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neck to a large flattened surface or hood; generally spotted, like 

 the rest of the body, with brown, except those black and white 

 marks, resembling a pair of spectacles in shape, which has ob- 

 tained it the name of the spectacle-snake. 



Like most other serpents, the cobra-di-capcllo has the power 

 of fascinating small birds; who either hover over it, until they 

 actually drop into its mouth, or lose the power of motion to escape 

 from their insidious enemy. I have frequently found very large 

 skins of these serpents, perfect, and of great beauty, in caverns 

 and thick bushes, in different parts of India; particularly in the 

 caves of Salsette and Elephanta, where they are very abundant. 



In Mr. Boag's account of the serpents at Bombay, it appears 

 that Gmelin's Systema Naturae describes two hundred and nine- 

 teen different kinds of snakes, of which, according to Linnreus, only 

 one in ten are poisonous; and that many of these are not poisonous 

 to man, though they may be destructive to lesser animals. " The 

 most certain indication to be depended on, is the large canine teeth 

 or fangs fixed in the upper jaw, which are commonly two in 

 number, but sometimes more. These teeth are covered with a 

 membranous sheath, and are crooked, moveable, and hollow, to 

 give passage to the venom, which they receive from a small reser- 

 voir that runs along the palate of the mouth, and passes through 

 the body of each fang. This reservoir contains only a small 

 quantity of venom, which is forced out of it when the animal 

 attempts to bile by a strong muscle fixed in the upper jaw for 

 that purpose. It has been well observed by Linnaeus, that if 

 nature has thrown them naked on the ground, destitute of limbs, 



