280 COMMON BEASTS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



furnish an example of hereditary transmission of 

 acquired peculiarity. There is nothing to show that 

 mungooses were originally endowed with inherent 

 immunity from the action of the snake-venom, but 

 it is certain that each successive generation of them 

 must, under normal conditions, have acquired a 

 greater or less degree of exemption, and, therefore, 

 if it turn out that nowadays inherent immunity is 

 present in any degree, the evidence will favour a 

 belief that it has arisen under the influence of the 

 exposure of many successive generations to conditions 

 leading to acquired peculiarity. 



By a curious coincidence mungooses not only 

 are relatively exempt from the toxic action of 

 snake-venom, but sometimes are strangely like 

 snakes. Whilst walking down my garden one 

 morning my attention was suddenly and un- 

 pleasantly attracted by what seemed to be the head 

 and neck of a large snake projecting over the long 

 grass of a dry ditch at a little distance from where 

 I was. I watched it carefully, as the attitude and 

 brownish-yellow colouring were very suggestive of 

 a cobra. The object presently disappeared from 

 view, but soon again emerged, and then, by the 

 aid of a field-glass, was resolved into the head 

 and forequarters of a mungoose, who was sitting 

 up on end and searching his environment in quest 

 of prey. In the garden where this took place there 

 was quite a colony of mungooses inhabiting burrows 



