SNAKES OF CEYLON. 469 



Now, it is obvious that if snakes have no ear openings and 

 no drums they cannot hear sounds conducted by air, such as 

 those emitted by musical and other instruments. This 

 accounts for the cobras taking no notice of the noises I made 

 at close quarters, though they were keenly alive to sounds 

 such as footsteps communicated through the ground. If one 

 is to believe the wonderful stories, told in good faith I have 

 no doubt, about " charming," one must explain it by assuming 

 that snake charmers are possessed of some occult force not 

 apparent to the spectators, for it cannot be explained through 

 the agency of sound conducted by air. As a matter of fact, 

 a snake charmer in Bangalore, with whom I had become very 

 familiar, admitted. to me that snakemen knew that snakes 

 were deaf, and that the whole of their " charming " was a 

 hoax. It is most certainly the incessant movements of the 

 man's arms while piping, or the restless movements of his 

 knees while squatting, that affords the necessary stimulus, and 

 keeps the cobra excited and erect. 



It is very curious how all absorbing movement is to the 

 cobra. Mr. Phipson says : " You have only to attract its 

 attention with one hand, while you seize it in the middle of 

 the body with the other and the snake is yours. It strikes in 

 every direction, especially at any moving object, but it never 

 seems to occur to it to turn, and bite the hand that is holding 

 it as almost all other snakes would do at once." I fully agree 

 with all Mr. Phipson says on this subject, and consider this 

 strange trait argues a very great lack of intelligence. 



(g) Hissing : This has been already remarked upon under 

 " striking posture." 



(h) Sloughing : Fayrer mentions a cobra that cast its skin 

 on October 17, and again on November 10 and December 7. 

 Another in his possession desquamated on October 15 and 

 on November 6. In Trivandrum* a captive cobra shed its 

 skin on November 10, 1902, and on February 19, April 8, and 

 July 28, in 1903. I have been told by snakemen that ecdysis 

 occurs about once a month, and Vincent Richards gives about 

 the same period between successive moults from his observa- 

 tions. It will be seen from the above that there is no regularity 



* The Field, April 1(5, 1904. 



