1822 The Zoologist — Septembee, 1869. 



hood. This stick was probably made from the branch of a tree called 

 in Bengal " Isar mool :" it is a wonderful medicine for snake bite. 

 Native bydas (physicians) are in the habit of extracting poison from 

 the fangs of the cobra, which ihey use for medicinal purposes. There 

 is a class of men in Bengal called badas, whose profession is to catch 

 snakes : these men, who profess to be well versed in serpent-catching- 

 incantations, can trace them in cavities in fields, which they excavate 

 and make them captives. Peacocks, I am told, are great enemies of 

 serpents. There is a snake in Bengal which is generally five or six 

 feet long: it is very timid, but very cunning ; it is not venomous, but 

 very dangerous to milch cows. It contrives to bind with its long tail 

 the hind legs of a cow, and applies itself to one of its teats, and sucks 

 the milk like an infant. This teat is always rendered milkless after- 

 wards : from it can no milk flow. 



" There is a serpent, which is very small, beautiful and harmless, 

 with which little boys play by catching it and throwing it against 

 each other. One of these snakes I saw (in July, 1855) being devoured 

 by a large yellow (golden) frog, which here (N. W. P.), as well as in 

 Bengal, makes its appearance in the commencement of the rainy 

 season, when they, in a group, get on the shore of a tank and make 

 awful noises, to the great distress of the reposer at night. 



" I not only observed the strange habit of a frog in devouring the 

 reptile, but also saw it catching hold of a young one of a bird which is 

 here called desi myud : I don't remember the date. I was unable, 

 however, to observe this circumstance closely, as the little playful 

 boys, observing it, were throwing brickbats at it to emancipate the 

 poor bird, before I happened to approach. 



" There is another kind of frog in Bengal, which generally inhabits 

 the trees : it is slender in form, and makes an extraordinary long leap. 

 It generally came across my way at night, when I had been at my 

 study before a light, when it was raining heavily. 



" There is a peculiar kind of rat in Bengal which climbs up trees, 

 and devours the fruits thereof: their leaps are long enough, and they 

 eat up the kernel of a cocoa-nut hanging down from the palm ; they 

 make a hole at the uppermost part of the fruit and consume its con- 

 tents, and they are very nimble. 



" Jackals are very cunning : I saw them carry away puppies from the 

 bitch's lap by a strange manoeuvre, which is worthy of notice. It was 

 at dusk, when a bitch lay with her little ones in the corner of a ruined 

 hut : a jackal contrived, by making its appearance as if to tempt the 



