299 



THE POISONOUS SNAKES OP INDIA AND HOW TO 



RECOGNISE THEM. 



By 



Capt. F. Wall, I.M.S., C.M.Z.S. 



Part II. 



(Continued from page 71 of this Volume.) 



Naia tripudians — 'J he Cobra. 



Vernacular names. — According to Fayrer the spectacled or binocel- 

 late cobra is called "Gokurrah" about Calcutta and the monocellate 

 variety, which exhibits a single spot on the hood subject to much 

 variation in size and shape, the '' Keautiah". Both names appear to 

 receive further qualification according to variations in colour. I have 

 never heard these names in other parts of India, and it is probable that 

 they are peculiar to Bengal. The former is the common variety in the 

 Indian Peninsula, in which region the latter is decidedly rare according 

 to my experience, but the converse holds good in Burmah and further 

 East. In Bengal the distribution of the two forms seems to overlap, 

 and both are common. In Bengal I have heard "Nag samp" and 

 " Kala samp " as frequently in use as in other parts of India. In 

 Madras it is called by the Tamils " Nalla pamboo", and on the Malabar 

 Coast is known as " Sairpoom " and " Moorookan". In Mysore it is 

 the "Nagara havoo", and according to Russell "Nagoo" on the 

 Coromandel Coast. It is the " Mwe howk" of the Burmese. 



Identification. — I have no doubt that to most people living in India, 

 the recognition of a cobra seems a very simple thing, and this is true 

 as a rule. If the snake is seen alive at close quarters with the hood 

 expanded, its identification will hardly admit of a doubt. Still it must 

 be remembered that the hamadryad expands its hood to an almost 

 equal degree, and that certain harmless snakes, especially the Keelbacks 

 ( Tropidonoti, and their allies), erect themselves, and flatten the neck, 

 though to a lesser degree. The spectacle mark on the hood of the 

 binocellate cobra, and the oval spot surrounded by an ellipse on the 

 hood of the monocellate or Burmese variety, are both of them quite 

 distinctive of this species, and if constant would make diagnosis invari- 

 ably easy. Many cobras, however, havj these marks so modified or 

 obsoured that most people unfamiliar with this subject, would fail to 

 recognise them if reliance is placed on these alone. 

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