THE COBRA 93 



a great animosity to snakes and are prone to attack 

 any that they may come across. We must further 

 bear in mind that even if the cobra does bite his adver- 

 sary, this will avail him nothing, for the bite itself, 

 though painful, is not sufficiently so to put a large 

 animal hors de combat immediately. It does not profit 

 the cobra greatly that his adversary dies after having 

 killed him. 



Thus, it seems to me that neither the hood nor the 

 venom is protective. Indeed, it is difficult to under- 

 stand how it is that the poison fangs have been evolved. 

 The venom, of course, soon renders a small victim 

 quiescent and so makes the swallowing of it easier than 

 would otherwise be the case. But non- venomous 

 snakes experience no difficulty in swallowing their 

 prey. Moreover, in order that natural selection can 

 explain the genesis and perfecting of an organ it is not 

 sufficient to show that the perfected organ is of use. 

 We must demonstrate that from its earliest beginning 

 the organ in question has ail along given its possessor 

 sufficient advantage in the struggle for existence to 

 effect his preservation when his fellows have been 

 killed. 



