12 VENOMOUS SNAKES AND THE PHENOMENA OF THEIR VENOMS 



fishes. Their fondness for rats makes some of them extremely dangerous, as they 

 often invade the human abode for their prey. There are about 150 species, grouped 

 into a large number of genera. 



Genus NAJA Laurenti. 

 Naja Laurenti, Synops. Rept., p. 90, 1768. 



The pair of large and grooved poison fangs are separated by an interspace from 

 one to three small, faintly grooved teeth near the posterior end of the maxillary 

 bone. Pupil round. Head but slightly distinct from neck. Neck covered with 

 more numerous scales, and can be expanded into a hood by the spreading and 

 forwarding motion of the ribs. Scales are smooth and pitless; vertebral row not 

 enlarged. Anal entire, subcaudal divided. No loreal. Postfrontal bone present. 

 Naja tripudians. (Plate 2, C; plate 3, A, B, c; plate 4, A, b.) 



This dangerous tropical snake is known as the Cobra di capello and is much 

 dreaded on account of its powerful venom and its audacity. Oviparous, producing 

 about twenty elliptical soft-shelled eggs of the size of a pigeon's egg. Coloration 

 varies much. The typical form is yellowish to dark brown with a black-and-white 

 spectacle-like mark on dorsal side of hood and a black-and-white spot on each 

 side of the corresponding under surface. Other specimens are uniform pale 

 brown to blackish-gray, without the spectacle pattern on the hood. Length usually 

 4 to 5 feet, or even over 6 feet, the tail 9 inches or more. It resorts to places 

 affording easy retirement, such as heaps of stones, stacks of wood, ruins, and 

 deserted hills of termites, and loves the neighborhood of streams. It visits inhab- 

 ited houses to catch rats. 



The range of habitation is very wide, from Trans-Caspia to China, including 

 all southern Asia, and to Formosa and the Philippines. Many observations show 

 that cobras live in pairs, but otherwise do not take much notice of each other or 

 of other kinds of snakes. They avoid the hot sunshine and hunt late in the after- 

 noon or evening. There are many varieties of this species, of which several will 

 be described below. 



Naja tripudians typica: A spectacle-shaped white imprint on the most dilated 

 portion of the dorsal surface of the hood; ventral side transversely banded with 

 one or more dark lines. India, Bengal, Ceylon. 



Naja tripudians cceca : Uniform pale brown to deep gray color, without pattern 

 on the hood, and one or more dark bands across the anterior ventral surface. Trans- 

 Caspian region, India, Bengal, Java. 



Naja tripudians fasciata : Brown, black, or olive color, with more or less light 

 transverse bands; a [white spectacle bordered with black is on the neck, and a 

 black spot on each side, above the mark. Bengal, India, Cochin China, southern 

 China, Hainan, Cambodia, Siam, Malay Peninsula. 



Naja tripudians sputatrix: Black or deep brown with a yellow white-rimmed 

 spectacle on the side of the head and neck. Southern China, Burma, Malay Pen- 

 insula, Chusan Islands, Sumatra, Formosa, Indo-China. 



Naja tripudians leucodira: Brown or black without mark on the hood 



Naja tripudians miolepis: Brown or black; around the head and neck yellowish; 

 no mark on the head. Sarawak, Labuan, Borneo. 



Naja samarensis. 



Black above, sometimes yellowish-black; pale brown to yellow on ventral sur- 

 face; neck black. Grows to 3 feet. Philippine Islands. 



Naja bungarus s. Ophiophagus elaps s. Hamadryas. "Sunkerchor" or Skull-breaker." (Plate 2, b; 

 plate 5, A, B.) 



This is the king cobra or snake-eating snake, or hamadryad. It has a well- 

 expanding hood. Coloration variable, from yellowish to black, with or without 

 an olive gloss. More or less distinct dark bands or rings may be seen in some 



