NAIA. 



NAIADS. 



nun 



fang* anterior, behind which are the maxillary teeth. Neck dilatable. 

 Body thick, uruooth, imbricated with smooth calf* dispotwd in oblique 

 rows. Tail abort, covered with scuta and scutella, iU apex acute. 

 (Cantor.) 



H. opkiopkagtu (Cantor). Above olive-green, girt with black sagittal 

 trie; abdomen glaucous, marbled with black. The Hindustanee 

 name is Sunkr Chomr. 



It is a native of Bengal 



Dr. Cantor thus describes the habit*, the effect of the poison, and 

 the history of this serpent : 



"The llamadryat, like the Bungarut, J/i/drut, and Jfydrophii, has 

 a few maxillary teeth behind the poison-fang*, and thus, like the 

 latter, connects the venomous serpents with isolated poUon-faugs to 

 the harmless, which possess a complete row of maxillary teeth. 



"Of the terrestrial venomous serpents, the Bungarut is chiefly 

 characterised by a distribution of the teeth similar to that of the 

 Ifamailryai, which, also partaking of the chief characteristic of the 

 genus A'aja, namely, that of forming a hood or disc, constitutes an 

 immediate link between the genera Bunyana and Naja. 



<l In consequence of the strong resemblance in the general appear- 

 ance between the Naja and the Hamadryat, when first my attention 

 became attracted to the latter, I thought I could refer this serpent to 

 that genus ; and it was not until I was able to examine a specimen 

 whose poison-fangs were untouched (those of the first specimens I saw 

 having been drawn by the natives, who are greatly afraid of this 

 erpent), that I discovered the maxillary teeth behind the poison- 

 ings. 



" JI. ophiojihaynt differs from the A'aja Iripudiant : 1, By its 

 maxillary teeth ; 2, by the strongly-developed spines on the os occi- 

 pitale inferius ; 3, by the integuments covering the head ; 4, by the 

 integuments covering the abdominal surface of the tail ; 5, by its 

 colour ; 6, by its size. According to the natives, the Hamadryai feeds 

 chiefly upon other serpents : in one I dissected I found remains of a 

 good-sized monitor, which fact may account for its arboreal habits, as 

 1 have in Bengal, along the banks of the rivers, observed numbers of 

 those large lizards among the branches of trees watching for birds. 



" The power of abstaining from food, generally speaking, so charac- 

 teristic of the Serpents, is but in a comparatively small degree possessed 

 by this species ; the most protracted starvation amounts to a period 

 of about one month ; while the Vipera elegant, the Naja tripudiant, 

 and the Buoyant! annularu, have, without inconvenience, been con- 

 fined in cages without any food for more than ten months. Two 

 specimens of the Ifamailryai, in my possesfiion, were regularly fed by 

 giving them a serpent, no matter whether venomous or not, every 

 fortnight. As soon as thin food is brought near the serpent begins to 

 hiss loudly, and, expanding the hood, rises two or three feet; and 

 retaining this attitude, as if to take a sure aim, watching the move- 

 ments of the prey, darts upon it in the same manner as the A'aja 

 iriputliaiu does. When the victim is killed by poison, and by degree* 

 wallowed, the act is followed by a lethargic state, lasting" for about 

 twelve hour*. Such of the other Indian venomous serpents, the 

 habits of which I have bad opportunity to study from life, show 

 themselves much inclined to avoid other serpents, however ready the} 

 are to attack men or animals when provoked or driven by hunger ; 

 and I am not aware of any other of those serpents being recorded ax 

 preying upon its own kind. A short time ago however, during my 

 sojourn at the Cape of Good Hope, I received from high authority the 

 following fact, which throws a light upon the habits of the A'aja of 

 Southern Africa, one of which, when being captured, threw up tin- 

 body of a Vipera arietant ( Y. brufhyurut, Cuvier), which bore marks 

 of having been submitted to the process of digestion. 



"The Jlamadryai, like the greater number of Indian serpent-, 

 evinces a great partiality to water. With the exception of the Tree- 

 DerpenU (Leptophina, Bell), they all not only drink, but also moisten 

 the tongue, which, as this organ is not situated immediately in the 

 cavity of the mouth, become in the serpents two different acts, 

 Specimens of this serpent in my possession changed the skin every 

 third or fourth month, a process which takes place in all the Indian 

 serpents several times during the year. The J/amatlryat is very fierce, 

 and is always ready not only to attack but to pursue when opposed ; 

 while the t'o/.Ai'<w, the Vipera, the A'aja, and the JBunganu merely 

 defend themselves, which done, they always retreat, provided no 

 further provocation is offered. The natives of India assert that indi- 

 viduals ire found upwards of 12 feet in length a statement probably 

 not exaggerated, as I have myself seen specimens from 8 to 10 feet in 

 length, and from 6 to 8 inches in circumference, I have often heard 

 it asserted that ' Cobras ' (which name is naturally enough given to 

 every hooded serpent) have been met with of an enormous size, but I 

 strongly doubt their belonging to the genus A'oja. Among a consider- 

 able number which have come under my observation, I never saw any 

 exceeding 6 to 6 feet in length, while the common size is about 4 feet 

 Some time before I (Uncovered the Uamadryat, I was favoured by 

 J. W. Grant, Esq., of the Hon. Company's Civil Service, with an inter- 

 esting description of a gigantic hooded serpent he had observed in the 

 upper provinces, and which, he remarked, was not a A'aja. By 

 inspection this gentleman denied the llamadryat to be identical with 

 the above-mentioned. 



" The natives deecribs another hooded serpent, which is said to 



attain a much larger size than the Uamadryat, and which, to conclude 

 from the vernacular name, ' Stony Choar,' is perhaps another nearly 



;illi. il K|li-cirs. 



"The fresh poison of the llamadryat is a pellucid tasteless fluid, in 

 consistence like a thin solution of gum arable in water ; it reddens 

 slightly litmus paper, which is also the case with the fresh poison of 

 the Copkiat riridit, Vijitra elegant, Naja Iripudiani, Bunganu an*u 

 larit, and Buoganu carultut. When kept for some time it acts much 

 stronger upon litmus ; but after being kept it loses considerably, if 

 not entirely, its deleterious effects. 



" From a series of experiments upon living animals, the effects of thin 

 poison come nearest to those produced by that of the A'aja tripudiatu, 

 although it appears to act less quickly. The shortest period within 

 which this poison proved fatal to a fowl was fourteen minutes, whilst 

 a dog expired in two hours eighteen minutes after being bitten. It 

 should however be observed that the experiments were made during 

 the cold season of the year." 



NAI'AUACE^E, otherwise called A'aiadttr, A'aiadt, ffaiatlei, and 

 Fluriala, are Aquatic Plants forming a small natural order of Endo- 

 gens, remarkable for the unusual simplicity of their organisation. As 

 they live constantly below water they require no epidermis, and there- 

 fore the leaves consist of nothing more than the mesopblcoum, or 

 central stratum of parenchyma. Their sexes ore usually separate, 

 and sometimes on different plants. Their floral envelopes are either 

 deficient or in the form of a membranous tunic or cup, or consist of 

 scales, to the face of which anthers or carpels adhere. The latter arc 

 either solitary or in pairs or fours, 1 -seeded, 1 -celled, with the ovulr 

 generally pendulous from the central suture. Their fruit is usually 

 indehiscent and nut-like, but sometimes it is 2-valvcd or irregularly 

 ruptured. The embryo has no albumen, and consists of a very large 

 radicle, usually folded up, and containing a slender plumule lying in 

 the cavity so formed. 



These plants are inconspicuous objects, inhabiting both fresh and 

 salt water in all parts of the world. In this country, the genera 1'utn 

 mogcton, a common inhabitant of rivers and ponds, elevating its little 

 brown spikes of flowers above water during the time of fertilisation ; 

 /.annirli'l/in, a thread-shaped plant, with minute axillary flowers, con- 

 stantly submersed ; and Zottcra, or Sea-Wrack, with long narrow riband- 

 like leaves, inhabiting actuaries of the sea, are the most common. 



This order, from which Zotteracea is now separated, contains 9 

 genera and 16 species. Its relations are with llydrochari- 

 Jnncaginacetf, and Alyte. [ZOSTEHACE.E ; POTAMOOETOH ; ZAXM- 



CIIKI.U.V ; C.U'1 IMA.] 



Xottera nun ihti. 



1, & apatite containing male and female flowers ; 2, a female ; 3, an anther ; 

 4, an embryo. 



NAl'ADJi, NAI'ADES, orNAYADKS.aodUNIONin.'K.a family 

 of fresh-water Conchiferous MoUutca,, comprising the genera I'm". 

 llyna, Anodonta^ or Anoilon, Iridina, tfoooeondflltu, M//retopiu, 

 Mhtria, and MMeria. The Freah- Water Muscles, as tho member* 

 of this family are popularly called, are very closely allied to the 

 Marine Musclex, and differ chiefly in the structure of the foot of tho 

 luiinml, which, in the tribe before us, is greatly ilcvi-lupctl jn .linn n 

 sions, and is not provided with a byxrnl groove. Mr. Anthony, an 

 American conchologist, however asserts that under peculiar circum- 

 stances certain North American species do spin a byssus l>th in th- 

 young and adult states. As in several of the genera of M'i/, !',/< Hi. 



