THE SNAKES 295 



may be seen among all Cobras in a state of perfect vigor. 

 It is commonly enacted by the king Cobra, an extremely 

 bold creature, refusing to take a bluff and, on the whole 

 the most dangerous in habits and venomous properties of 

 all poisonous snakes. Concerning this snake in a wild 

 state there are many stories relating to hostility toward 

 man — aggressiveness carried to the point of actual at- 

 tacks. Judging from the habits of captive specimens 

 the writer is inclined to believe such statements. 



When biting the Cobra displays a different series of 

 movements than those of the long-fanged viperine 

 snakes. The latter, when striking, throw the jaws open 

 to an enormous angle, the fangs literally stabbing the ob- 

 ject aimed at. At the instant of penetration there is a 

 biting movement to imbed the fangs as deeply as possi- 

 ble, but the two processes are practically simultaneous 

 and the effect to the eye is simply a lightning-like dart of 

 the head. With the Cobras, such actions would be pro- 

 ductive of little result owing to the shortness of the 

 fangs. When the Cobra's jaws reach the offending 

 object they grasp it tenaciously, then the peculiar chew- 

 ing motion characteristic of snakes advances the fangs in 

 a fashion producing a series of wounds from each. The 

 duration of the biting movements may be from two to 

 five seconds, this depending upon the reptile's irrita- 

 bility. A man wearing ordinary summer undercloth- 

 ing and a thin suit might consider his limbs fairly 

 well protected from a Cobra's fangs unless the gar- 

 ments fitted tightly and the snake secured a firm 

 hold. A viperine snake, to the contrary, in strik- 

 ing for a man's leg could drive its long fangs through 

 several thicknesses of clothing and inflict a fatal 

 stab. Thus we understand there is much differ- 

 ence between the stabbing stroke of the long-fanged 



