SNAKES 349 



fully expanded and swaying to and fro in graceful 

 curves. The only unsightly feature that is apt to 

 disfigure the picture is owing to the fact that cobras 

 often are greatly infested by ticks, who fasten on the 

 skin between the scales, and, when fully distended, 

 give the surface an unpleasantly tuberculate look. 

 The gradations of colour on the individual scales 

 are often very beautiful, and resemble those in the 

 petals of some flowers in which a paler margin 

 surrounds a more deeply coloured central area. 

 The assumption of the erect position normally 

 precedes striking, but it may occur merely from 

 attention, and without any immediate malevolence. 

 The process of striking is usually preceded by a 

 series of short, rapid, jerking movements in which 

 the head sways backward and forward to the 

 accompaniment of loud hissing of a malignantly 

 snarling character. 



The habit that cobras have of sitting up when 

 excited is of great use to the snake-charmers, as it 

 affords great facilities for securing them with safety. 

 It is quite astonishing to see how easily they can 

 be dealt with by an expert. When venom was 

 being collected in the Zoological Garden at Alipur, 

 there were often three or four cobras loose on the 

 floor of the laboratory waiting their turn for treat- 

 ment. The common old Indian method of 

 collecting was always used. All the apparatus 

 necessary in it is a mussel-shell, and a strip of the 



