Item PZ 3.6 Notes - Hoplocephalus curtus, the Tiger Snake, Prahran, Melbourne, Frederick McCoy

Summary

Notes in ink by Frederick McCoy, on a Tiger Snake, Notechis scutatus, from Prahran, Melbourne. McCoy, the first Director of The National Museum of Victoria, described the Tiger Snake for Plate 3 in 'The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria; Figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victoria indigenous animals'. McCoy referred to this species as Hoplocephalus curtus.

These notes form part of the much larger Prodromus Collection. Many of the original illustrations and prints in the collection informed the production of The Prodromus, the first major publication of the National Museum of Victoria. Between 1878 and 1890, McCoy published his zoology 'Prodromus' as 20 parts in two volumes, with each part comprising 20 plates. Unfortunately, almost 90 plates in the collection remain unpublished, and hundreds of illustrations were either not completed or not printed.