Russell's viper

Etymology

Named in honour of Patrick Russell (1726–1805), Scottish herpetologist who first described many of India's snakes.

Noun

Russell's viper (plural Russell's vipers)

1. The venomous viper Daboia russelii. [from 19th c.]
   • 1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin 2005, p. 164:

     Some weeks before, one of the masters at the College, an unpopular Parsee, had found a Russell's viper nosing round his classroom.