THE COBEA DE CAPELLA. 327 



hopes to deceive the traveller, and draw him within its reach. Some 

 species emit, when they are frightened, a peculiar odour, strong 

 enough to indicate their presence when they have found their way 

 into the huts. There are also several varieties of Cobras (the Naja- 

 Haje of Dr. Smith). When they are attacked, they raise their head 

 a foot from the ground, extend their neck in a threatening manner, 

 dart their tongue to and fro with extreme rapidity, while rage 

 glares in their fixed and glassy eyes. 



Different serpents of the genus Dendrophis, as, for example, the 

 Green Climber (Bucephalus viridis), scale the trees in search of birds 

 and their eggs, to which they are curiously partial. The Bucephalus 

 is armed with fangs ; nevertheless it is not venomous, and these fangs, 

 which turn inwards, are only of use in preventing the retrogression 

 of their prey, only one part of which is enclosed between its jaws. 



The Cobra or Naja (Vipera naja), the "Hooded Snake" and 

 " Spectacle Snake " of the English, the " Cobra de Capella " of the 

 Portuguese, must be classed among those serpents which are the most 

 dangerous through their violence, and the subtle character of their 

 venom. It is easily recognized by its faculty of dilating the back 

 and sides of the neck, under the influence of fear or rage, to which it 

 owes its popular appellation ; the elevated skin of the back of the neck 

 presenting much the appearance of a hood (capellci). It is usually 

 three or four feet in length ; of a pale reddish-brown colour above, and 

 bluish or yellowish-white below ; with a characteristic mark on the 

 back of the neck closely resembling the figure of an old-fashioned pair 

 of spectacles. It is a sluggish creature, and easily killed, but its 

 poison is of the most fatal quality, causing death within two hours. 

 It frequents the purlieus of human residences in India, and occasion- 

 ally penetrates into the very houses, attracted apparently by the 

 domestic poultry, and by the humidity of the wells and drainage. 

 In Ceylon, the natives, if journeying abroad by night, carry a small 

 stick with a loose iron ring, whose strange metallic sound, as they 

 strike it on the earth, frightens the cobra from their path. The 

 poison is harmless if taken internally. It is secreted in a large gland 



