A POPULAR TREATISE ON INDIAN SNAKES. 269 



to grow about a foot a year, but as usual I have to regret gaps in my 

 notes that prevent me speaking more positively. 



The eggs are laid in adherent clusters, and deposited, I helieve, in 

 holes in the earth. They are white, glossy, and parchment-like, with 

 the poles equally domed. In the clutch recorded by Nicholson one 

 egg measured 2" X li". The eggs from which young hatched in 

 Rangoon observed by Evans and me measured from If to If" in length. 



The youngsters we witnessed hatching in Rangoon measured from 

 14| to 15^ inches. They found exit at any convenient spot, and some, 

 even when they had broken the shell sufficiently to admit of easy exit, 

 appeared to quit their cradles reluctantly, as they often peeped out, 

 or extended themselves to a considerable length, and then retired 

 sometimes for hours before evacuating them. They were very active 

 even at this early age, and seemed to know instinctively whom to 

 regard as enemies, for they exhibited anger when molested ; and that 

 they can make good use of their teeth, Father Dreckman's experience 

 related above seems to exemplify. 



Those observed by Evans and me had tne navel perforate, and 

 through this I passed a bristle into the abdominal cavity. Nicholson,* 

 however, says they emerge from the egg with the navel closed. We 

 found two ventral shields usually perforate, and from 21 to 24 ventral 

 shields intervened between these and the anal shield. 



Legends. — There are various legends connected with this snake. 

 In some parts it is addicted to sucking cows, and apropos of this it is 

 very remarkable that a feat so manifestly impossible when the snake's 

 mouth is examined, should have received credence in many countries in 

 relation to several species of snakes. It would be impossible for a grasp 

 to be maintained upon the teat without driving home many of the 

 needle-pointed teeth, and inflicting an amount of pain no animal could 

 passively tolerate upon so sensitive a structure. Others attribute to it 

 the curious practice of putting its tail up the cow's nostril, and 

 suddenly withdrawing it. What originated this strange belief, and 

 what possible end it might fulfil, is hard even to speculate upon. 



Again, it is very generally believed among natives that the ratsnake 



mates with the cobra, and is in fact the male cobra, and it is surprising 



to me that even some educated English people seriously contemplate 



such an absurdity, and still further so firmly believe it, as to attempt 



• " Indian Snakes ", p. 128. 



