3DQ NATURAL HISTORY. 



They rob hen-roosts and swallow the eggs whole. They prefer taking their food at dusk or in the 

 night. They are said to drink a great deal of water ; but it is certain they will live weeks, even 

 months, in captivity without touching food or water. They go into water readily, and swim well, 

 but are essentially terrestrial Snakes. They can climb and occasionally ascend trees in search of 

 food ; nevertheless, they have been found swimming. Usually they ai'e found in the roofs of huts, 

 holes in walls, fowl-houses, old ruins, under logs of wood, in cellars, old brick-kilns, and old masonry 

 of stone, brickwork, or mud. Such are the common dwelling-places of these reptiles, where they 

 are frequently disturbed by men, who, stepping on or inadvertently disturbing and touching them, 

 receive their death-wound. The Cobra is most deadly, and its poison, when thoroughly inoculated 

 by a fresh and vigorous Snake, is quickly fatal. Paralysis of the nerve centres takes place, and 

 death occurs with great rapidity, sometimes in a few minutes, especially where the fangs, having 

 penetrated a vein, inoculate the poison immediately into the venous circulation. The number of 

 deaths caused yearly in India by these Snakes is perfectly appalling. The cases in which recovery 

 occurs are very few. Treatment appears to be of little avail unless it is almost immediate ; and then 

 in the case of a genuine bite there is but little hope of saving life. 



With regard to the natives, the muntra, or spell, is far more potent in their ideas than any 

 drug, and to such they trust when generally bitten. How frequently these fail, the records of any 

 civil station in India will prove ; and it is to be feared that the more material remedies of the 

 physician are scarcely more potent for good. 



The Cobras are the favourites of the snake-catchers, and it is astonishing with what ease and 

 freedom they are seized and handled by these men even when in possession of their fangs. The snake- 

 catchers render them temporarily harmless by cutting out the poison fangs, but these are quickly re- 

 produced iinless, as most generally happens, with the fang all the reserve fangs and germs are removed, 

 in which case the Snake is harmless for life. The Cobra has the power of raising its head, neck, and 

 much of its body for awhile, so that it stands, as it were, on the tail. It moves to and fro from side to 

 side in a very graceful manner. Their elegant movements in the erect attitude which they assume 

 with the hood distended, as they follow the movements of the snake-charmer's hands, make them an 

 object of wonder as well as fear to all, and the superstitions of the natives about them are endless. 



Fayrer remarks that the Cobra is an object of superstitious veneration and awe to the 

 Hindoos, in whose mythological histories it takes a prominent place. " In a religion that depre- 

 cates the wrath of a cruel and destructive power, by worshipping and propitiating the Deity in whom 

 that power is vested, it is natural that the type of destruction and the incarnation of evil, as. 

 represented in this reptile, should be regarded with peculiar deference." 



Besides being found on the mainland the Cobra is an inhabitant of the Philippine Islands. 



The Egyptian Cobra, or Naja,* is the Aspic of the ancients. Its figure is sculptured on the 

 portals cf many ancient temples, as an emblem of the protecting goddess of the world and faithful 

 guardian of their fields. It was, in the time of the great expedition to Egypt under Napoleon, very 

 common in ditches and fields. 



Snake-charmers, the successors and perhaps descendents of the " psylles antiques," so celebrated 

 in the writings of Pliny, and rich in the tradition of an art already old before Africa became 

 Christian, say they can change a Naja into a stick, and make it counterfeit death. When they desire 

 to produce this result they spit down the Snake's throat, make it shut its mouth, lay it down on 

 the ground, and give it the order, placing the hand at the same time on the head. The Serpent 

 becomes stiff meanwhile, and falls into a kind of catalepsy. They awaken them by rubbing the 

 tail between the hands. 



The Cobras of South Africa belong to the species Naja Haje, and are the "Geel Copell " of 

 the Dutch colonists. They are from three to six feet in length, and are entirely yellow or 

 purplish-brown, both colours sometimes existing in some individuals. 



THE EING HALS SLANG, t 



This poisonous Snake is often seen in menageries and in zoological gardens, and is remark- 

 able for its glossy dark tints, fine dark brown eye, and for the dull blackish colour of the head 

 * Naja haje. ) Naja hccmachates=Sepcdon kcemachates. 



