500 



Reptiles. 



THE HOODED SEEPENT, OE COBEA DI 

 CAPELLO, (Naja trvpudiam,) 



CALLED by tlie Indians the Nagao, is from three to 

 eight feet long, with two long fangs in the tipper jaw. 

 It has a broad neck, and a mark of dark brown on the 

 forehead ; which, when viewed frontwise, looks like a 

 pair of spectacles ; but behind, like the head of a cat. 

 The eyes are fierce and full of fire ; the head is small, 

 and the nose flat, though covered with very large scales, 

 of a yellowish ash-colour : the skin is white, and the 

 large tumour on the neck is flat and covered with oblong 

 smooth scales. This serpent is extremely dreaded by 

 the British residents in India, as its bite has hitherto 

 been found to be incurable, and the sufferer generally 

 dies in half an hour. 



