THE BLACK SNAKE. 231 



and thrown off by a stick, at length become quite 

 enraged, the neck being dilated to nearly an inch in 

 width, and perfectly flattened, so that the white 

 skin could be seen between the scales. 



" ToUentemque minas et sibila coUa tumentem." 



ViRG. Georg. iii. 421. 



It is this dilatation of the neck, but in a much higher 

 degree, which gives so remarkable an appearance to 

 the deadly Najas or Cobras of Africa and India. A 

 Black Snake which I had tied by the neck with a 

 string while I made a sketch of it, struck fiercely 

 at me with gaping jaws as far as its cord would allow, 

 every time I looked up or down. The Creoles say 

 that if a dog attacks it, it always strikes at his eyes, 

 and not infrequently produces blindness. 



Though not venomous, the bite of this Coluber 

 is rather an unpleasant affair. In Mr. Purdie's 

 botanical tour in the eastern and central parts of the 

 island, he has recorded a case of some interest. 

 " When walking with Dr. Bromfield," says this 

 gentleman, " in St. Ann's, I pointed out a fine 

 Black Snake lying under a stone wall, which he in- 

 sisted on capturing alive with his unprotected hand, 

 in the belief that the reptile was innocuous, like 

 the common ringed serpent of England. But it 

 proved otherwise ; the seizure was strictlv mutual ; 

 the Black Snake fastened on his hand as he laid hold 

 of it, and bit him severely. The wound swelled for 

 some days, though with little pain, and no dangerous 

 consequences ensued."* 



* Comp. to Bot. Mag. ii. 40. 



