140 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 barbarus 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 color 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 SERPENT- EATING HAMADRYAS {Hamadryas flaps), 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 pos- 

 session were regularly fed by giving them a Serpent, no matter whether venomous or 

 not, every 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 color 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 or 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. 



