A contribution to the history of serpent worship. This work is based upon papers read before the Royal Asiatic Society in 1901. It relates that serpent worship did not originate in India, but has been a branch of the worship of the Sun and Serpent, once a universal form of worship. Therefore, the history takes the reader beyond the Indian cult to other countries to explain the nature and origin of serpent worship. Most of the illustrations are from photographs taken by the author.