w 
-® 
 & 
THE BIS COBRA. 19 
can present itself to man or boy, wife or maid, are so many in num- 
ber, that it must take a man or woman allhisor her life to learnthem. 
This must be rather awkward, as the fulfilment cf the omen must in 
many cases precede the knowledge of what is coming; and if the 
omen is & bad one, deprive the victim of all chance of averting it by 
recourse to the various mysterious ceremonies prescribed for the 
purpose. If any one is interested in the subject, a paper on 
*‘Omens from the falling of house lizards,” contributed to the Indian 
Antiquary by Mr. K. Raghunathji, will repay perusal. From the 
exhaustive list of omens given in this paper, we can see what will 
happen to us when a lizard falls on any part of us from head to foot. 
These omens have little or nothing to do with the subject of bis 
cobras, and there is no time now to describe them in detail or to 
attempt to trace their origin. I cannot, however, refrain from men- 
tioning a few of them for your comfort, or discomfort, as the case 
may be. Men will be glad to hear that if lizards fall on their 
noses it is lucky. But the dividing line between joy and grief is so 
very thin that if the lizard touches the tip of the nose the result is 
extremely calamitous. This is like a warning to men with promin- 
ent hooks not to carry their neses too high in the air. Men also 
may or may not be pleased to hear that if a lizard falls on their left 
cheek, they will be blessed with a sight of their deceased relations. 
But the luckiest thing of all is for a lizard to fall on the scles of a 
man’s foot; for then all his enemies will surely perish. This is an 
event which I fear is not very likely to happen to many of us, 
unless we habitually stand on our heads, or make a point of sitting 
expectantly for hours together every day in the position taken up 
by the Japanese gentleman in Chiarini’s Circus. Ladies will be 
glad to know that if a lizard falls on their left cheek, they will meet 
not their deceased relatives, but their beloved. There will be misery 
if one falls on their right eye, but grass widows may be consoled by 
the thought that a lizard on their left eye is a certain sign that they 
will meet their absent husbands. Lastly, immense wealth and ‘a 
Son are hers on whose left foot a lizard falls, and she will be rich 
in grain if one falls on her toe nails. 
VENOMOUS LIZARDS. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE ‘*BOMBAY GAZETTS.” 
Srr,—In your article of 7th inst. you call attention to the following words, 
which occur in the paper I recently read at a meeting of the Natural History 
Society. * Tt may safely be said that there is no known species of lizard in the 
