UO THE COBRA DI CAPELLO. 



THE BANDED BUNGARUS is a native of India, where, from its habits, it is sometimes 

 called the Rock-Serpent. The name Bungarus is a most barbarous Latinization of the 

 native word Bungarum-Pamma, which, though not euphonious, has at all events the 

 advantage of being indigenous, and might have been spared the further distortion of 

 being wrested into a sham classical form. In this reptile the head is rather flat and short, 

 and the muzzle is rounded. The upper jaws are furnished with grooved fangs. 



The colour of the Banded Bungarus is very variable, but always consists of some light 

 hue, relieved by bands or rings of jetty black along its length. 



AN allied species, the SEEPENT-EATING HAMADRYAS (Hamadryas elaps), is notable for 

 the peculiarity from which it derives its name. It feeds almost wholly on reptiles, 

 devouring the lizards that inhabit the same country, and also living largely on Snakes. 

 Dr. Cantor says of 'this Serpent that it cannot bear starvation nearly so well as most 

 reptiles, requiring to be fed at least once a month. " Two specimens in my possession 

 were regularly fed by giving them a Serpent, no matter whether venomous or not, eveiy 

 fortnight. As soon as this food is brought near, the Serpent begins to hiss loudly, and 

 expanding its hood, rises two or three feet, and retaining this attitude as if to take a sure 

 aim, watching the movements of the prey, darts upon it in the same manner as the naja 

 tripudians (?' e. the cobra) does. "When the victim is killed by poison, and by degrees 

 swallowed, the act is followed by a lethargic state, lasting for about twelve hours." 



The Hamadryas is fond of water, will drink, and likes to pass the tongue rapidly 

 through water as if to moisten that member. It is a fierce and dangerous reptile, not only 

 resisting when attacked, but even pursuing the foe should he retreat, a proceeding contrary 

 to the general rule among Serpents. The poison of this creature is virulent and active, 

 a fowl dying in fourteen minutes, and a dog in less than three hours, after receiving the 

 fatal bite, although the experiments were made in the cold season, when the poison of 

 venomous Snakes is always rather inactive. The poisonous secretion reddens litmus paper 

 very slightly, and, as is the case with most Serpent poisons, loses its efficacy by being 

 exposed to the air. The native name of the Hamadryas is Sunkr Choar. 



The colour of this Snake is generally of an olive hue, auburn, and pale below, but there 

 is a variety marked with cross-bands of white. It is a large species, varying from four to 

 six feet in length, while some specimens are said to reach ten feet. 



WE now come to some of the most deadly of the Serpent tribe, the first of which is the 

 well-known COBRA DI CAPELLO, or HOODED COBRA of India. 



This celebrated Serpent has long been famous, not only for the deadly power of its 

 venom, but for the singular performances in which it takes part. The Cobra inhabits many 

 parts of Asia, and in almost every place where it is found, certain daring men take upon 

 themselves the profession of Serpent-charmers, and handle these fearful reptiles with 

 impunity, cause them to move in time to certain musical sounds, and assert that they bear 

 a life charmed against the bite of these reptilian playmates. One of these men will take a 

 Cobra in his bare hands, toss it about with perfect nonchalance, allow it to twine about his 

 naked breast, tie it round his neck, and treat it with as little ceremony as if it were an 

 earthworm. He will then take the same Serpent r apparently the same make it bite a 

 fowl, which soon dies from the poison, and will then renew his performances. 



Some persons say that the whole affair is but an exhibition of that jugglery in which 

 the Indians are such wondrous adepts ; that the Serpents with which the man plays are 

 harmless, having been deprived of their fangs, and that a really venomous specimen is 

 adroitly substituted for the purpose of killing the fowl. It is moreover said, and truly, 

 that a Snake, thought to have been rendered innocuous by the deprivation of its fangs, has 

 bitten one of its masters and killed him, thus proving the imposture. 



Still, neither of these explanations will entirely disprove the mastery of man over a 

 venomous Serpent. In the first instance, it is surely as perilous an action to substitute a 

 venomous Serpent as to play with it. Where was it hidden, why did it not bite the man 

 instead of the fowl, and how did the juggler prevent it from using its teeth while he was 

 conveying it away ? And, in the second instance, the detection of an impostor is by no 

 means a proof that all who pretend to the same powers are likewise impostors. 



