THE PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF POISONOUS SNAKES 61 
Snake-charmers, of whom there are many in Egypt, always 
employ Naja haje for their performances. They know how to 
capture it, and tear out its fangs by making it bite a bundle of rags. 
This species rarely lives more than six or eight months in 
captivity, and is quite untamable. It is fond of bathing, and 
remains in the water for hours together. 
“The Ancient Egyptians,” write Duméril and Bibron,! “are 
known to have worshipped the Naja, which they regarded as the 
protector of their crops. They allowed it to live and multiply 
among the cultivated lands, which they apparently entrusted to 
the care of their tutelary guardian, recognising that this snake freed 
them from the ravages of the rats, the immense number of which 
otherwise caused terrible destruction and even actual famine. It was, 
therefore, from motives of gratitude that the Egyptian Cobra was 
venerated in this way; that its image was hung up in the temples ; 
that its skin was embalmed; and that its effigy, so easy to recognise 
and to reproduce roughly, was graven or sculptured on the stones 
of their monuments. This is the explanation of the fact that paint- 
ings representing N. haje are frequently reproduced in hieroglyphics 
and on Egyptian sarcophagi.” 
The Naja was the tutelary deity of the temples, whose duty was 
to prevent the profane from entering. Thus, in one of the crypts 
of Denderah we find represented Serpent-genie, figures with a head 
like that of a Naja supported by the body of a man, with the hands 
armed with enormous cutlasses (Mariette, Dendérah, p. 91, 1875). 
(2) N. flava.—Same arrangement of scales. Neck dilatable. 
200—227 ventrals ; 50—67 subcaudals. 
Colour very variable, yellowish, reddish, brown, or black, uniform 
or with light spots ; sometimes a black transverse band on the neck. 
Total length, 1,470 millimetres ; tail 230. 
Habitat : South Africa. 
! Erpétologie générale, t. vii. 
