Zoological Society. 133 



by this species ; the most protracted starvation amounts to a period 

 of about one month, while the Viper a elegans, the Naja tripudians, 

 and the Bungarus annularis, have, without inconvenience, been con- 

 fined in cages without any food for more than ten months. Two 

 specimens of the Hamadryas in my possession were regularly fed by 

 giving them a serpent, no matter whether venomous or not, every 

 fortnight. As soon as this food is brought near, the serpent be- 

 gins to hiss loudly, and expanding the hood rises two or three 

 feet, and retaining this attitude as if to take a sure aim, watching 

 the movements of the prey, darts upon it in the same manner as the 

 Naja tripudians does. When the victim is killed by poison, and by 

 degrees swallowed, the act is followed by a lethargic state, lasting 

 for about twelve hours. Such of the other Indian venomous ser- 

 pents, the habits of which I have had opportunity to study from life, 

 show themselves much inclined to avoid other serpents, however 

 ready they are to attack men or animals, when provoked or driven 

 by hunger ; and I am not aware of any other of those serpents being 

 recorded as preying upon its own kind. A short time ago, however, 

 during my sojourn at the Cape of Good Hope, I received from high 

 authority the following fact, which throws a light upon the habits 

 of the Naja of southern Africa, one of which, when being captured, 

 threw up the body of a Vipera arietans (Vip. brachyurus, Cuvier), 

 which bore marks of having been submitted to the process of di- 

 gestion. 



"The Hamadryas, like the greater number of Indian serpents, 

 evinces a great partiality to water ; with the exception of the tree- 

 serpents (Leptophina, Bell), they all not only drink, but also moisten 

 the tongue, which, as this organ is not situated immediately in the 

 cavity of the mouth, become in the serpents two different acts *. Spe- 

 cimens of this serpent in my possession changed the skin every third 

 or fourth month, a process which takes place in all the Indian ser- 

 pents several times during the year. The Hamadryas is very fierce, 

 and is always ready not only to attack but to pursue when opposed; 

 while the Cophias, the Vipera, the Naja, and the Bungarus, merely 

 defend themselves, which done, they always retreat, provided no 

 further provocation is offered. The natives of India assert, that in- 



* M. Schlegel is of opinion that serpents never drink. (Essai sur la Physiogn. 

 des Serpens, Par tie Generate.) As mentioned above, I have had opportunities of 

 ascertaining that the greater number of Indian serpents are very fond of water, 

 a fact which I am aware has also been observed in the African serpents by the 

 eminent naturalist Dr. A. Smith, whose valuable discoveries, which he is at present 

 engaged in publishing, will bring to light many facts, of which we are at present 

 in almost total ignorance concerning the habits of animals, particularly those of the 

 Reptiles. 



