244 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII. 



"Naia" in Mr. Boulenger's works.*' I notice Professor Stejneger in 

 his more recent workj adheres to the original rendering of the 

 word, and I also prefer to accept this. 



The specific title "tripudians" bestowed by Merreni is from the 

 Latin meaning literally " dancing on the toe." This is obviously 

 in allusion to the cobra's characteristic attitude when excited. 



(li) I^ncjlish. — To Europeans generally the snake is known as 

 " the cobra " a word however applied in Portuguese to any snake. The 

 Portuguese always referred to it as the " cobra de capello" or " hooded 

 snake," and for many years subsequent to their occupation of India 

 the qualifying adjective, now obsolete, was retained to distinguish 

 it from the " cobra monil " or " necklace snake" (Russell's viper), 

 the "cobra de aqua, or " water snake," etc., etc. 



(c) Vernacular. — In most parts of India the cobra is known to 

 the natives as " nag," " nag samp," or some variation of " nag." 

 The varieties that natives pretend to recognise, and to which thej^- 

 apply special names are endless. Every juggler has a dozen qualifying 

 terms, at his command, and no two jugglers will agree in the name 

 they apply to a given individual. One hears of " arege nagoo," 

 " coodum (wheat) nagoo, "jonna nagoo," based on colours resembling 

 that of various cereals, " chinta " or " scinta (tamarind) nagoo," 

 '•'malle (jasmine) nagoo" and " mogla nagoo " based on the names 

 of plants, " cowri nagoo" and " sankoo nagoo " based on the 

 names of shells, " kala nag," " sata nag," and a host of other 

 "nags." Such names mostly emanate from professional snake men, 

 and are of little or no interest, but there are many other local names 

 that deserve mention. "Naya" is the name applied to the 

 cobra by the Singhalese in Ceylon, but in this Island where so much 

 Tamil labour is employed. South Indian names are frequently 

 heard, such as "nallapambu" (good snake), and " naga pambu." 

 On the West Coast I heard " murukan " literally " cruel," and " sair- 

 poom," both Malayalam words applied to it. In Mysore the 

 Canarese call it " nagara hava." In Bengal where the two forms, 

 viz., the binocellate and the monocellate are associated, the former 

 is known as "naga gokurra," and the latter as "keauthia", 

 according to Fayrer, Ewart, Nicholson and others with "kala" or 

 other qualifying prefixes " Gorhmon " is another name used in Bengal 

 for pale varieties according to Simson.J Mr. D'Abreu tells me that 

 in Behar " goh-manna " and " nag " are in use. In the North- West 

 about Rawal Pindi "chajli" or " chajliwalla " is the common name 

 for the cobra. " Chaj," I understand, is the Pushtu for a winnowing 

 fan, which its dilated hood is somewhat fancifully held to resemble. 

 Another Pushtu name in allusion to the hood is, I am told, common 



* Faun. Brit. Ind. Reptilia and Batrachia and Cat. Snakes, British Museum. 



t Herp. of Japan. 



X Letters on Sport in Eastern Bengal, p. 239, 



