The Speckled Band (animal)

The Speckled Band (in Premières Aventures de Sherlock Holmes, 1913)

Fictional animal.

No "swamp adder" in India, but one is called "swamp adder" in Africa (Proatheris superciliaris).

In the Sherlock Holmes stories

• The "Speckled Band" was the swamp adder used by Dr. Grimesby Roylott to kill his stepdaughter Julia Stoner and attempt to kill Helen Stoner (SPEC 564).

• It was yellow with brownish speckles (SPEC 559).

• Sherlock Holmes called it the "deadliest snake in India" (SPEC 564).

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