SERPENTS. 377 



except when irritated, or to occasioii;ilIy diiiik ; at night it is active and restless. The 

 front of the glass cage containing those animals at the Zoological (ianhns in London 

 has to be painted, that the serpents may not kill themselves by striking against the 

 otherwise invisible obstacle when irritated by visitors. . 



In its general form the Xtija diffeis from other snakes, excepting the related 

 Opliiophagns^ the superficially similar T ropldonotus macrothabmis, and a few Austra- 

 lian forms, in possessing a dilatable neck, the ribs of which are greatly elongated and 

 flattened. The reptile, when excited, is capable of expanding the neck to a width 

 several times exceeding that of the head, tlie cervical scales being much more numer- 

 ous across the back of the thus formed 'hood,' as the expanded ixn-tion is called, 

 than they are further down the body. The hood, in the ordinary form, is ornamented 

 with a pair of dark spots on its upper side, which, being connected by a ci'oss-bar, bear 

 a strong resemblance to a pair of spectacles, from which fact the animal is not infre- 

 quently known as the spectacle-snake. The explanation of the origin of tliis orna- 

 ment as given by the supei-stitious Buddhists, who always treat the reptile with the 

 greatest reverence and behold its maltreatment with horror, is that Buddha, weary 

 with his labors, was lying asleep in the direct rays of the sun, when, seeing which, a 

 cobra so elevated himself and expanded his hood as to shield the deity. On waking 

 up, Buddha was so pleased with the act that he promised to repay the considerate rep- 

 tile, which promise, however, he soon forgot. It seems that at this time a kite preyed 

 on the cobras, and to such an extent that a total extinction of the race seemed inevit- 

 able ; in despair, and as a last resort, the cobra ventured to remind the god of his 

 promise, and begged protection from the enemy of his race. Buddha then placed the 

 black marks on his hood, which so surprised and frightened the kites as to render the 

 cobras forever free from their attacks. This attributed act of protection has so in- 

 fluenced the ignorant natives that they do not dare protect themselves from an animal 

 which is yearly killing off thousands of their race. 



The fangs of the JS'aja are long and grooved, having the foramen at their extrem- 

 ity so situated that the slightest scratch will prove inoculative. Behind the fangs 

 are a few ordinary teeth. In coloring the reptile varies greatly ; it may be of a uni- 

 form brownish-olive above, with white, black-edged 'spectacles;' uniform d.ark brown 

 with black spectacles ; blackish-brown with a pair of white spots in place of the spec- 

 tacles, or it may even have no marking on the neck whatever; or a uniform l)lack, 

 with a single white ornamental spot, and white or black below. These differences in 

 coloration and ornamentation belong to a single species, which, as Giinther says, " is 

 only too common all over the continent of the Indian region." 



The only relatives of this animal arc the Kaja spiitatrix, a black, unornamcntcd 

 form, and the asp {JSfaja haje) of the Egyptian divinities, an animal found in nortbern 

 Africa, and called by the residents Spurge-schlange, because of the peculiar habit 

 attributed to it of forcibly ejecting its venom, which may often reach the object of 

 the serpent's anger, though it be some little distance away. Mr. Cumming, the Afri- 

 can explorer, speaks of suffering great pain from the poison which one spat in his eye. 

 That this is an ordinary habit of the snake is rather doubted by some naturalists. 

 The asp is described as being generally slow in its movements, though, when irritated, 

 it flies at its adversary, defending itself with great energy. It is a good climber, and 

 quite often is seen in the water, where it is perfectly at home, which habits are those 

 of the cobra, an animal which it resembles also in coloration and size. 



Of snake-charming, of snake-charmers, and of Indian jugglery, a volume might be 



