154 HOURS WITH NATURE. 



snakes, we proceed to the examination of those in the ve- 

 nomous snakes of India, taking the cobra, the deadliest of 

 poisonous reptiles, as the subject of our study. On examin- 

 ing the mouth of a cobra (keutiah or gakhura), we come 

 across the following peculiarities : two slightly curved 

 fangs on each side of the upper jaw ; slight depressions 

 in the lower lip for the reception of the fangs when the 

 mouth is shut ; absence of any teeth, except one or two 

 rudimentry ones, behind the fangs. Also the fangs are not 

 bare, but enveloped in a fold of mucous membrane ; 

 they occupy the same places as the canine or cutting teeth 

 of dogs, cats, or other carnivorous animals. Unlike 

 those in a non-venomous snake, there are only four rows 

 of teeth in the cobra, two in the upper, and two in the 

 lower jaw. If, now, the skin of the cheek be dissected 

 away, from the nostril in front to the angle of the mouth 

 behind, a comparatively large flask-shaped body, some- 

 what resembling the inner core of an onion, will be ex- 

 posed ; it is the poison gland of the snake. A small 

 duct conveys the death-dealing fluid to an orifice at the 

 base of the grooved fang, down which it flows into the 

 wound which the animal inflicts. It may be mentioned 

 in passing that expert and wily snake-men, the so-called 

 snake-charmers, with a view to destroy the communication 

 between the gland and the fang, cut through the duct 

 instead of removing the fang, as is more commonly done. 

 The dodge is very clever indeed, and serves its purpose 

 admirably 4hat of deluding the ignorant and credulous 

 public. It has been indicated above that there are one 



