commoner snakes found, with a view to their easier identification; the pathological and clinical features of snake bite are discussed and the different forms of treatment reviewed. Only 18 of the 42 or more species found in the area are mentioned; these include all the poisonous species and those of the non-poisonous species which are most frequently found.