THE RATTLESNAKE 137 



expansion of the body just behind the head. This 

 flattened expansion is produced by the sudden eleva- 

 tion of the ribs there situated, which stretch out the 

 skin of either side as they rise. On the back of this 

 hood there is a peculiar mark, roughly, like a pair of 

 spectacles, hence the second trivial name of the 

 creature. 



It is the cobra which is chosen by the so-called 

 "snake charmers " of both Egypt and India for their 

 performances. The Egyptian ones sometimes pretend 

 to change the serpent into a rod, and according to a 

 French naturalist (G. St. Hilaire) this appearance can 

 be produced by giving a strong squeeze to the neck, 

 so inducing a convulsive rigidity, from which it soon 

 recovers. It need hardly be said that snake charmers 

 always carefully extract the fangs of their snakes before 

 playing with them. The danger of otherwise touching 

 such animals was sadly illustrated a few years ago by the 

 act of a keeper of the Zoological Gardens of London, 

 who incautiously took hold of one in his hand, and was 

 immediately bitten. Before any effective aid could be 

 rendered, the unfortunate man was a corpse. The 

 Indian cobra attains more than six feet in length, and is 

 the most generally fatal of all Indian serpents, being so 

 common and widespread. It is found from the shores of 

 the Caspian and southern China to the end of the Indian 

 Archipelago. A second Indian kind, the snake- eating 

 snake, is far larger and fiercer than the first. It may 

 be fourteen feet in length, and is said actually to pursue 

 and attack men. Fortunately it is much less common 

 than the smaller species, though its distribution is as 

 widespread. 



The African cobra ranges from Egypt to the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and that it was well known in northern 



