Dangerous Snakes of Victoria imprinted McCoy's name into the minds of generations of Victorian schoolchildren, in association with those images of deadly serpents.
It must have been deemed a success, as in the 1890s a second edition was produced, with life-sized snakes and slightly less dramatic typeface. Following McCoy's knighthood, it was subtitled 'as accredited by Sir Professor Frederick McCoy'.
Given the legend of Saint Patrick ridding the Emerald Isle of all serpents, it seems somewhat paradoxical that Frederick McCoy, born a Catholic in Ireland, would seek to be so firmly associated with the venomous snakes of his adopted country. Perhaps he saw them as symbols of power, with which he could leverage influence in both the colony as well as in London.
