378 



LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



written. It seems certain that cobras of the most poisonous nature are handled with 

 impunity by itinerant jugglers, and it is also a fact that not uncommonly the l-eptiles 

 are rendered harmless by having their fangs extracted. So-called jugglers have been 

 known to capture cobras while they were in their native retreats, and have not been 

 injured, while others, more unfortunate, have been bitten and only saved from death 

 by the prompt administration of some plant, or, to thera, charmed stone. The truth 

 about the matter seems to lie in the fact that the cobra, like many innocent snakes, 



Fig. 219. — Opliiopltagus elaps. 



will permit itself to be handled in the roughest manner, provided no sign of fear is 

 shown by the person so performing. Perfect confidence and conscious ability will 

 work wonders. It is a peculiar fact, and one that has been paralleled in several Amer- 

 ican serpents, that when a cobra is destroyed, its companion will soon appear. Pliny, 

 in speaking of this trait, says that between the male and female an affection exists, 

 and if one is killed the other endeavors to avenge its death. 



Ophiophagus elaps, though being provided with an expansion of the neck similar 



