252 JOURNAL,' BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII 



Journal* Mr, Goring Jones reported a cobra at Mandalay striking 

 at Lieut. Gibson who was bending down near the snake. He 

 was not actuallj^ struck, but had poison ejected into his eye, much 

 swelling and pain following. A Hospital Assistant of mine, 

 whilst trying to dislodge a cobra that had taken refuge in the 

 wall of his garden, had a jet of poison ejected into his face. 

 Mr. Kinnear tells me that in our Society's rooms it is a matter of 

 common observation that cobras " spit " at spectators and leave 

 a spray on the glass. One may presume that some such incident 

 caused Boie to christen one variety of our Indian cobra siyutatrix 

 (spitter). The habit is well known among certain African cobras, 

 notably N. flava, N. nigricollis, and perhaps N. inelanulenca f 

 1 believe the venom ejected is shaken off the fangs, and carried 

 forward by the vehemence of the thrust. In some instances, 

 however, where a shower of spray is reported it is more probably 

 caused by the explosive expiratory blasts from the glottis which 

 occur while the snake is hissing, and to which I refer again 

 later. 



Haunts. — The Cobra may be found almost anywhere. I have 

 encountered it in heavy jungle, and in open country far removed 

 from forest growth. The ryot disturbs it in his crops, the mali 

 in Cantonment gardens, and the sportsman when quail, partridge 

 or hare shooting. It is a common snake in almost every populated 

 area, and I have had it sent to me frequently from within Canton- 

 ment limits, from the regimental and other bazaars, from Artillery 

 and other lines, the suburbs and actually in the gardens of our 

 largest towns, from inside jails, the godowns of the Supply and 

 Transport Corps, and the Telegraph and such like departments, 

 from the warehouses of various mills, and such like situations. 

 No amount of bustle or disturbance seems to deter it from taking 

 up its abode in man's immediate vicinity. It was sent in to me 

 several times in Rangoon from timber yards, where hundreds of 

 men were working daily, elephants pounding up and down moving 

 timber, engines vibrating and throbbing and circular saws 

 screeching through boles of teak. Even in such scenes of turmoil 

 it will establish itself beneath a stack of wood, or convenient drain, 

 and escape dislodgment for long periods. 



Old masonry invariably harbours cobras among other snakes. 

 In Delhi the old walls of the Fort were always a safe draw for the 

 snakeman whom I saw every week bring in his bag — some half 

 dozen or more — to be robbed of their poison, which was being 

 collected for the Government of India. Similarly old cemeteries, 

 and ruined habitations, mosques, etc., furnish ideal quarters for 



* Vol. xiii., p. 376. 



■j- The spitting snake of S. Africa is usually admitted to be Sepedon hcemachatea 



