376 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



miles from land. JLenodermus differs from the other, the two already mentioned 

 Arcrochordidsa in having weU-developed ventral shields, and sub-caudal scales. It 

 inhabits Java. 



Sub-Oedeb III. — Pkoteeoglypha. 



We now come to the snakes provided with poison-fangs ; they have been divided 

 into two groups, viz., those with permanently erect fangs, Proteroglypha, and those 

 having fangs which can be erected or depressed at will, Solenoglypha. 



In the first group, behind the erect grooved fangs is the usual armament of maxil- 

 lary, palatine, pterygoid, and mandibular teeth, and the general form and external 

 armature of the body generally resembles that of the Colubriformia. There are two 

 families, the distinction being based on the general shape and structure of the tail. 



The family Elapid^e has the body cylindrical ; the tail fusiform ; the head with the 

 usual armament of shields, though the loreal, with the exception of a single species, 

 is always absent. The eye is small and has a round pupil, and the nostrils are placed 

 laterally, while in the succeeding family they are, except in Platurus, placed dorsally on 

 the tip of the snout. The fang is not only perforated by an internal canal which con- 

 ducts the venom from the specialized salivary gland to the slit^like opening in the 

 distal extremity, but along the front is a permanent groove. Jlembers of the family 

 inhabit all the tropical countries as well as, and especially, Australia, and are generally 

 regarded with considerable fear by the natives. 



The introductory species is the cobra of India, or, as it is known to science, the 

 JVaja tri2'>udians, and is the most familiar, as it is the most dreaded, of the serpent 

 tribe. Though Ophiophagus, of the same country, is the most venomous of ophidians, 

 the naja is more abundant, and, being extremely poisonous — it being estimated that the 

 annual mortality in the Indian peninsula, from its bite, is over 5000 — is more feared 

 than any other reptile. Though several varieties of this dangerous animal exist, there 

 is in India but a single species, which is also found throughout the islands of the Malay 

 archipelago. While hunting for its food, of small reptiles, frogs, and fishes, it may 

 climb to the roofs of huts, among the limbs of trees, or even enter the water, where 

 it is an expert sv\'immer, being sometimes found at a considerable distance from land. 

 It is often nocturnal in its habits, and is ovoviviparous. Its natural enemies are 

 jungle-fowl, which devour the young, and the ichneumons Herpestes, which will over- 

 power the largest adults. 



The cobra-da-capello, being the most common venomous reptile of India, an object 

 of curiosity to the Europeans, the sole source of subsistence of innumerable vagrant snake- 

 charmers, and an object of intense interest to naturalists, has probably received more 

 attention than any other ophidian, not excepting the rattle-snake. Those bitten by 

 the animal seldom escape death, and, of the few that do, many are subject to periodic 

 returns of the most excruciating pain. Ordinarily, on being attacked, if no antidote 

 is administered, the poison almost instantaneously affects the whole system. The 

 reptiles seem to be well aware of the fatal power possessed by themselves as well as 

 by their fellows, for while, in confinement, tliey will attack and kill any snake of a 

 different kind that may be presented, for their own species they evince the greatest 

 respect, though, when several are closely confined in the same apartment, trouble may 

 occur. They soon become accustomed to menagerie life, and often live to an old age. 

 When thus confined, the animal, during the day, is lazy and inactive, seldom stirring 



