THE MUNGOOSE 95 



In these degenerate days the mungoose does not 

 perform such venturesome exploits ; nevertheless, he 

 still has a " bold and sanguinary disposition." Stern- 

 dale's tame mungoose once attacked a greyhound. 

 Although in the wild state he does nothing so quixotic 

 as to assail large snakes, the mungoose is a match for 

 the cobra. The natives of India declare that, when 

 bitten by his adversary, he trots off into the jungle and 

 there finds a root or plant which acts as an antidote to 

 poison, so that he may claim to be the discoverer of the 

 anti-venom treatment for snake-bite. We may term 

 this the anti-venom theory to account for the immunity 

 of the mungoose. It bears the stamp of antiquity, but 

 is unsupported by any evidence. In this respect it 

 is not much worse off than some modern zoological 

 theories. The other hypothesis we may call the- 

 prevention-is-better-than-cure theory. It attributes 

 the immunity of the mungoose to his remarkable 

 agility. He does not allow the cobra to " have a bite," 

 and even if the latter does succeed in striking, the 

 chances are that its fangs will be turned aside by the 

 erected hair of the mungoose or fail to penetrate his 

 tough skin. Blanford states that although it has been 

 repeatedly proved that the little mammal dies if 

 properly bitten by a venomous snake, it is less sus- 

 ceptible to poison than other animals. He adds : "I 

 have seen a mungoose eat up the head and poison 

 glands of a large cobra, so the poison must be 

 harmless to the mucous membrane of the former 

 animal." 



Eight species of mungoose occur in the Indian 



