342 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



cage, which showed no terror of the snake, and the snake took 

 no notice of the rat ; the gentleman, after watching them for 

 the whole evening, went to bed, and when he inspected the 

 cage the next morning, the snake was dead, and the muscular 

 part of its back eaten by the rat. ' ' 



The rattle consists of a number of horny joints which when 

 shaken produce the sound by which it is known, and which 

 gives notice of the proximity of the snake. 



' ' The black snake of Central America, ' ' says 



The Black ' * 



Snake and the Mr. Byam, " is a deadly enemy to the rattlesnake ; 

 Rattlesnake. j t j s next j n s j ze to t ^ e ^ OSi ^ but muc h more agile ; 



very vicious and ill-tempered, but not poisonous ; it measures 

 from nine to ten feet, and whenever they meet a pitched battle 

 ensues, which, if tolerably equal in size, ends in favour of the 

 black snake. It is not known whether they bite each other, 

 but, at all events, the poison of the venomous serpent has no 

 effect upon his adversary, although a rattlesnake bit itself one 

 day, and died of the wound. A black and a rattlesnake were 

 each descending opposite banks to drink at a stream a yard 

 broad ; the black fellow sprang over the stream, and they in- 

 stantly joined in conflict. They twined together, and the 

 black snake had evidently most muscular power, so that in 

 half an hour the rattlesnake was dead, and the black snake 

 swallowed him, gliding into the thicket, double the size he 

 was when he came out of it. ' ' 



The Cobra. The Cobra is one of the most venomous of the 

 snakes of the East. It is common all over India and Ceylon 

 and the Islands of the Archipelago. It attains to a length of 

 five or six feet, and feeds on birds, small animals, lizards, frogs, 

 toads, and fishes, in the pursuit of which it will ascend trees 

 and swim the sea. Notwithstanding its dangerous character, 

 the Cobra is the chosen subject of the Indian snake-charmer, 

 who keeps it in a basket, until the time for the performance 

 and then allows it to creep out to the sounds of a native fife, 

 upon hearing which the Cobra immediately expands its beauti- 



